No doubt that the poise and cool of QB Russell Wilson has served him and the Seahawks well. But there's times when his teammates want him to drop the script, stop the smile and go belligerent and bellicose. Even if they have to help him do it. As Doug Baldwin put it fancifully:

"I got to punch him in the mouth sometimes."

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It wasn't that long ago, 2012 in fact, when Oregon State was 6-0 and ranked 10th in the country. The Huskies gave the Beavers their first loss that year, a 20-17 upset on a Travis Coons field goal with 1:20 left. Since then, their worlds went separate ways.

The sixth-ranked Huskies (5-0, 2-0) these days are busy pursuing summits, and the Beavers are pursuing pond bottoms in the Willamette Valley.

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A pause, please, in all the jokes about Cougars football. Applause, please.

Kings for the night in college football, unbeaten Washington State (5-0) toppled fifth-ranked USC (4-1) 30-27 Friday night in front of a delirious,  sold-out (33,773) Martin Stadium crowd. The triumph likely ushered in a three-day bender the likes of which has not been seen since the final weekend of the 19-year-old minimum drinking age next door in Idaho.

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Disputing Michael Bennett's account of his detainment, Las Vegas police said Thursday that, after reviewing more than 800 videos, they treated him "appropriately and professionally" when he ran from an after-hours club as officers searched for an active shooter that they later determined didn't exist.

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Perhaps the latest punishable version of wardrobe malfunction in the NFL came Friday when Seahawks CB Richard Sherman was fined $12,145 for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty in Sunday’s game at Tennessee -- removal of his helmet while on the field.

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Since the intrusion in a major way of politics into sports is going to be with us for a good long while, here's a couple of points worth considering:

• Colin Kaepernick began his protest against police brutality under a black president, not a white one, so the forces he was resisting were long-term and had nothing to do with the race of the White House's occupant, unless that occupant wanted to make it so for purposes of division;
• Gaining attention for one's capacity to disrupt is what Seahawks DE Michael Bennett is paid to do for a living.

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Before the anthem protest controversy goes nuclear -- oops, bad choice of words -- becomes the beast that consumes the NFL, CB Richard Sherman had an observation Wednesday that offered some clarity regarding consequences of President Trump's unprovoked interjection that suddenly has him wrapped around the NFL's axle.

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One of the odd aspects in the continuing fallout over President Trump's denigration of the NFL's anthem protestors is that there has been little coverage of responses from players who didn't want to be a part of any protest. Understandably, some players are reluctant to be quoted for pragmatic reasons, like not wanting to damage their NFL futures.

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Can't run. Can't stop the run.

Who thought that would describe a Pete Carroll-coached Seahawks team?

Tennessee's 33-27 triumph in stifling Southern humidity Sunday was more complicated than that simple reduction, especially on a day that was a benchmark in the history of the intersection of American sports and politics.

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Responding to President Trump's disparaging remarks Friday about player protests, the Seahawks and host Tennessee Titans sat out the national anthem Sunday in Nashville's Nissan Stadium. The Seahawks entered the field arm in arm.

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In the Pac-12 Conference championship game in December, the Washington Huskies rushed for 265 yards in a 41-10 triumph over Colorado in Santa Clara, CA. Nine months later, on a wet Saturday evening rematch in Boulder, the Huskies (4-0) rushed for 254 yards in a 37-10 triumph (box) over the Buffaloes (3-1).

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The same week it became public that Seahawks DE Michael Bennett co-authored a well-reasoned, respectful letter to the NFL seeking a partnership for an awareness month on social justice, President Trump publicly called him a son of bitch for his anthem protest.

Congratulations to Bennett and his NFL colleagues. It worked. Awareness is suddenly global. Just not in the civil fashion intended.

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Seahawks WR Doug Baldwin unleashed a barrage of invective Saturday against Donald Trump following the president's remarks Friday in Alabama calling NFL players who protest "sons of bitches" and encouraging fans to walk away from games where protests of the national anthem occur.

He also saw Trump's remarks as an opportunity for the sports world.

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Jimmy Graham looks as if he'll get a chance to add to his season total of four catches and nine yards Sunday in Tennessee when the Seahawks play the Titans (1 p.m., FOX). An ankle sprained Sunday against the 49ers has healed sufficiently to allow him to play, according to Pete Carroll.

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Michael Bennett's voice against social injustice just became louder, smarter and more irresistible.

Disclosure by Yahoo! Sports Wednesday of a lengthy memo (see below) from the Seahawks defensive end and three other NFL players to Commissioner Roger Goodell spelled out the causes behind the national-anthem protests. More strategically, included among several requests for support from the league was a call to dedicate an awareness month to social justice similar to what the NFL does for breast cancer awareness and supporting the military.

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To hear many in the NFL tell it, the spread offense in college football is the worst invention since the adobe submarine. Offensive linemen who make it to the NFL have no experience in the three-point stance used in run-blocking, which accounts for much of the epidemic of dorky offenses plaguing the league, including right here in Field Goal City.

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Asked if there was anything that would keep the Uptown Alliance from saying yes to the low-risk but high-pressure $600 million private proposal to make KeyArena a world-class entertainment showcase, Deborah Frausto paused, then perked up.

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And you thought the drama in the home opener was in watching the Seahawks season go down the drain with a second consecutive touchdown-free game. Behind the scenes, in the first quarter, the real drama was in the locker room when the escape from the infernal abyss began to come together.

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Fall training done, the sixth-ranked Washington Huskies (3-0) soon will have to go to class during the day, then go to work in the afternoon prepping for opponents of a caliber similar to their own. If they take anything from the eggless omelette of the preseason, which concluded Saturday night with a 48-16 win (box) over overwhelmed Fresno State, it is that they have a singular weapon capable of bending foes to his will and skill.

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Despite missing a couple of days of practice because of a sore hamstring, CB Richard Sherman was assessed as good to go for the Seahawks' home opener at 1:25 p.m. Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers, at least according to coach Pete Carroll. The NFL official injury report still lists him as questionable.

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