‘Techno Thursday’ returning? Luke Willson reportedly on way to re-signing with Seahawks
Is “Techno Thursday” returning to the Seahawks?
The creator of the locker-room and practice craze from a couple years ago reportedly is.
Veteran tight end Luke Willson is expected to re-sign with Seattle after a year-plus away, according to a report Tuesday night by Adam Caplan of SiriusXM radio.
Willson’s reaction on Twitter Tuesday night:
The Seahawks drafted Willson in the fifth round in 2013 as a pass-catching tight end from Windsor, Ontario, and Rice University. Willson, 29, played his first five NFL seasons with the Seahawks (2013-17), and 89 of his 102 career receptions are with Seattle.
He signed before the 2018 season in free agency with Detroit then spent this preseason with Oakland. The Raiders released him last month.
The popular Canadian was also was the driving force behind his “Techno Thursday” movement with the Seahawks through the 2017 season. Willson blared techno dance music from a neon-green, 1980s-style boom box in the locker room on Thursdays before practice. During those workouts, Willson and his fellow tight ends began wearing John Stockton-short practice shorts to fit the throw-back vibe.
By the 2017 season, Willson’s movement had spread through the entire team. Franchise quarterback Russell Wilson was among the teammates who began wearing his shorts ultra short for Thursday practices, too. Coach Pete Carroll began playing the tight end’s techno music instead of the usual rap through the practices. CenturyLink Field’s public-address system was playing Willson’s music for his touchdowns, of which he had a career-high four for Seattle that season.
The touchdown celebration involved Willson’s teammates joining him for his techno dancing in the end zone.
It even carried into road stadiums. This is what happened when the Cowboys’ stadium sound system was playing one of Willson’s techno sounds during a timeout in a Christmas Eve 2017 Seahawks game at Dallas:
Willson could be a place-holder for now until Ed Dickson returns. The veteran who was Seattle’s number-one tight end last season had knee surgery in August. The Seahawks put him on their initial 53-man roster for the regular season Aug. 31 then placed him on injured reserve. Doing it that way makes Dickson eligible to be one of the two IR players each NFL team can designate to return to play that season, after eight weeks.
Dickson could be back in a month or so.
The news of Willson’s expected return came hours after news of the Seahawks agreeing to trade tight end Nick Vannett to Pittsburgh, reportedly for a fifth-round draft choice.
The Seahawks drafted Vannett in the fourth round in 2016 out of Ohio State, where he was known as college football’s best run blockers and a sure-handed receiver. He has 47 catches in his 41-game career. The 6-foot-6, 261-pound Vannett had a career-high 29 receptions and three of his four career touchdowns last season. He has four catches for 38 yards through three games this season.
He never fully became the run blocker Seattle hoped for with his size when it drafted him.
The Seahawks love Will Dissly. He has been the blocker they thought he was and a better receiver than advertised when Seattle drafted the former University of Washington defensive lineman last year. Dissly impressed in four games last season before a torn patellar tendon in his knee ended his rookie season. He came back to full practice in August and resumed his production and trust with Wilson.
Dissly had his third touchdown catch in two games last weekend in the home loss to the New Orleans Saints. He is second on the Seahawks with 12 receptions this season. He has 20 catches and five touchdowns in full career games.
Dissly is starting the second season of his four-year, rookie contract.
Vannett is in the final season of his rookie deal. So the Seahawks had a decision to make in a couple months with him, anyway. This trade gives them back a middle-round draft choice from the Steelers for making that decision on Vannett now, instead of potentially losing him in free agency in the spring.
This story was originally published September 25, 2019 at 7:15 AM.
