Fountain of opportunity

Published on August 26, 2011 by Seahawks.Com News (Feed)     

Maurice Fountain was preparing to join the Las Vegas Locomotives of the Arena League when the Seahawks called. The defensive end not only answered, he delivered two days later in the preseason home opener.

Maurice Fountain was in Atlanta preparing to make the trip to Las Vegas to join the Locomotives of the Arena Football League when the phone rang.

It was the Seahawks, offering the well-traveled defensive end another chance to join them, and another crack at making it in the NFL. So it was leaving Las Vegas – before he’d ever left – and hello Seattle.

“I had committed to the Locos, and I was supposed to be there today,” the aptly named Fountain said after Tuesday’s two-hour practice in full pads, as sweat was pouring from every pore.

“Fortunately, Seattle called me Thursday night. So, it’s a dream come true. It was good to have a backup plan, but my ultimate goal was to come to Seattle.”

Fountain flew out on Friday, but didn’t arrive in time for the full-squad meeting at the team hotel. His reintroduction to the ever-changing Seahawks team didn’t occur until the Saturday morning meeting, but the player who spent three weeks on the practice squad last season was in uniform several hours later when the Seahawks kicked off their home preseason schedule against the Minnesota Vikings at CenturyLink Field.

Despite not practicing with the team since January – or any team, for that matter – the 6-foot-4, 270-pound Fountain tackled Vikings running back Lorenzo Booker for a 5-yard loss in the third quarter and then teamed with rookie middle linebacker K.J. Wright to make another tackle in the fourth quarter.

Talk about living coach Pete Carroll’s “always compete” mantra.

“That’s a tough situation, and it says a lot about the kid,” defensive coordinator Gus Bradley said. “You’re talking about flying in, then playing the next day. Maurice was put in a difficult spot.

“But give credit to coach (Todd) Wash, as well. They had meetings and got him schooled up enough to where he could have an effect on some plays. And Maurice was with us last year, so he kind of has a feel for how things go.

“He’s a great kid, so it was great to see it because I know he had a lot of fun.”

Fountain did not want to let this opportunity slip by just because he was a little jetlagged. The NFL is where he wants to play, and the Seahawks are the team he wants to play for.

via Fountain of opportunity.

Tags: Arena Football, Arena Football League, Arena League, Backup Plan, coach pete carroll, Defensive coordinator, gus bradley, Home Opener, J Wright, Leaving Las Vegas, Locomotives, Lorenzo Booker, Middle Linebacker, Minnesota Vikings, Morning Meeting, Practice Squad, Seahawks, Spent Three, Team Hotel, Trip To Las Vegas