THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: While he's out now, Ouzts a valuable piece going forward

Begging your pardon, but I've told this story before.

If you enjoyed it, terrific, I'm happy to give you an encore.

If you DIDN'T like the tale all that much the first time around ... c'mon, keep an open mind and try again.

The truth is that I've been dying to repeat this memory ever since the Seahawks announced that fullback Robbie Ouzts' neck injury would keep him out for the entire 2026 season.

Any mention of Ouzts — who is something of a human road grader at 6-3 and 274 pounds — takes us directly to the Seattle running game.

The Hawks lined up in a "twenty-one" formation (with a fullback serving as lead blocker) on 11 percent of their snaps last year, fifth-highest total in the NFL.

They were a bash-you team who could run the ball on long, time-consuming drives, and/or set up QB Sam Darnold for some comfort in the play-action passing game.

Needless to say, the skills that Ouzts brought with him from Alabama — knocking defenders on the seat of their pants — worked right in to the Hawks' muscle approach to moving the football.

Ouzts also announced with great enthusiasm that he was an effective decoy for the Seahawks ball carriers.

Well... OK.

He did not carry the ball once in 12 games.

OH, WE'VE almost skipped over the story I decided to repeat today.

It involves (actually, it starred) legendary coach John Madden.

I was lucky enough to become friends with Big John, and took a few train trips with him.

One trek also involved San Francisco sports reporter Frank Cooney, who was writing a feature on Madden.

Madden held court in the train's lounge car, and launched into all sorts of subjects.

Naturally, we got into a conversation about offensive football, and whether someone would develop a new, gimmick-filled way of moving the ball that was just unstoppable.

Madden laughed, and pulled a napkin in front of him.

"Here, you guys each write down a play that you think will work EVERY time you need it," John said.

Cooney and I obliged, and both of us came up with something that was designed to pull defenders in the wrong direction.

Madden eventually studied the plays we'd scribbled, and he said our offense could be in trouble.

Oh?

How?

"It comes down to players," he said. "When the ball is snapped, if all my "Os" knock your little "Xs" right on their butts, then no play is going anywhere.

I FEEL safe in announcing that Robbie Ouzts would gladly buy into the Madden philosophy of football.

Forget the fancy stuff.

Plough over that cornerback and set up a lane for your running back.

It's no surprise, by the way, that Mike Macdonald's Seahawks led the NFL in special teams yardage — a phase of the game that mostly involves violent collisions.

The Hawks' special teams captain is Brady Russell, a tight end who this season is doubling as Oustzs' replacement this season.

There are some question marks involved here.

Russell and fullback No. 3 Brock Lampe (picked up on waivers from New England, of all teams), are both right around 250 pounds.

They're tough guys, but Ouzts is a beast at 274 with a non-stop drive.

That leads us to a more personal question.

Ouzts missed two games at the end of last season with the neck injury — and now it's costing him a year.

Is Robbie even safe playing football?

It's not like he's going to be a ballet dancer out there.

"There's a process to this type of injury," Macdonald said. "If we follow it, the medical people say it shouldn't impact Robbie's career going forward.

"That's good news, because we want him back."

A lot of the league's defensive players may not greet the news with quite the same joy.

Longtime journalist Steve Cameron writes "The Cheap Seats" three times each week for The Press.