On Monday September 22, 2025, San Francisco 49ers fans found out the devastating news that star defensive end Nick Bosa is going to be out for the season with an ACL tear, and to make matters worse in the aftermath a Seattle Seahawks writer thought it would be a good idea to call Bosa’s injury “good news”.
Richie Whitt of Sports Illustrated wrote an article with an eye popping headline, “Seattle Seahawks get great news with Nick Bosa injury update.”
“Nick Bosa won’t beat the Seattle Seahawks again. At least not in the 2025 season,” Whitt wrote. Leading the article with that statement makes it seem like it should be the big takeaway about the Bosa injury for Seattle fans — that their tormentor has been finally vanquished.
Whitt did try to avoid scrutiny and even admit this is not something Seattle players or fans should celebrate.
“Seahawks players – and the 12s – would never cheer for an opponent’s injury, but … there’s no way around this being positive news for their quest to win the NFC West,” Whitt wrote.
Richie, you say Seattle would “never cheer for an opponent’s injury” and then you turn right around and say the injury is “positive news” and give Seahawks fans reason to feel good about it — because it could help them win the NFC West. That seems contradictory!
Perhaps you don’t consider yourself a Seahawks fan, and that makes cheering for an injury okay? Regardless of your intentions or true feelings, Richie, giving the Seahawks fanbase reason to feel like Bosa’s injury is worth feeling good about is never a good look.
The Moral Problems With Opposing Injury Analysis
The problem with this article, which regardless of its writer’s intentions, does call an opponent’s injury “great news,” is that it encourages an at-all-costs attitude of winning that is not healthy for the professional sports landscape.
If athletes and even fans see an opponent’s injury as “great news”, what stops them from rooting for the injury of, or even trying to injure, their opponents? Anyone participating in the sports ecosystem should not care about winning that much, that they are willing to cheat and hurt their opponent to achieve victory.
It has happened before. Remember the names Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan?
Also, it’s just a bit of a losing attitude to want to win via opponent injuries. I’m sure everyone on the Seahawks, and all of their fans, would much rather beat the 49ers at full strength than win because half of their team is injured. That is a much more satisfying win. It would be much more satisfying to shut down Nick Bosa than only achieve victory because he can’t play.
Because of all the 49ers’ injuries to key players, Seattle fans will never know if their team could beat San Francisco at full strength this season. That makes the win less satisfying.
And finally, Richie, weren’t there better things to write about yesterday? Breaking news about your own team?
There are so many individual player storylines to tackle on a victory Monday after a big blowout win over the New Orleans Saints. Why even write about an opponent’s injury at all? It’s simply not Seahawks news.
Bosa’s Week 1 Winning Play Against Seahawks
A big reason why Whitt called Bosa’s injury “good news” for the Seahawks is because of his role in the 49ers’ Week 1 victory over Seattle.
(via @NFL)
The Seahawks were driving and threatening to convert a go-ahead score in the final minutes of the game when Bosa strip-sacked Seahawks QB Sam Darnold, turning possession back over to San Francisco and securing the 49ers’ win.
Throughout his career against the Seahawks, Bosa has been dominant. In 11 games against Seattle since 2019, Bosa has 51 total tackles, 11 sacks and the 1 fumble recovery.
Seahawks fans have every reason to fear Bosa considering his history against them, to be fair. But again, ask any Seahawks fan, and they would much rather the Seattle offensive line lock Bosa up and beat the 49ers that way then squeak out a win because he is hurt.
49ers fans, what do you think of this article?
Seattle Seahawks Writer Faces Backlash For Saying Nick Bosa’s Injury is “Great News”