THE FRONT ROW WITH MARK NELKE: Trade of TGRW should have come with a laugh track

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

That was my reaction Tuesday morning, when the news flashed along the crawler on TV, as well as on social media, that the Seahawks had traded The Great Russell Wilson to Denver.

As a 49ers fan, I watched him beat us, time and time again, in his now-seemingly-brief 10-year career in the Emerald City.

He won't hurt us as bad now, in the Mile High City.

BUT, BUT ...

The Seahawks weren't going to trade The Great Russell Wilson, we were told time and time again.

All he needed was a healthy finger, and Seattle was a Super Bowl contender, we were told.

TGRW and Seattle were synonymous.

Off the field, he was beloved, visiting sick children in Seattle on his day off.

On the field, he was beloved.

He could have played for the Seahawks until he was 50.

He and 88-year-old coach Pete Carroll were going to walk off into the Puget Sound sunset together.

Now TGRW will try to deliver a Rocky Mountain High.

MATCHUPS ARE everything in sports.

The 49ers have gotten the better of the Rams in recent years. We were on the cusp of a trip to the Super Bowl, but couldn't hold onto a 10-point fourth-quarter lead, and L.A. went on to beat a Bengals team we already beat earlier in the season, in Cincinnati.

Seattle, however, has been a different story.

People ask, how could you lose twice to the Seahawks this season? They were only 7-10. They lost to the Bears -- at home!

Same reason we've lost to them pretty much since TGRW arrived -- 17 times in 21 games.

First, it was the Legion of Boom that ate us up. In recent years, when they were less Boom-ish, the Seahawks still attacked the 49ers' offense with whatever defenders they had, and we usually weren't good enough to make them pay for it.

On offense, we never really contained TGRW.

Sure, we sacked him a few times, but that might have just been a setup by the cagey QB. Mostly, he avoided our pass rush, and either ran untouched down the middle of the field for 25 yards, sliding in safely with a smile on his face. Or, all that scrambling produced wide-open receivers, who he gladly threw to for huge gains.

Also, though TGRW rarely kept the ball on the read option, it always looked like if he had, he could have run all the way to Ellensburg -- even if the pass was closed.

TIME WILL tell if the Seahawks' decision to jettison TGRW and the still-great linebacker Bobby Wagner, the quarterback of the defense, were good ideas.

Maybe with the money they freed up, and if they draft well (which they haven't done in recent years), the players and draft picks they received in the TGRW deal will allow them to re-stock the roster to like it was in the Boom days.

We'll see. It almost always takes an elite quarterback to win a Super Bowl.

The Seahawks had one. Now they don't. We beat Seattle when they had Tarvaris Jackson at QB.

In 1987, after the Dodgers traded pitcher Bob Welch to the Oakland A's, L.A. manager Tommy Lasorda stood in front of the TV cameras and discussed the move.

"Bob Welch wore the Dodger Blue with pride," Tommy said proudly. "He was like a son to me."

Tommy, you just traded your son.

Some 35 years later ...

Pete, you just traded your son.

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 208-664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at mnelke@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter @CdAPressSports.