By: Peter Vandeventer | @PeteVandeventer
The Seahawks have been a constant team among the NFL hierarchy since the start of the Pete Carroll era, which culminated in beating the Broncos in SB 48, as well as losing the following SB to the Patriots.
The Seahawks were brought into the NFL (along with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers) and played their inaugural season in 1976. In the 43 years since, the Seahawks have fielded countless HoFers which includes Steve Largent and Walter Jones and many current players as well.
In celebration of the NFLs 100th season, it's time to count down the top 100 Seahawks:
100. Blair Walsh
Any player that is single-handedly responsible for winning a playoff game for the Seahawks is deserving of a top 100 spot. Whether he was part of the Seahawks or not is irrelevant. Thank you Blair, even if you also lost the Seahawks multiple games the following year.
99. Percy Harvin
98. Malcolm Smith
97. Jarran Reed
96. Brian Bosworth
95. Michael Dickson
Michael “Big Balls” Dickson has shown why investing in punters during the draft isn't such a bad idea as he works as one of the greatest weapons a poor offense can ask for and the saving grace for an exhausted defense.
94. Terry Wooden
93. Warren Moon
92. Sidney Rice
91. Chris Spencer
90. Duane Brown
Duane Brown has solidified the Seahawks offensive line and has helped protect Wilson’s blindside. And from what I see, the plan is for Duane to end his career in the Blue and Green. Coincidentally that move would increase the longevity of Wilson's career as well by keeping him around.
89. Trent Dilfer
88. Justin Britt
87. Itula Mili
86. Andy Heck
85. Jerry Rice
84. Jimmy Graham
83. Sean Locklear
82. Floyd Womack
81. Julian Peterson
80. Ken Lucas
79. Keith Butler
78. Michael Robinson
77. Tony McDaniel
76. Tavarus Jackson
75. Keith Simpson
74. Patrick Hunter
73. Greg Gaines
72. Frank Clark
*weeping uncontrollably*
71. Rocky Bernard
70. Koren Robinson
69. Ron Essink
68. David Wyman
67. Terry Taylor
66. Steve August
65. Michael Jackson
64. Anthony Simmons
63. Edwin Bailey
62. Bruce Irvin
61.Robert Blackmon
60. Bryan Millard
59. Bruce Scholtz
58. Max Unger
57. Jeff Bryant
56. Lawyer Miloy
55. Darrell Jackson
54. Leon Washington
Leon had 4 kickoffs returned for a TD as a Seahawk which is a franchise record, and he totalled 8 in his career which is tied for most all time. He is clearly one of the most underrated Seahawks of all-time, and electric enough to turn the tide in a game so quickly that is deserving of consideration as one of the NFLs best special teamers of all-time.
53. Steven Haushka
52. Kevin Mawae
51. Chad Brown
50. John Harris
49. Chris Gray
48. Robbie Tobeck
47. Bobby Engram
46. Rufus Porter
45. Michael Sinclair
44. Red Bryant
Red Bryant is one my favorite Seahawks of all-time, he fit well into the system in Seattle and was a greater leader for the Seahawks team that was going through a strong youth movement. His impact on the team far outplayed his stats and production (which still was nothing to mess with).
43. Brandon Browner
42. Jermaine Kearse
41. Russell Okung
40. Golden Tate
39. Joe Nash
38. Fredd Young
Fredd Young made a large impact on the Seahawks, even with his somewhat limited time with them. The hard hitter found his way to 4 pro bowls as a Seahawk as well as the team's leading tackler for 2 of those seasons.
37. John Ryan
36. Brandon Mebane
35. Norm Johnson
34. Ricky Watters
33. Chris Clemons
32. John Williams
31. Chris Warren
30. Dave Brown
Brown was selected by the Seahawks in the expansion draft and in return he rewarded the franchise with 50 interceptions, sounds like that was the right move to me. The Seahawks were able to establish themselves relatively quickly as a franchise due players like Dave Brown as expansion teams often have issues starting up as a franchise.
29. Brian Blades
28. Shawn Springs
27. Jim Zorn
26. Tyler Lockett
25. Mack Strong
24. Joey Galloway
23. Dave Krieg
22. Steve Hutchinson
21. Lofa Tatupu
20. Jacob Green
19. Marcus Trufant
18. Eugene Robinson
Eugene is the current Seahawks leading tackler (not for too long though), and has held it for over 20 years. To add icing on the cake, Eugene finished his seahawks career as the 2nd all time interception leader as well which spoke to how smoothly he played his game. If there was one Seahawk player I wished I was alive to watch play live, it would be Eugene Robinson.
17. Curt Warner
16. Cliff Avril
15. Michael Bennett
14. KJ Wright
13. Matt Hasselback
12. Shaun Alexander
11. Doug Baldwin
10. Kenny Easley
Kenny Easley had the physicality that allowed people to draw comparisons of him in correlation to Kam Chancellor. But to think that Kenny was just “The Enforcer” is wrong, he was a very intuitive player that allowed him to snag 10 interceptions in 1984 and inevitably snag a HoF induction in 2017 after waiting 30 years after his retirement.
9. Marshawn Lynch
Marshawn was the heart of the Seahawks as long as he had a bag of skittles. His personality and playstyle is so unique that you can't help but appreciate Marshawn for who he is. Of course it helps when he makes a run like he did against the saints in the 2010 wildcard game which immortalized him and his place in Seattle sports history, known as the Beast Quake.
8. Cortez Kennedy
Cortez is one of the most underrated players of all time. So much so that he is undervalued by a lot of Seahawks fans today. As a model of consistency, he was never truly appreciated until he was no longer there, both on the football field as well as off; rest in peace Tez.
7. Kam Chancellor
An Original member of the LOB, Kam laid the boom and set the tone that made everyone fear the Seahawks. Kam is on a short list of players that instilled as much fear in opposing defenses than the likes of Ronnie Lott, Brian Dawkins, and Sean Taylor.
6. Earl Thomas
Earl was the glue that held the Seahawks together. The Seahawks were able to run their base cover 3 defense for so long without failure because of the work that Earl put in. His range, ability to read QBs, and quick diagnosis made it impossible for teams to find a hole in the Seahawks defense for his tenure as the starting FS. With the time since his departure shows how important he was to Seattle and its success.
5. Richard Sherman
Richard Sherman help put Seahawks football on the map with his ability to trash talk and back up his words with his even more impressive play. He was so dominant at times where he locked down his entire half of the field and opposing offenses conceded that to him and tried to limit his effect on the game. Not too many players have had his rare combination of ball skills and intelligence and he made sure everyone knew it.
4. Bobby Wagner
The 2012 draft class for the Seahawks produced both Bobby Wagner and Russell Wilson. And ever since that moment, Bobby has moved in silence. His calm demeanor though isn't enough to prevent fans from seeing the consistency he has exuberated since coming into the league and leading Seahawk defenses that have always been towards (if not the top) of the league.
3. Russell Wilson
Russell Wilson will be one of the greatest players of all-time when he decides to hang his cleats up. From being picked in the 3rd round, to being named started ahead of Matt Flynn, through playoff losses, and his SB win; Russ’ mantra about going “1-0 every week” has allowed him to keep striving for bigger and better things. And with no real end in sight, Russ will inevitably eclipse Jones and Largent, sooner rather than later.
2. Walter Jones
Walter Jones was the epitome of a protector of blindside. Walter played 13 years in the NFL
where he saw 180 career games and over 5,500 pass attempts. Over that span, he was responsible for only 23 sacks and held only 9 times. Those numbers can't even be recreated in video games (probably because I hold onto the ball too long anyways). There has been and will never be another player like Walter.
1. Steve Largent
Steve Largent, also known as “Yoda,” was able to make any play you could imagine. He was undersized, too slow, didn't have gloves, but still was able to finish off his career with all major receiving records imaginable. Being able to boast all those records before retiring is a feeling few were able to lay claim to, and although Jerry Rice broke those records, he did it in a way that not many could replicate.
Now obviously, I missed a few and misplaced just as many, that's what you expect to happen when you have to pick apart an entire franchise. Thankfully we all can sign in unison and say “cheers” for another 100 years of the NFL.