As the Seahawks hit the finishing stretch of their 50th anniversary season, they have played 787 regular-season games and another 36 in the playoffs and taken part in three Super Bowls and won one.
And as of Sunday, there have been 1,187 different men who have played at least one snap in a regular-season game for the Seahawks.
That’s everyone from Oday Aboushi — first in the alphabetical order — to Jim Zorn, who maybe fittingly as the first person to handle a quarterback snap in a Seahawks game might forever be last on the A-to-Z list, though he was joined on the Z line this year by Grey Zabel.
If you’re wondering, that first offensive play was a handoff from Zorn to Andy Bolton for no gain against the St. Louis Cardinals on Sept. 12, 1976 at the Kingdome.
Who are the 50 best of all who have donned a Seahawks uniform?
The team named its official list earlier this year, and it’s hard to go wrong with their selections.
We’re here to take it one step further and not only select a Top 50 but rank them.
Where do the four players who spent all of their careers in Seattle who were elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame fit in? How do we slot the numerous players who led the Legion of Boom era that gave the team its only Super Bowl title to date?
There are no definitive answers. All lists and rankings are obviously subjective.
Let this list serve as a hopefully fun and memory-stirring walk down Seahawks lane.
We’ll count down, leaving in suspense who gets the No. 1 spot.
The Seahawks have had truly great and exciting punting for two decades now. Ryan’s NFC title-game TD pass is one of the most memorable plays in team history. Dickson’s double punt among the unique.
Smith, who is ninth all-time in rushing yards at 3,429 and averaged 35 receptions a season and was a key part of the fun early years, ranks 36th among all Seahawks on Pro Football Reference’s Career Approximate Value rating all-time list.
It’s no longer too early to consider JSN one of the team’s greats. Not after he set another significant single-season receiving record this year with the most receiving yards in team history. He’s on pace to the greatest receiving season in NFL history and is already 11th all-time in receptions (243) and 12th in receiving yards (3,071) in team history.
Reed is tied for 10th in team history in sacks, playing a position where that’s not easy to do and has become a strong team leader in his later years.
The quiet member of the best O-line in Seahawks history. Those who were there say he was the glue who helped keep it all together. His 121 consecutive starts are second most in team history.
Two Pro Bowls as a special teamer and 37.5 sacks as a linebacker for one of the more fun to watch players in team history.
The only Seahawks offensive lineman aside from Hall of Famers Walter Jones and Steve Hutchinson to earn first team All-Pro honors (in 2012).
Second all-time in games played (201) and maybe first all-time in intangibles supplied.
In just 67 games, forced 13 fumbles (tied for fourth in team history) and had 34.5 sacks, just off the Top 10. And is credited with the most memorable safety in team history to start the Super Bowl.
Leading receiver on 2005 Super Bowl team and Top 10 career in receptions (399, eighth), receiving yards (4,859, seventh) and touchdowns (18, 10th).
Leader of line on 2005 Super Bowl team, started 88 games with one Pro Bowl.
Started 120 games and all seven playoff contests of the Knox era and ranks 27th in PFR’s Career Approximate Value list as a Seahawk.
Few players were as exciting to watch as Galloway (his four punt returns for TDs remains a team record) though sadly, few were watching during that era.
Could argue he should be higher — his 6,706 rushing yards are second-most in team history. But like Galloway, he played during a down era.
Fifth all-time in receiving yards (6,445) and second in postseason receptions (41) and had 20 catches in the 2005 postseason alone.
Turned out to be missing piece for the defense that got Seahawks to first Super Bowl in 2005. Three-interception game at Philly in 2007 will never be forgotten.
Third all-time in receiving yards (7,620) and receptions (581) and would rank higher if he’d gotten a chance to play in a few more postseason games.
If he’d stayed on path he was, would surely be a top 20 all-time Seahawk at the least. Still, packed in a lot of excitement in six seasons.
His signing was critical to prove franchise was moving in new direction under Paul Allen and he paid it off with 48 sacks, fifth most in team history.
Fourth all-time in tackles (813) and lauded for his on-field leadership during the early, good Knox years.
Only player in team history who is Top 10 in rushing yards (4,579, sixth), receptions (471, fifth) and receiving yards (4,151, ninth).
Second all-time in sacks (73.5) and holds single-season record with 16.5 in 1998.
Third all-time in interceptions (41) and first in postseason interceptions (four). Had an interception and fumble recovery in memorable playoff win at Miami in 1983.
Anchor of 2005 Super Bowl team's secondary and his 21 picks is seventh all-time. Also bridged gap between Super Bowl eras.
It was always underrated how good the D-line was in the LOB era and Mebane was a big key to that (and we couldn’t have this list without the Belly Roll.) If only he’d stayed healthy in 2014.
The messy departure and short career shouldn’t overshadow how good he was and how important he was to the 2005 Super Bowl team.
No tougher player in franchise history and his NFL-high 14 TDs in 2015 feels like one of the more underrated great seasons in team history. His 50 playoff receptions are most in team history.
Seventh in sacks with 39 and first in post-NFC title winning celebratory bike rides and creative sack dances.
Helped keep things together in the back end during some rough years for the franchise. Second all-time in tackles (984).
Third all-time in tackles (934), first in screen passes prevented and was as important to the LOB defense as anyone.
Third in sacks with 63 and had 14.5 in the 12-4 season of 1984 while starting all seven playoff games of the Knox era.
Oh what might have been if not for the 1984 knee injury. Still ranks third in rushing (6,705) and his acquisition was the key to Ground Chuck.
Second in every meaningful receiving category behind only Steve Largent (661 receptions, 8,594 yards, 61 TDs). Might be first in acrobatic catches.
Raw stats will never do justice to Zorn’s importance in the early years and giving Seahawks almost immediate respectability. Third in NFL MVP voting in 1978.
First-team All-Pro in leading Seahawks to 12-4 record in 1984 and his 218 games played are most in team history. Should be in the Ring of Honor.
Team-record 50 career interceptions and five pick-sixes are marks that may never be broken.
The Beast Quake Run feels like the true beginning of the LOB era. Fourth in rushing yards at 6,381 but second in TDs with 55. Was never better than in the playoffs with 970 yards in 13 games and 4.6 per carry.
Mudbone led Seahawks to their first postseason success in 1983 and is second in passing TDs with 195. His 32 TD passes in 1984 stood as team record until 2015.
Sure, he had lots of help up front. But he took advantage of it well, especially in 2005 when he had a season no Seahawks running back may ever top (1,880 yards, 27 TDs).
The man who truly put the boom in the LOB (just ask Vernon Davis). And yes, probably should have been the MVP of the Super Bowl win.
Hasselbeck did take the ball and score a lot in his Seahawks career and could have put up far bigger numbers if the running game hadn’t been so dominant. Nice lasting memory in leading the Seahawks to win in Beast Quake game in final home game.
First in team history in sacks with 116, a number that may never be topped and had 12 or more every year from 1983-86. Should probably be better remembered nationally than he is.
It’s worth remembering that Thomas did his job patrolling the back of the secondary so well that opponents were reluctant to throw deep much. His 28 picks are sixth in team history.
The original Seahawks enforcer, Easley’s 1984 season (league-high 10 interceptions with two pick sixes) will forever stand among the best in team history.
While the question of who was the most important piece of the LOB will be debated forever, Sherman’s ability to eliminate one side of the field is hard to top. His bravado on and off the field also helped define that era.
The Seahawks have had a lot of great defensive players the last 30-plus years. But Kennedy is the most recent to be named NFL Defensive Player of the Year. His eight Pro Bowl nods are third most in team history.
Largent was the first great Seahawk and a legitimate case can be made that he should still be considered the greatest. His receiving numbers (819 catches 13,089 yards and 100 TDs) may never be topped.
Some consider Jones the best left tackle of all time and the 2005 Super Bowl doesn’t happen without him. His four first-team All-Pros are second in team history and nine Pro Bowls tied for first.
The Seahawks defense was already verging on great with the drafts of 2010 and 2011. Adding Wagner to man the middle in 2012 was the piece that made it legendary. Longevity helps set Wagner apart from the rest of the LOB — his six first-team All-Pro selections are first in team history and nine Pro Bowls are tied with Jones.
Wilson’s messy departure and post-Seattle struggles may lead to some revisionist history about what he meant to the Seahawks.
Wilson led the Seahawks to records of 11-5 and 12-4 in 2019 and 2020 when the only two members of the LOB remaining were Wagner and Wright.
He went 104-53-1 as a starter. The Seahawks are 306-323 otherwise. He holds almost every significant team passing record and is also fifth in rushing (4,689) and has the second-best yards per carry average at 5.6, providing a running threat that undoubtedly helped Lynch do what he did.
He also has the 16th most passing yards in NFL history — 31st on his Seahawks career alone. He’s still fifth in NFL history in passer rating, 10th in interception rate, fourth in adjusted yards per pass attempt (which accounts for TDs and interceptions), fourth in touchdown percentage and ninth in fourth-quarter comebacks.
The reality is quarterbacks are the most important player on the field and the timing was perfect for the Seahawks to find one of the best when it had every other piece in place.
And yes, if we update this list in a few years, Leonard Williams and Devon Witherspoon will surely be on it, it not a few other current Seahawks. Who they might knock off we’ll leave for another day.
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