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Seattle Seahawks: Who is in the team’s “Franchise Four?”

By Keith Myers

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At the All Star Game this week, MLB announced a “Franchise Four” for each of their teams. It was kind of cool, and a fun trip down memory lane. The entire thing made me think about who the “Franchise Four” of the Seattle Seahawks would be.

ICYMI, the #Mariners #FranchiseFour was unveiled at the All-Star Game. More: http://t.co/sQkY5CtRAU pic.twitter.com/SEBJsjw85h

The Hall of Fame made picking three of the four very easy. Cortez Kennedy, Walter Jones and Steve Largent were obvious picks. Leaving any of that group off of the list wouldn’t make any sense. Finding a fourth Seahawk to include was a much tougher process.

Felix Hernandez’s inclusion made me think that I should begin my search by looking at the current roster. There are some definite candidates. Richard Sherman, Earl Thomas, Russell Wilson, Kam Chancellor and Bobby Wagner could all possibly join the three Hall of Famers at some point, but not now in my opinion.

The problems those guys have are that they are still too young. For inclusion, they’d have to qualify even if they left Seattle for another team after this next season. Randy Johnson isn’t included for the Mariners because he spent too much of his career in Arizona and New York.

Marshawn Lynch is at the end of his career, and his best years have been in Seattle. He’s a candidate, right? Unfortunately, no. He’s only had three good years in Seattle. He’s not even the franchise’s top running back.

Matt Hasselbeck? Shaun Alexander? Maybe on both. They were both were great over a short period and played for a long time. Alexander won an NFL MVP in 2005 and briefly held the NFL’s touchdown record. Hasselbeck was the face of the franchise during the team’s best pre-Pete Carroll run.

Either of those guys would make some sense, but let me throw out another name: Kenny Easley.

Easley only played for seven seasons, and all of them were in Seattle. He was a five time Pro Bowler and a three time first team All Pro. Easley is the one guy that most personified that Chuck Knox-era defense.

Easley’s 1984 season is probably the greatest season the NFL has even seen from a strong safety. He finished that season with 10 interceptions, including two he took back for touchdowns. He was also the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year that season.

Sadly, after just seven seasons of letting us watch his greatness, he was diagnosed with kidney disease and had to retire. The brevity of his career is the only thing that is keeping him out of the Hall of Fame. That is an honor I think he deserves anyways, and one that I think he will get at some point.

So Easley would be my pick. Who would you include?

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