Charles Cross gave fans the clearest sign yet of the Seahawks’ special culture

Thursday night chaos unfurled in the late stages between the Seattle Seahawks and Arizona Cardinals. It certainly seemed after Zach Charbonnett scored a one-yard touchdown late in the second quarter that Seattle was beginning to pull away.

That may not have been the case, but the play Charbonnet scored on still says a lot about the team Seattle is fielding in 2025. After all, it took a second and third effort, and some help from his friends, to cross the goalline. Chief among those friends was Charles Cross, who all but carried Charbonnet into the endzone himself.

Head coach Mike Macdonald commended his left tackle for the effort, though maybe not in the manner he intended.

“I screwed it up. I should have given Charles a game ball,” Macdonald said after the game. “That’s one of my favorite plays I’ve ever seen.”

Charles Cross embodied the Seattle Seahawks’ team-first mindset with his effort at the goal line

Macdonald shouldn’t feel too bad. The Prime broadcast team didn’t acknowledge Cross practically tackling his running back into the endzone either.

Cross responded to his efforts after the game.

“I just saw he wasn’t in the endzone yet and, you know, just playing team ball, helping my guys, pushing the pile, especially in the endzone,” Cross said after the game. “That was a big emphasis for tonight, you know, just executing ‘next’.”

“I was in tunnel vision at the moment. So I was just running through him and making sure he was in the endzone.”

The 25-year-old left tackle is in his fourth season with the franchise and has quietly grown into a leader. While giving that last push is a standard for most offensive linemen worth their salt, when a leader is put in Cross’s position, it can go a long way in highlighting the locker room camaraderie.

“I've just been where my feet are at. Enjoying the guys, enjoying this team,” Cross said. “We have a great team, great guys in every room. And the environment here is, man, it’s special here. Something special is brewing here.”

It’s positive enough that Cross is great at his primary job. He hasn’t allowed a sack or committed a penalty yet this season. 

But watching a young player go from a promising first-round pick to a locker room leader is always a warm sight to see. It gives the fans a positive outlook and faith in the effort by the front office and coaching staff in their teambuilding strategy. After all, a team doesn’t just need good players and athletes; it needs good people who will step up and do whatever extra is needed to secure victory.

Sure, Arizona got back into the game late in the second half, long after this play took place. But that goalline score to close out the first half sums up everything the NFL needs to know about the Seattle Seahawks in 2025.