Four most random players in Seattle Seahawks history

The Seahawks have had a way of adding great players near the ends of their careers.
Running back Franco Harris
Running back Franco Harris / George Rose/GettyImages
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Like every NFL team, the Seattle Seahawks have had their share of random players over the years. These would be players who made their bones with other teams and then somehow found their way to the Pacific Northwest. Every player on this list finishes their career in a Seattle uniform, though they spent little time with the team.

Another player not on this list is tight end Greg Olsen. He had a great career, but not as good as the players that follow. He was also not overly kind to Seattle after he left. Olsen appeared to care more about himself than the team.

There are no players on the 2024 roster who might be viewed as random. All of the newest acquisitions are hopefully going to help the team for several years. None are Hall of Famers like these guys.

Four of the most random players to be Seattle Seahawks

Running back Franco Harris (1984)

Like every player on this list, Harris finished his excellent career with the Seattle Seahawks. Also, like most of these players, Harris did not contribute much in Seattle. If he had, he likely would not be a random player but might have stuck around for a couple of seasons. Harris playing one season with a team other than the Pittsburgh Steelers likely had more to do with money than anything.

Players forty years ago still got beat up but did not make as much money. Playing as long as one could pay the bills. If a team was willing to take a chance on a player, why would they not play?

Between 1972 and 1983, Harris averaged almost 1,000 yards rushing a year with the Steelers. He made the Pro Bowl nine times. He also won four Super Bowls. With the Seahawks in 1984, Harris played in only eight games, rushed for 170 yards, and averaged just 2.5 yards a carry. Still, 12s can say he was a Seahawk.

Wide receiver Jerry Rice (2004)

Jerry Rice was a freak. By the time he was traded to the Seahawks, he had been in the league for 19 years, won multiple Super Bowls, and set a crazy number of records. He had no need to keep playing, and he certainly had no reason to still be productive. Yet, in two of his three seasons with the Oakland Raiders after no longer playing for the San Francisco 49ers, he had 1,000-yard receiving seasons.

Unfortunately, he could not continue that same success with Seattle. He played in 11 games for the Seahawks and caught 25 passes (on 49 targets), but he did have three touchdown receptions. The guy could not help scoring, it seemed. He had 208 in his career, 33 better than second-place Emmitt Smith.

Running back Edgerrin James (2009)

James was not old when he signed with Seattle in 2009 - he was only 31 - but he was well past his prime because he had already played ten years and carried the ball almost 3,000 times. Never before his 2008 season with the Arizona Cardinals had James been benched, but Arizona had had enough of him.

Seattle had released Shaun Alexander in 2007 but thought that maybe another older running back could take his place. That turned out to be false. James played in only seven games for the Seahawks and ran the ball 46 times for just 125 yards. That was third on a Seahawks team that would see Pete Carroll hired as head coach the following season.

Running back Adrian Peterson (2021)

Peterson might seem memorable as a Seattle player for what he did off the field. He only appeared in one game for the Seahawks. He ran the ball 11 times for a whopping 16 yards. One of those carries resulted in a touchdown, however.

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Still, Peterson was a veteran voice for Rashaad Penny and Peterson seemingly told Penny how to play hurt - at least, for a short time. Penny returned fully from yet another injury in Week 14 of 2021 and in four of his final five games, he ran for at least 135 yards.

Peterson finished his career with 14,918 rushing yards and 120 rushing touchdowns. He had some off-field issues as a player, but he will be a first-ballot Hall of Famer. He just did not earn that honor while playing for the Seahawks.

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