Seattle Seahawks: 15 greatest players in franchise history

The Seattle Seahawks have been around since 1976, and they've never had an overly long period of being awful. In perhaps the franchise's worst decade - the 1990s - the team was basically the perfect example of mediocre with several seasons hanging around .500. Luckily, since 2001, the team has been pretty good for most of those seasons.

A lot of the reason for Seattle's relative success over several decades is due to having some excellent players. The coaching has been pretty good as well, of course, but even the best of coaches need players they can mold. The 15 players that follow were not only moldable, but had the raw physical attributes to be great.

The following 15 players are a mix. Some were part of great teams and part of a great unit that lifted the Seahawks to among the best in the NFL at the time. Some players deserved to be a on better teams. But here are the best 15 players in Seattle Seahawks history (2023 version so let's hope in 10 years so of the current rookies and second-year guys are on this list).

Ranking the 15 best Seattle Seahawks in franchise history

Curt Warner could have been so much more. He still had a productive career, but he could have exceeded 10,000 yards had he stayed healthy. Instead, almost his entire second season was missed due to an injuy in Week 1. This came after a rookie year where he ran for 1,449 yards and 13 touchdowns.

Warner was the third overall pick in the 1983 NFL draft. He led the AFC in rushing his first year and was a three-time Pro Bowler during his career in Seattle. But his career just eight seasons, and his final year was spent with the Rams. Between 1985 and 1988, Warner ran for at least 1,025 each season in three of those four years. In the one season that he didn't reach 1,000 yards it was only because the league went on strike and Warner missed four games because of that. He still finished with 985 yards.

Warner was voted second-team All-Pro by the Associated Press three times. He finished third in Offensive Rookie of the Year voting as well. Warner was a good player, but he and the Seahawks are probably still left wondering what might have been if he hadn't torn his ACL in his season season.

Seahawks QB Matt Hasselbeck played with Seattle from 2001 through 2010

Matt Hasselbeck is the second-best quarterback in franchise history. One could debate that Dave Krieg is a close second, but Hasselbeck also led the Seahawks to the franchise's first Super Bowl. Hasselbeck was possibly the greatest fit for the Seattle teams of the early-to-mid 2000s and he was a vocal leader on a team that had several quiet guys. He was also a good quarterback on his own, even though he got to play with left tackle Walter Jones and running back Shaun Alexander (yeah, possibly more on those guys in just a bit).

Between 2003 and 2007, Seattle made the playoffs every season. The team made the franchise's first Super Bowl in 2005 (12s all know except for bad officiating the team would have also won its first championship in 2005, too). Except for the seasons between 2008 and 2010, Hasselbeck led the Seahawks to a record of 57-39.

He was also named to the Pro Bowl three times during his time with Seattle. He ranks second all-time on Seattle's passing yardage list (29,434), third in touchdown passes (174), third in wins by a starting quarterback (69).

The reason Hasselbeck ranks on this list and not Dave Krieg who was with the Seahawks from 1980 through 1991 is that Hasselbeck had a better interception to pass percent - 3.0 percent for Hasselbeck and 4.1 for Krieg - and Hasselbeck has a slightly better completion percentage - 60.2 for Hasselbeck and 58.6 for Krieg. Krieg was good as well, but took over as QB1 when the team around him was pretty decent too. Hasselbeck had to help rebuild the team.

Seahawks S Eugene Robinson played with Seattle from 1985 through 1995

I hate to start with Robinson this way, but in many NFL circles, he might be best remembered for being arrested for solicitation of prostitution the night before his Atlanta Falcons were set to play the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LI. I only bring this up because some reading this article might be like, "Yeah, but Robinson did that bad thing!" And he did, but not when he was a member of the Seattle Seahawks.

Seattle signed Robinson as an undrafted free agent before the 1985 season. Robinson had played at Colgate so many NFL teams were scared off by his lack of playing against other high-level talent in college. Could Robinson translate his Ivy League success into being a productive pro? The answer ended up being a resounding yes!

Robinson played 11 years with Seattle and made two Pro Bowls. He also missed just two games in his Seahawks seasons (he actually missed only two games in the 16 years he played in the NFL). Four times with Seattle he eclipsed 100 tackles in a season, he intercepted 42 passes, and he forced 10 fumbles. His 42 picks still rank second on Seattle's all-time list.

Robinson is the all-time franchise leader in solo tackles with 942. Bobby Wagner is second but would have to get 123 solo tackles in 2023 to tie Robinson (check this article about this time next year to see if Wagner was able to do that). Robinson is fifth all-time with 15 fumble recoveries. The shame is what happened after Robinson left Seattle somewhat overshadows his greatness when he was with the team.

Seahawks RB Shaun Alexander played with Seattle from 2000 through 2007

There could be several arguments made for Alexander ranking quite a bit higher on this list. But due to the relative shortness of his production in Seattle mixed with who he had blocking in front of him, I have him lower. There is another running back on this list ranked higher than Alexander simply because the running back to follow had to grind out a lot more of his yards than having the luxury of running behind two future Hall of Famers on the left side of the Seattle offensive line that Alexander had.

But Alexander was still a fantastic player, and he had arguably the greatest single season of any Seattle player in the franchise's history. That season was, of course, 2005, but I will get more into that in just a second. Worth noting is that Alexander wasn't just great for that one season. Before 2005, Alexander had had four straight seasons of at least 1,318 rushing yards. He also had at least 14 rushing touchdowns in those four years.

Oddly, though, Alexander didn't make the Pro Bowl until 2003. It is like it took the NFL a couple of seasons to realize just how good Alexander was. He was second-team All-Pro in 2004 when he ran for 1,696 yards and and led the league with 20 total touchdowns.

But 2005 was unbelievably good. He led the NFL in rushing yards (1,880), total touchdowns (28 - a league record at the time), rushing yards per game (117.5), and Alexander was named the league's MVP. 2005 may have caused Alexander to run out of gas long-term, however, as he only played three more years, two for the Seahawks, and had a combined 1,636 ushing yards.

Seahawks RB Marshawn Lynch played with Seattle from 2010 through 2015, and in 2019

So I mentioned in the previous slide that one running back that won't actually come close to Alexnader's raw statistics will rank above Alexander. That is Marshawn Lynch. Lynch was much more than just a guy quarterback Russell Wilson would turn and hand the ball to. Lynch transformed the offensive identity of the Seahawks when the team absolutely needed it to be changed. Lynch was aggressive and had no fear and the rest of the team picked up on this.

Lynch is fourth all-time for Seattle in rushing yards (6,381) but he also played at least 10 fewer games than the three running backs ranked above him (Alexander is first by quite a distance with 9,429 yards but he played in 36 more games with Seattle than Lynch). Lynch is second in rushing touchdowns with 58. He also is second in rushing yards per game (76.9).

Between 2011 and 2015, Lynch ran for at least 1,204 yards a season with Seattle. He ran for double-digit touchdowns in each of those seasons as well. In 2013 and 2014, Lynch led the NFL in rushing touchdowns (12 and 13, respectively). He was a first-team All-Pro in 2012, and he was second-team All-Pro in 2014. He made the Pro each year between 2011 and 2015.

But Lynch ranks 11th overall here, and a notch above Alexander simply for reasons that cannot be measured in statistics. He would talk to anyone in the locker room - long-snapper to quarterback - and treat everyone the same. Players respected Beast Mode and wanted to play hard with him. In Seattle's best seasons of the early 2010s, Lynch was the identity of the offense, not the quarterback.

Seahawks CB Dave Brown played with Seattle from 1976 through 1986

Dave Brown was a great player who played at a time when he would have been better served had social media been around. He was hidden in the Pacific Northwest so his excellence went fairly unknown by those fans who lived in New York or Los Angeles. Thankfully, things have changed and the world knows where Seattle is and knows who plays for the Seahawks. Dave Brown deserved more recognition.

Brown joined the team during the franchise's first season (1976) after spending a year with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He went from a seldom-used Steeler to a full-time starter in Seattle. Between 1976 and 1986 as long as Dave Brown was healthy, he was starting on the right side at outside corner for the Seahawks.

He only made one Pro Bowl (1984), but deserved so many more. Six times Brown had at least 5 interceptions in a season for Seattle. (He had another season in his last year in the league when he played for the Green Bay Packers.) Between 1983 and 1985, Brown had a combined 22 picks. Between 1984 and 1986, Brown had a combined 4 interceptions returned for touchdowns.

Brown is the franchise leader in interceptions with 50. He is first by 8 picks so that gives you some kind of indication of his production. Brown is also 10th in fumble recoveries with 12. Basically, Brown got the ball back for the Seattle offense 62 times during his career. Just think about that for a second.

Seahawks CB Richard Sherman played with Seattle from 2011 through 2017

Richard Sherman was obviously one of the best cornerbacks of the 2010s, if not the best CB in the NFL. He led the league in interceptions during the decade. He was first-team All-Pro each season between 2012 and 2014 and he was named second-team All-Pro in two more seasons (one was with the San Francisco 49ers after Sherman had left Seattle). He made five Pro Bowls, but oddly not in 2012 when he was first-team All-Pro.

But the reason Sherman ranks higher than Dave Brown on this list is because of the uncommon leadership skills that Sherman brought to the team. While safety Kam Chancellor, who I don't have on this list but he just barely missed making it, was the thunder in the Legion of Boom, Sherman helped allow Chancellor to cheat inside the box against the run because Chancellor knew Sherman was shutting down the passing game on one side of the field.

Sherman didn't just play the pass extremely well, however. He was a big corner at 6'3" and 210 pounds and he liked to hit people and then talk about it. He played the run as well as any cornerback ever has. And one of the reasons the LOB was so intimidating was because the guys in the secondary left no quarter. There were no easy yards whether a team was throwing or running.

Sherman left the team in 2018 and even though he suffered through an injury-riddled 2017, Seattle likely shouldn't have left Sherman leave. They had no real replacement for him for years. He is the best corner Seattle has ever had and played on the best secondary maybe the NFL has ever seen.

Seahawks S Earl Thomas played with Seattle from 2010 through 2018

Earl Thomas can bring up many conflicting emotions for 12s. He's had some issues since he last played in the NFL in 2019, and, of course, he didn't exactly leave the field as a Seattle Seahawk in the best of ways either. After a contract holdout, Thomas played in four games for the Seahawks in 2018 before injuring his knee and being carted off the field. He held up his middle finger to the Seattle sidelines while being carted off.

But the 14th overall pick in the 2010 NFL draft was a choice of brilliance for new head coach Pete Carroll and new general manager John Schneider at the time. The team was trying to rebuild itself from what was a contender in the mid-2000s and had become a bad team by 2009. Schneider and Carroll nearly completely remade the roster, but they needed someone on the backend of the defense that could make sure what happened in front of them got better. Thomas was that guy.

While Thomas had an immediate impact with 5 interceptions in his rookie season, he didn't make an All-Pro team or earn a spot in the Pro Bowl. But 2010 would be the last year until 2016 that he didn't earn some accolades. Thomas was first-team All-Pro from 2012 through 2014 and made the Pro Bowl from 2011 through 2015 and again in 2017.

Thomas's speed allowed the rest of the defense to operate nearly independently. Players such as Chancellor and linebacker Bobby Wagner knew they could cheat a bit more in run support because they knew Thomas had their backs, literally. If the LOB had a thunder and lightning, Thomas would have been the lightning to Kam Chancellor's thunder, potentially forming the best safety duo in the history of the league.

Seahawks DE Jacob Green played for Seattle from 1980 through 1991

Like Dave Brown, Green played at a time when he should have gotten more respect. His production was just astonishing. He made only two Pro Bowls (1986 and 1987), however and he was also sixth in the Associated Press' Defensive Rookie of the Year voting in 1980. Green played 12 of his 13 NFL seasons with Seattle from 1980 through 1991.

Between 1981 and 1988, Green had at least 9 sacks in each season he was healthy in. That said, there was only one season he was injured and that was in 1982. Except for 1982, between 1981 and 1986, Green had at least 12 sacks every year with a high of 16 in 1983. Still, he somehow didn't make the Pro Bowl though he finished third in the league in sacks.

Green did have a few oddities in his career. He had 3 interceptions, and 2 of them he returned for touchdowns. On one he went for 73 yards. He also returned 2 fumbles for touchdowns as well. Scoring 4 touchdowns from a defensive end position is no small feat.

Green dominates the Seahawks' all-time sack list. He had 115.5 with Seattle. The next best is Michael Sinclair with 73.5. Green is also fourth all-time with 17 fumble recoveries, but he leads all defensive players in the category (the top three are all silly quarterbacks who like to pick up their own fumbles). Green was one of the best defensive line players in the 1980s and might be the most underappreciated of them all.

Seahawks QB Russell Wilson played with Seattle from 2012 through 2021

Finally! A player that 12s are not at all conflicted about. Am I right? OK, I am clearly joking. And since this slide is about how Russell Wilson is one of the best players in the history of the Seattle Seahawks, the slide will be mostly positive. And it should be because Wilson was mostly excellent during his time as the Seahawks starting quarterback.

Wilson holds most of the passing records in franchise history and most of the numbers are not close. So here we go. With the Seahawks, Wilson had 37,059 yards passing (second-best is Hasselbeck with 29,434), he had 292 touchdown passes (next-best is Dave Krieg with 195), Wilson is the only quarterback with more than one year of starting experience to have a career quarterback rating over 100, Wilson led the team to 32 game-winning drives (next best is Krieg with 19). Mostly importantly, Wilson was QB1 in 104 of the Seahawks victories, and next best was Krieg with 70.

Wilson was so good around 2015 that the team decided to change its offensive identity from one that ran the ball quite a bit to one that threw the ball a lot more. Long-term that transition can be debated as to whether it made the team better, but Wilson also awarded the team with a 34-8 touchdown-to-interception ration in 2015.

Wilson made the Pro Bowl nine times with Seattle. He was second-team All-Pro in 2019. Wilson's legacy will long be debated by 12s in the way he left the team and what he said about the franchise after he left, but there is no arguing Wilson is the best quarterback in franchise history.

Seahawks LB Bobby Wagner currently plays for the Seahawks, thankfully

First of all, and I don't know how well this sentence is going to age, but how nice is it that Bobby Wagner is back with the Seattle Seahawks? Watching him play for the Los Angeles Rams in 2022 just seemed like some kind of warped nightmare. Worse for 12s is that Wagner was really good for the Rams with 6 sacks, 2 interceptions and 140 tackles. But this slide isn't about the greatness of Wagner as a Ram, but as a Seahawk.

Wagner and Wilson are contemporaries, of course. And yes, quarterback is the most important position on the football field, so why do I have Wagner ranked ahead of Wilson? Not out of spite, mind you. But simply because Wagner was better at his position than Wilson was at his, plus Wagner was the quarterback of one of the best defenses in the history of the league.

Between 2014 and 2020, Wagner was named first-team All-Pro six times. He even received an MVP vote in 2014 which is insane for a linebacker. But that just goes to show you how well respected Wagner was and still is. He led the NFL in combined tackles twice and solo tackles once, and he made eight straight Pro Bowls from 2014 through 2020.

Wagner's real value to the defense cannot be measured. He isn't as vocal as Sherman or Thomas, but he was an undisputed leader of the defense. He proved himself on the field during every game of every season, missing only nine games between 2012 and 2020. The Seahawks defense would still have been very good without Wagner, but with Wagner the defense was historical.

Seahawks S Kenny Easley played for Seattle from 1981 through 1987

Several of the guys previously mentioned here are probably going to be Pro Football Hall of Famers one day. Sherman and Wagner should almost be locks. Russell Wilson probably will make it one day, though that depends a bit more on how his career with the Denver Broncos continues (again, this sentence might not age that well so check back early and often and feel free to chastise). But Kenny Easley is one of the best safeties in the history of the league, and that is true even though his career was cut short by injury.

Easley only played seven seasons, all with the Seahawks. He was first-team All-Pro each year between 1983 and 1985. He was AFC (Seattle used to play in the AFC, you see) Defensive Player of the Year in 1983, his third year in the league. In his fourth season (1984), he was the NFL Defensive Player of the Year. That season, Easley had 10 interceptions and returned 2 of them for touchdowns.

But much more than just a coverage safety, Easley could have played either free safety or strong safety with ease. He had excellent coverage skills, but he was really a thumper. Opposing receivers feared knowing Easley - the original Enforcer - was coming close to them with ever-increasing speed after they caught the ball.

Because Easley only played for a short time, the Pro Football Hall of Fame took far too long to induct him into Canton. He finally made it into the Hall of Fame in 2017.

Seahawks DT Cortez Kennedy played for Seattle from 1990 through 2000

Cortez Kennedy was the second Seahawk to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. This happened in 2012, and he should have been inducted before that. NFL players can be voted into Canton five years after their careers ended. Kennedy stopped playing in 2000 and there is zero reason he should haven't been enshrined in the mid-2000s. But that might just be another example of the bias directed against the Pacific Northwest.

Kennedy was part of the NFL's All-Decade team in 1990s, and he had perhaps the best season by any interior defensive lineman ever in 1992. That season he won the league's Defensive Player of the Year award when he had 14 sacks, 4 forced fumbles, and 92 tackles. Not only is that a really high number for a defensive tackle, but that he collected all those sacks means he was constantly disrupting when sometime he was by far the best player on Seattle's defense.

This is likely why Kennedy's career numbers are not higher. He played on many mediocre teams in Seattle and didn't often have a lot of help. He still managed to have 6.5 or more sacks in six different years. Tackles for loss were not an official statistic for the NFL during the majority of Kennedy's career or his numbers would have been massive there as well. In his next-to-last season when he wasn't quite the same player he was earlier in his career, he had 13 TFLs. Imagine what the early 1990s were like for him.

Kennedy earned eight Pro Bowl nods and was named first-team All-Pro three times. He was second-team All-Pro once. Sadly, Kennedy passed away in 2017.

Seahawks WR Steve Largent played with Seattle from 1976 through 1989

Steve Largent wasn't supposed to be anywhere as good as he became. He wasn't the fastest receiver or the biggest, but he just had a knack for getting open. Largent was exactly what a coach would want from a football player. He worked hard to make himself better and by the time he was done, he was arguably the greatest wide receiver the NFL had ever seen.

When Largent retired in 1989, he held the NFL record for most catches (819), receiving yards (13,089), and touchdown catches (100). He also had had a catch in 177 straight games. Between 1978 and 1986, Largent had at least 1,064 yards receiving each season except for the strike-shortened season of 1982. He led the NFL in receiving yards twice.

He was a model of consistency. He had between 8 and 12 touchdown receptions in a season eight times. And he had between 66 and 79 catches in a season eight times as well. Yet somehow Largent managed to only be a first-team All-Pro one time. He was a second-team All-Pro four times. Just think of how ridiculous that reads when one holds up Largent's numbers compared to every other one of his contemporaries.

Largent was selected by the Houston Oilers in the fourth round of the 1976 NFL draft. But Largent didn't play that well through the preseason and the Oilers were going to release him. Thankfully for Seahawks history, Seattle decided to trade an eighth-round pick to get Largent, which is probably one of the most one-sided trades ever made.

Seahawks LT Walter Jones played with Seattle from 1997 through 2008

One reason running back Shaun Alexander got all his rushing yards in the early 2000s is he got to run behind a left side of the offensive line that had future Hall of Famers Walter Jones and Steve Hutchinson. But while Hutchinson was obviously very good, Jones is arguably the greatest left tackle to ever play.

Jones was named to the NFL's All-Decade team for the 2000s. He earned four first-team All-Pro nods and made the Pro Bowl nine times. Even when he was close to retiring, his skills were not diminishing. He was named second-team All-Pro in his final year of 2008. He also made second-team All-Pro one other time.

In 180 games - between 1998 and 2007, Jones missed just four games - he allowed just 23 sacks. He was also called for holding just nine times. This means not only was he not getting beaten by some edge rusher on the other side, but he was thoroughly dominating his competition. Unlike Cortez Kennedy and Kenny Easley, Jones was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility (2014).

Jones wasn't the most vocal player during his playing days, but he didn't need to be. He led with his actions on the field. While his numbers are less tangible than a receiver or running back, the fact that Jones didn't allow other players to add to their own statistics is just another reason Walter Jones is the greatest player to ever wear a Seahawks uniform.

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