Here's the good thing about most of Seattle Seahawks' history: The players who have been successful have stuck around for a while. Seattle has mostly built successful teams through the draft, especially since 2010, and those players are good for several years instead of one year and done. I guess that's the good thing about general manager John Schneider and head coach Pete Carroll not overspending for free agents; Those players don't move on soon after being signed.
Still, the Seahawks have had their share of one-hit wonders. Marshawn Lynch wasn't that, of course, but he made himself into one for just the end of 2019. How special was it to have him back when nearly every other Seattle running back had been hurt.
One of the players that follows actually caused Lynch to move on from the Seahawks in the first place. Another is a Hall of Fame quarterback. And two are named Derrick. Here are five one-season heroes in Seahawks history.
Seahawks wide receiver Derrick Mayes (1999)
12s likely remember Derrick Mayes, but the rest of the world? Probably not too much.
(Well, maybe Packers' fans.) Mayes was actually a second-round pick in 1996 out of Notre Dame by Green Bay. To say he was a bust for the Packers would be putting it mildly as he had only 730 yards receiving over three years and started just 9 games. He had 5 touchdown catches for the Packers as well, but 3 came in one game in 1998.
Green Bay traded Mayes to the Seahawks before the 1999 season in return for a seventh-round pick. But for one season, at least, Mayes was really good for Seattle. During the 1999 season, Mayes was targeted 103 times, caught 62 of those targets for 829 yards and 10 touchdowns. The 10 touchdowns were eighth in the NFL in 1999. Mayes led the Seahawks in receptions and touchdown catches, finished second on the team in targets, and in receiving yards.
Mayes would not be able to come close to those numbers in 2000, however, as he finished with just 29 catches for 264 yards and 1 touchdown. He was released by the team and never played in the NFL again. In 1999, Mayes had more touchdown receptions than the rest of his career combined. His 829 yards receiving were more than he had in the combined years he played for Green Bay.
Seahawks wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh (2009)
Houshmandzadeh was a sneaky successful receiver in the NFL from 2004 through 2009. In each of those seasons, he had at least 904 yards receiving, and in three of those years, he had 7 touchdown catches or more. In Houshmandzadeh's best year of 2007, he had 112 catches for the Cincinnati Bengals and 1,143 yards and 12 touchdown receptions. He made the Pro Bowl that same season, which would be the only Pro Bowl he made during his career.
Houshmandzadeh only spent one season with Seattle after signing with them on a ridiculous five-year, $40 million deal. $15 million was guaranteed. By the time he signed, he was already 31 years old and had spent eight years in the league. For Seattle to sign him to a five-year deal was far too long for a receiver already in his early 30s. But Seattle was still coming down from a great run from the early-2000s to the mid-2000s. The team probably felt it was closer to competing still than it was.
To be fair, Houshmandzadeh was relatively-speaking very good with Seattle in 2009. Was he worth the money he was being paid? No. But then neither were most other Seahawks on the roster. In the one year he played with Seattle, Houshmandzadeh led the team in receiving yards (911) and catches (79). He finished second in total yards.
Just before the 2010 season (Pete Carroll's first year with the team when he was completely remaking the roster), Seattle let Houshmandzadeh go. His contract was simply far too much to pay for a team that needed to be torn down. He played two more years in the NFL but his last years were not very successful.
Seahawks running back Derrick Fenner (1990)
Fenner was a player that would not be drafted today. Literally. He was taken in the 10th round of the 1990 draft, but let me not stop there. Fenner was charged with murder two years before beginning his NFL career, but it was later found that he was not at the scene of the crime and was not found guilty. A year later, he pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine and received probation. Fenner played at the University of North Carolina and the school decided Fenner was a bit too much of an issue to have him hang around and the school let Fenner go so he entered the NFL draft.
The Seahawks took a chance on Fenner in 1989 and by 1990 the 6'3" and 240-pound running back was a starter at tailback. Fenner shared carries with fullback John Williams that season. The NFL was a different game 30 years ago as fullbacks not only regularly played every down but actually were expected to produce as well. So Williams blocked for Fenner but Wiliams ran the ball and caught a ton of passes as well.
Fenner ran for 859 yards in 1990 as Seattle went 9-7. But he also scored 14 rushing touchdowns which tied for the NFL lead. He finished with a bit over 1,000 total yards and Fenner also caught 17 passes for 143 yards.
Fenner left Seattle after the 1991 season and never had another season close to the one he had in 1990. He played for 10 total seasons. Per LinkedIn, Fenner is the President and Co-Founder at EverFourward, LLC, based in Upper Marlboro, Maryland.
Seahawks running back Thomas Rawls (2015)
It's difficult to think that as of this writing, Thomas Rawls is still only almost 30 years old. It seems like the one good season he had for the Seahawks was decades ago. But while Rawls only had just one productive season in his NFL career in 2015, it was a relatively special one. Rawls replaced an injured Marshawn Lynch that season and made the most of his chances.
In fact, for much of 2015, Rawls was so good that he basically forced Lynch out of Seattle at the time. But the move to Rawls was ultimately a failure as he could not stay healthy. Even his 2015 season was cut short due to a fractured ankle in Week 14. But in 2015, Rawls had four games where he ran for over 100 yards. In Week 5 against the Cincinnati Bengals, Rawls ran for 169 yards and a touchdown. In Week 11 against the San Francisco 49ers, he ran for 209 yards.
Overall in 2015, Rawls led the NFL with 5.6 yards per rush. He had 830 yards rushing and 4 touchdowns, both of which led the team. His 830 rushing yards would be more yards than he would have in the rest of his short career combined. Rawls played just four years in the NFL and seemed to be constantly hurt. One might wonder what he could have accomplished without the injuries.
It also should be noted that Rawls, while injured for a big chunk of 2016, did play in the postseason against the Detroit Lions and ran for 161 yards in Seattle's Wild Card game victory. Those 161 yards are a Seahawks franchise record for a postseason game.
Seahawks quarterback Warren Moon (1997)
Warren Moon was going to be a Hall of Fame quarterback even if he had retired prior to arriving in Seattle late in his career. Moon helped reshape how NFL execs think about African-American quarterbacks. In fact, the NFL was so backward in its thinking when Moon left playing at the University of Washington in 1977 he thought it would be better for him to try playing and proving himself in the Canadian Football League than be a late-round pick in the NFL draft.
If Moon were coming out of college today, with his arm strength, accuracy, and ability to move around in the pocket, he would be a top-five pick. In many ways the NFL is a better game in 2023 than it was in 1977. But without a doubt there is a lot more talent at quarterback now than when the NFL had a narrow view of who could play the position.
Warren had already played 13 years in the NFL before starting for the Seahawks in 1997. But that season he led the NFL in yards passing per game at 245.2. He also threw for 3,678 yards, fifth in the league. His 25 touchdown passes were also fifth in the NFL. Moon was second in pass attempts with 528. He made the Pro Bowl and won the MVP award for the game.
In 1998, though, Moon was only healthy enough to play 10 games and he was not anywhere as efficient as he was in the previous season. Moon left Seattle after the season and played the final two years of his career for the Kansas City Chiefs where he was a backup.