During the month of June, the Last Word On Sports NFL department will construct a Mount Rushmore for each team. For this series, we will only consider players. Today, the Seattle Seahawks are the focus.
Seattle Seahawks Mount Rushmore
Walter Jones
As the sixth overall choice out of Florida State in 1997, Walter Jones guarded the blindside every season until he retired in 2010. Jones started every game he played and was a member of the famous 2005 Seattle Seahawks team that lost their first Super Bowl appearance to Pittsburgh. He was an integral part of that team, leading a dominant offensive line that created holes for star running back Shaun Alexander. Jones was a nine-time Pro Bowler and a seven-time All-Pro. Jones was arguably the best at his position for many years during his career and he was named to the All-Decade NFL team for the 2000s. He is one of three players to have his jersey retired by Seattle (the other two being Steve Largent and Cortez Kennedy). He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2014.
Shaun Alexander
Shaun Alexander was a first-round draft choice in 2000 out of the University of Alabama. Alexander is the Seahawks all-time leading rusher and he led them to their first Super Bowl appearance as a franchise in 2005. He holds the franchise record for rushing yards in a game (266 against Oakland) and holds the NFL record for rushing touchdowns in a half (five against Minnestota). Alexander’s best season was the year Seattle made the Super Bowl, as he rushed for a franchise record 1,880 yards and a former NFL record of 28 touchdowns. He also won the NFL MVP award that year. Alexander finished his career in Seattle with 9,429 yards and 112 touchdowns.
Steve Largent
Steve Largent was a seven-time Pro Bowler and the first Seahawk to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame (1995). Largent was an elite wide receiver with great hands. He wasn’t very tall (5’11”) but he made the most out of running great routes and catching everything remotely close. When Largent retired, he held all major NFL receiving records. He had 819 career receptions, 13,089 career receiving yards and 100 career touchdown receptions. He even had 177 consecutive games with a catch.
Largent was the first player to record 100 career touchdown receptions, which was something much more impressive prior to the current pass-heavy NFL standard. He even has an award named after himself to honor a Seattle Seahawk annually for spirit, dedication, and integrity. The most recent winners of the award were Red Bryant (2011), Russell Wilson (2012), Earl Thomas (2013), and Kam Chancellor (2014). These familiar names should help set the tone for how special Largent was.
Cortez Kennedy
Cortez Kennedy was the third overall selection by Seattle in the 1990 NFL draft. He was already a Pro Bowler in his second season and he was the NFL Defensive Player of the Year in his third year after recording 14 sacks. Kennedy played for Seattle his entire career and retired in 2000. He played 167 games for Seattle and was an absolute monster. He is widely considered to be one of the best defensive tackles ever. He had 668 tackles, 58 sacks and 3 interceptions in his career. Kennedy became the second player ever to earn Hall of Fame honors as a Seahawk when he was inducted in 2012.
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