On this date
A look at the memorable – and not-so-memorable – moments in Seahawks history that occurred on Dec. 24:
1983: In the Seahawks’ first playoff game, on a Saturday afternoon at the Kingdome, Dave Krieg passes for three touchdowns – to Steve Largent, Pete Metzelaars and Paul Johns – in a 31-7 victory over the Broncos. Kenny Easley leads the defensive effort with 10 tackles and a sack.
1994: In what will be Tom Flores’ final game as coach, and on a day when the wind-chill at old Cleveland Stadium is 22 degrees, the Browns roll to a 35-9 victory. The Seahawks score their only touchdown with 1:22 remaining on Stan Gelbaugh’s 25-yard pass to James McKnight.
1995: The Seahawks close their first season under Dennis Erickson the same way they opened it, with a lopsided loss to the Chiefs – this time 26-3 in Kansas City. Steve Broussard’s 70-yard kickoff return sets up the Seahawks’ only score, a 34-yard field goal by Todd Peterson.
2005: On a Saturday afternoon in Seattle, Shaun Alexander runs for 139 yards and two touchdowns and Matt Hasselbeck passes for two more scores, including one to Alexander, in a 28-13 victory over the Colts that caps a club-record 11-game winning streak.
2006: The Seahawks take a 17-13 lead on a 9-yard TD run by Shaun Alexander and a 33-yard field goal by Josh Brown, but Vincent Jackson catches a pass from Philip Rivers in the end zone with 29 seconds to play to give the Chargers a 20-17 victory in Seattle. Alexander finishes with 140 yards and two TDs.
On this date
A look at the memorable moments in Seahawks history that occurred on Oct. 5:
1980: Sam McCullum catches two touchdown passes and Efren Herrera kicks four field goals in a 26-7 victory over the Oilers in the Astrodome, in what would be the Seahawks’ last win of the season.
1997: Steve Broussard breaks touchdown runs of 77 and 43 yards, and gains 138 yards on just six carries, as the Seahawks start a three-game winning streak with a 16-13 victory over the Titans at the Kingdome.
2003: Josh Brown kicks a club-record 58-yard field goal in Green Bay, but the Seahawks lose to the Packers 35-13.
2010: Running back Marshawn Lynch is acquired in a trade with the Bills. Lynch leads the team in rushing and turns in one of the most electrifying plays in franchise history when he scores on a 67-yard run in the wild-card playoff win over the defending Super Bowl champion Saints.
Cyber surfing: Tuesday
Good morning. Here’s what’s “out there” – and was “out there” over the holiday weekend – on the Seahawks for May 31:
ESPN’s John Clayton, who hosts a Saturday morning show on 710 ESPN, interviewed Mark LeGree, the safety the Seahawks selected in the April NFL Draft. The rookie has had limited exposure to coach Pete Carroll because of the lockout. But he seems to already know the drill, offering, “Even if I don’t get a starting spot, I’m going to make the guy ahead of me work for his spot. On special teams? I love special teams. I know how big a part of the game it is; it can change a game in just one play. I am looking forward to the opportunity to be able to start. I’m a playmaker and I can go get that ball.”
Clayton also lists new offensive line coach Tom Cable at No. 9 in his Top 10 coaches being hit hardest by the lockout. Clayton’s reasoning for the ranking: “The former Raiders coach took over the Seahawks’ offensive line, which is trying to replace three starters. The Seahawks used their first two draft choices on offensive linemen James Carpenter and John Moffitt, and they’ve got to find another guard in free agency. Starting quarterback Matt Hasselbeck is unsigned and has to decide whether he wants to return to what will be the league’s youngest and – until the lockout is over – most un-coached offensive line.”
Jim Corbett of USA Today has five burning questions about the Seahawks as they wait to prepare for the coming season. No. 1, of course, is who will quarterback the team. Says Corbett: “Still, the longer the lockout goes, the better the chance that Hasselbeck could return.”
It’s difficult to not second that notion.
Carl Eller played the final season of his Hall of Fame career with the Seahawks in 1979. Prior to that, he was dominating defensive end for the Minnesota Vikings. Now, Eller, in his role as president of the Retired Players Association, has become a spokesman for that faction in the labor dispute between owners and players. Eller wrote this piece for Sporting News Today, offering: “It is just as much in the interests of the retired players as it is the fans to create a resolution so that we have football played in 2011 – remember, we are now fans, too.
Chester Pitts, a free-agent-to-be offensive lineman for the Seahawks, has had a lot to say during the lockout. Mike Freeman of CBSSports.com catches up with Pitts to get his reaction to Kurt Warner’s recent comment about the players eventually “giving in.” Said Pitts: “There were a lot of players I spoke to who were stunned by what he said. I was disappointed. Disappointed is a good word, but disheartening is a better word.”
And for our give-us-this-day-our-daily-labor-update item, we offer this bullet-point overview by Sam Farmer of the Los Angeles Times. He puts the likelihood of games being lost at 70 percent.
Here at Seahawks.com, we continue our look at the players voted to the 35th Anniversary team with a profile of kickoff returner Steve Broussard – as well as a look at current kickoff returner Leon Washington and his place in team history after only one season.
For the love of Leon
Not long after the Seahawks’ 35th Anniversary team had been announced, the what-about-Leon sentiment started to surface.
That would be Leon Washington, and that would be because he returned three kickoffs for touchdowns in his first season with the Seahawks after being obtained last year in a draft-day trade with the New York Jets.
One problem: Washington went off after the voting had been completed, and readers of Seahawks.com already had selected Steve Broussard as the kickoff returner. One Broussard-backing factor: One season does not a 35th Anniversary team selection make.
Broussard, who played with the Seahawks from 1995-98, still ranks first in club history in career kickoff returns (165) and yards (3,900), as well as single-season average (26.9 yards in ’98). He also had a TD return in his final season – a 90-yarder of the opening kickoff in a 24-14 win over the Washington Redskins at the Kingdome.
Washington averaged 25.6 yards on 57 kickoff returns last season, when he basically won the Week 3 game against the San Diego Chargers at Qwest Field with scoring returns of 101 and 99 yards and later had a 92-yarder in a loss to the 49ers in San Francisco.
Washington’s time obviously will come. In one season, he broke the game, season and career records for scoring returns – which had been one, across the board. His 253 return yards against the Chargers broke the single-game record that had been held by Maurice Morris (231), and his 63.3-yard average in that game obliterated the previous record of 42.8 yards by Charlie Rogers. Washington also produced 1,461 yards for the season – roughly half the career total of 2,843 by Morris, who ranks third behind Broussard (3,900) and Rogers (3,214); and third on the single-season list behind Josh Wilson (1,753) and Rogers (1,629).
It was all after the fact, however. Or the voting. So Broussard is the man, and his story is the 17th in a series profiling the players on the reader-selected team.
But here’s a look at how Washington’s one-season efforts stack up in franchise history, and how he’s on course to likely displace Broussard on the next anniversary team:
Most kickoff returns, season
Player (year) – No.
Josh Wilson (2008) – 69
Charlie Rogers (2000) – 66
Josh Scobey (2005) – 59
Leon Washington (2010) – 57
Most kickoff returns, game
Player (year) – No.
Bobby Joe Edmonds (1987) – 8
Leon Washington (2010) – 7
Note: Washington did it twice, joining 11 other players.
Most yards gained, season
Player (year) – Yds.
Josh Wilson (2008)- 1,753
Charlie Rogers (2000) – 1,629
Leon Washington (2010) – 1,461
Most yards gained, game
Player (year) – Yds.
Leon Washington (2010) – 253
Maurice Morris (2002) – 231
Leon Washington (2010) – 222
Longest kickoff return
Player (year) – Yds.
Leon Washington (2010) – 101
Leon Washington (2010) – 99
James Jefferson (1989) – 97
Maurice Morris (2002) – 97
Highest average, career
(minimum 50 returns)
Player (years) – Avg.
Josh Wilson (2007-08) – 25.8
Leon Washington (2010-present) – 25.6
Charlie Rogers (1999-2001) – 23.9
Highest average, season
Player (year) – Avg.
Steve Broussard (1998) – 26.9
Charlie Rogers (1999) – 25.8
Leon Washington (2010) – 25.6
Highest average, game
(minimum four returns)
Player (year) – Avg.
Leon Washington (2010) – 63.3
Charlie Rogers (2000) – 42.8
Chris Warren (1990) – 36.7
