Through the first five decades of the franchise's history, the Seahawks have had three distinct eras that stand out as the team's most successful to date.
In the 1980s, Chuck Knox led the Seahawks to the playoffs for the first time in 1983, with Seattle making a surprise run to the AFC championship game, the first four playoff berths in six seasons, a stretch that also included a 10-6 record in which Seattle fell just short of the playoffs. Two decades later, Mike Holmgren's teams won five division titles and earned six playoff berths, reaching the Super Bowl for the first time following a 13-3 2005 season. And finally, the teams led by Pete Carroll and John Schneider raised the bar yet again, with the Seahawks reaching the playoffs 10 times in 13 seasons, winning five division titles and two NFC championships, as well as the first Super Bowl title in team history.
And while all of those teams were unique in their own way, one thing they all had in common was the presence of an elite running back who helped power the offense. So it comes as no surprise that Curt Warner, Shaun Alexander and Marshawn Lynch are among the players selected to the Seahawks Top 50 Players. They are joined on that list by fellow running back Chris Warren and fullbacks Mack Strong and John L. Williams.
Warner, who burst onto the scene with a Pro-Bowl season as a rookie in 1983, was a three-time Pro Bowler while powering the "Ground Chuck" offenses that defined the Knox era. Under Holmgren, Alexander rewrote the Seahawks record books, became the first MVP in franchise history, and was a three-time Pro-Bowler and one-time first-team All-Pro. And under Carroll, Lynch helped set the tone for an entire team that thrived on physicality, hyper-competitiveness and swagger, punishing defenders while creating iconic moments on and off the field on his way to four consecutive Pro-Bowl seasons in which he rushed for at least 1,200 yards and double-digit touchdown totals.
Warner, Alexander, Lynch, Warren, Strong and Williams are among the top 50 players in franchise history, a group selected in honor of the Seahawks' upcoming 50th season. The Top 50 Players were voted on by fans, media members and internal stakeholders. The voting process took place toward the end of the 2024 season, with more than 160 players eligible based on the following criteria:
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The Seahawks Top 50 Players are being announced this week and some of the names have been revealed already. Head over to Seahawks50.com to find out if your favorite Seahawks of all time made the list and stayed tuned to see the entire list of 50 players be revealed on June 6.