Non-Migratory Birds The Legion of Boom is what the Seattle defensive backs are known for, but the Seahawks’ super secondary, dominating defense and tremendous team only got that way because of the allegiance of a front office to preserving veteran Seahawks. When Seattle took the field for Super Bowl XLVIII, it had 24 players with 40-plus Seahawk-game experience on their 45- man active roster. That’s two dozen men fighting for two, three, four years together in the trenches (in fact, starting defensive tackle Brandon Mebane goes way back to 2007). That is the blueprint. Seattle is indeed a perfect illustration of how to play this continuity game. When fifth-year Seattle head coach Pete Carroll first took to the front office in 2010, the empowered head coach hired John Schneider to be his general manager and right-hand man. The two gutted the Seahawk team to get their own players in their new system, knowing they wouldn’t see the fruits of their labor until two to three years down the road. But through shrewd drafting, great player development and limited big-money free agency, the Seahawks now field one of the most consistent winners in football, going from 7-9 the first two seasons, to 11-5 in 2012, then 13-3 in 2013 en route to winning the most recent Super Bowl. Seattle may dump eight 40-plus gamers, as they did this offseason, but they tend to keep the veteran Hawks who rank atop their free-agent list, as in defensive end Michael Bennett, defensive tackle Tony McDaniel and wide receiver Doug Baldwin. If that means they lose Golden Tate (65 Seahawk games), Clinton McDonald (49), Walter Thurmond (39), Red Bryant (69), Chris Clemons (68), Breno Giacomini (45), Paul McQuistan (53) and others, so be it. Many of these men helped build this new-era franchise and thankfully saw their work rewarded with a Super Bowl win. Still, these outgoing Seahawks probably aren’t seeing any more Pro Bowls in their future and Seahawks management has another 10 Hawk vets who now are in position to replace them, having already logged 24-through-39 games in Seattle uniforms. So for every outgoing Hawk, Carroll and Schneider make sure they have at least one incoming 40-plus game to replace every outgoing vet. To get a better look at how Seattle has done it, check out these 26 Hawks who are all 40-plus potential gamers on the 2014 Seattle squad. Brandon Mebane 102 games starting defensive tackle 2007 third-rounder (Seattle) Jon Ryan 102 games starting punter 2008 free agent Clint Gresham 71 games starting long snapper 2010 free agent Earl Thomas 71 games 3-time Pro Bowl free safety 2010 first-rounder (Seattle) Kam Chancellor 70 games 2-time Pro Bowl strong safety 2010 fifth-rounder (Seattle) Marshawn Lynch 68 games 4-time Pro Bowl running back 2007 first-rounder (Buffalo) Max Unger 66 games 2-time Pro Bowl center 2009 second-rounder (Seattle) Richard Sherman 53 games 1-time Pro Bowl cornerback 2011 fifth-rounder (Seattle) Steven Hauschka 52 games starting kicker 2011 free agent Lemuel Jeanpierre 52 games backup center 2011 free agent Russell Okung 52 games 1-time Pro Bowl left tackle 2010 sixth-rounder (Seattle) Doug Baldwin 51 games starting wide receiver 2011 free agent Zach Miller 50 games starting tight end 2007 2nd-rounder (Oakland)/2011 free agent Heath Farwell 48 games 1-time Pro Bowler & backup middle linebacker 2005 free agent (Minnesota)/2011 free agent (Seattle) Malcolm Smith 48 games Super Bowl 48 MVP & backup linebacker 2011 seventh-rounder (Seattle) Mike Morgan 42 games backup linebacker 2011 free agent Byron Maxwell 38 games starting cornerback 2011 sixth-rounder (Seattle) Robert Turbin 37 games backup running back 2012 fourth-rounder (Seattle) Russell Wilson 37 games 2-time Pro Bowl quarterback 2012 third-rounder (Seattle) Bobby Wagner 35 games starting middle linebacker 2012 second-rounder (Seattle) James Carpenter 34 games starting left guard 2011 first-rounder (Seattle) Bruce Irvin 33 games starting outside linebacker 2012 first-rounder (Seattle) Jeron Johnson 33 games backup safety 2012 free agent Jeremy Lane 33 games starting cornerback 2012 sixth-rounder (Seattle) J.R. Sweezy 33 games starting right guard 2012 seventh-rounder (Seattle) Jermaine Kearse 27 games backup wide receiver 2012 free agent
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