August 5, 2009

The Pretty Goods: Top 5 Seahawks who never made it to a Pro Bowl


This one is pretty simple today... Who are the five best players in team history who never made it to a Pro Bowl as a Seahawk? I urge other NFL bloggers to do this exercise with their teams as well...

5. Bryan Millard
Throughout the late 80s, the Seahawks had one of the best rushing attacks in football. Curt Warner and John L. Williams were the most lethal combo since Sledge Hammer and his big-ass gun. Even when Warner left after the '89 season, Seattle still was able to pound the ball effectively with some dude named Derrick Fenner splitting carries with JLW.

The backs were great, but so was the offensive line... and the constant on that under appreciated unit was the original #71: Bryan Millard. If I remember right, he's also the guy that gave Dave Krieg the nickname "Mudbone," so bonus points for that.

4. Ricky Watters
OK, this one is a bit of a cheat, because Ricky went to five Pro Bowls early in his career with the Niners and Eagles. But even though 1998-2000 were three of his best seasons, he didn't get selected to a Pro Bowl. Might it have been because he was playing in South Alaska? Naaaaaah.

In 3 full Seahawk seasons (he started splitting carries with Shaun Alexander in 2001), he was 8th, 9th and 5th in the NFL in total yards from scrimmage. The worst thing about his time in Seattle were those AWFUL promos they incessantly ran for his execrable R&B record during every Kingdome TV timeout. There was little-to-none of the off-field drama that marred his time in SF and Philly.

Only Shaun Alexander has rushed for more yards per game in a Seahawks uni than Ricky Watters.

3. John Harris
If John Harris is remembered at all by your average fan, it's for being one of the last Vikings "posterized" by Steve Young on that legendary game-winning TD scamper back in the late 80s... Before that he was a Seahawk, and a damn good one.

Only Eugene Robinson and Dave Brown have intercepted more passes than Harris in Seahawks history, and JH was a mainstay in an amazing Seattle secondary in the mid-80s. Blotted out by Ring-of-Honor-types like Brown and Ken Easley, Harris has never gotten his due.

2. Jeff Bryant
The 3rd pillar in the Green-Nash-Bryant Tripod of QB Terrorists is 3rd in franchise history when it comes to sacks (63), and only Joe Nash, Largent and Mack Strong played more games as Seahawks. He had 14.5 sacks in 1984 alone, but couldn't crack the Pro Bowl line-up.

1. Darrell Jackson
It's fashionable to hate on D-Jack these days because he dropped a lot of passes, missed too many games with injuries, and DISAPPEARED once he was traded away from Matt Hasselbeck... but check where he stands on the all-time franchise leaderboard:

-1st in career receiving yards per game and receptions per game
-1st in career playoff receiving yards and playoff receptions
-2nd to Largent in career TDs
-3rd in career receiving yards after Largent and Blades
-4th in career receptions after Largent, Blades, and John L. Williams

Throw in the big TDs he scored in the 2005 playoffs v. Carolina and DC, and D-Jack is clearly the best Seahawk to never make it to Hawaii for the Pro Bowl.

1 comment:

neurocell said...

I remember when Bryan Millard was an alternate to the Pro Bowl. Back then, players didn't back out of the game, even if injured, so he had no shot of going to Hawai'i. I was so stoked that he'd eventually go, and become the first Hawks offensive lineman to make it.

Also, isn't he the one that said, "I'd rather sandpaper a bobcat's butt in a phone booth then get hit by Fredd Young"?