The Hawkstorian's All-Time Numeric Roster

[Hawkstorian]

I thought Doug Baldwin played at #15 for one year at 2011, then switched to let Matt Flynn have that number?

True. However, I'm only listing each player once on the list so Baldwin is #89 for this project.

 

[Hawkstorian]

#10

First	Last	College	Pos	Years	Games	Starts
Jim	Zorn	Cal Poly-Pomona	QB	1976-1984	131	100
Dan	McGwire	San Diego State	QB	1991-1994	12	5
Jeff	Feagles	Miami	P	1998-2002	81	0
Olindo	Mare	Syracuse	K	2008-2010	50	0

I had a chance to ask Jim Zorn once when he knew he would be the starting QB for the Seahawks. His answer: MARCH. The fledgling Seahawks held a tryout camp for QBs, and Zorn was there with a bunch other free agents and he said he could tell that day he'd be the guy. As I said in #15, it really took about halfway through the first pre-season game for it to be evident to the rest of the world what Zorn had known in his heart for months.

Jim Zorn put Seattle football on the map. If you're going to be new and young and lose, you can at least be exciting. Zorn was probably not a great thrower, but he had that same quaity our current QB has, which is to extend plays and probably throw better on the run than even standing in the pocket. He was also just plain fast. When he took off it wasn't unusual to see him run away from defensive backs. He still sits 10th on the Seahawks all-time rushing list (Wilson will pass him in a year or two).

Better than Zorn the player was Zorn the true image of early Seahawk football. Free-wheeling, no holds barred and fun to watch.

 

[SalishHawkFan]

I thought Doug Baldwin played at #15 for one year at 2011, then switched to let Matt Flynn have that number?

Yes, IMO, Doug Baldwin, who had a breakout rookie year as #15, should be the MVP. Blades took 89 and I thought the idea was who was the best to wear the number.

 

[Seahwkgal]

Dave Krieg was a much needed boost over Zorny at qb..I loved watching the guy when he was on because he looked like the best qb in the NFL..He was streaky however and if you saw him fumble it usually meant his game was in the toilet..That said he was a pro bowler,a playoff winner and deserves to be in the ring of honor..I believe it was him who led the Lions to their last playoff win..If I remember..

It wasn't the Lions. Their last playoff win was Jan 5, 1992 against Dallas and Eric Kramer was the winning QB. It must've been another team you are thinking of.

 

[IndyHawk]

Hawkstorian -"Zorn was probably not a great thrower"..He wasn't..Never completed 60% of his passes..Never more than 20 td passes..3600 yards was highest passing year..141/111 int/td ratio..I think we kept him way too long but yeah he was the 1st Hawk qb and he wasn't the worst they had..Sure he wins the #10 seeing that small group..

 

[IndyHawk]

Dave Krieg was a much needed boost over Zorny at qb..I loved watching the guy when he was on because he looked like the best qb in the NFL..He was streaky however and if you saw him fumble it usually meant his game was in the toilet..That said he was a pro bowler,a playoff winner and deserves to be in the ring of honor..I believe it was him who led the Lions to their last playoff win..If I remember..

It wasn't the Lions. Their last playoff win was Jan 5, 1992 against Dallas and Eric Kramer was the winning QB. It must've been another team you are thinking of.

Yeah it was the 94 Lions..He led them to the wildcard..They lost barely to Green Bay..

 

[Seahawk Sailor]

I decided not to dwell on the "12th man" phenomenon, since I'm trying to keep this all about the players. It is reasonable to assume, however, that the stadium crowds have helped win more games in Seahawk history than Sam Adkins.

This was exactly my point.

 

[JMR]

Hawkstorian -"Zorn was probably not a great thrower"..He wasn't..Never completed 60% of his passes..Never more than 20 td passes..3600 yards was highest passing year..141/111 int/td ratio..I think we kept him way too long but yeah he was the 1st Hawk qb and he wasn't the worst they had..Sure he wins the #10 seeing that small group..

Well, you have to give consideration to the era. By today's passing standards, of course those #s aren't good. But judging a guy who played 40 years ago by today's stats is mostly pointless. Joe Namath had nearly 50 more INTs than TDs for his career, and a career 50.1 comp %. Bradshaw has 4 SB rings and 2 more TDs than INTs for his career....and a career completion rate of 51%. Both in the HOF.

Zorn was a good player. Not an elite guy but he was a solid starting QB who was fun to watch and helped get this franchise off the ground and into an era of multiple playoff appearances in the 80s.

 

[Hawkstorian]

#9

First	Last	College	Pos	Years	Games	Starts
Norm	Johnson	UCLA	K	1982-1990	140	0
Rian	Lindell	Washington State	K	2000-2002	44	0
Donnie	Jones	Louisiana State	P	2004	6	0
Jon	Ryan	Regina	P	2008-2013	102	0

The only number between 1 and 19 without a QB, so pay attention folks to the legends of the kickers and punters. All 4 of these guys had long and productive NFL careers, only two of them in Seattle.

Norm Johnson went to the pro bowl in 1984, but if you compare his numbers by today's standards it sure seems like he missed a lot of kicks. His FG% was less than 70%. He missed 1 of 5 kicks from 30-39 yards and 1 of 10 from 20-29. His missed XP in the 1987 playoff game at Cincinatti left the team down 2 scores instead of 1, negating the comeback atttempt. Still, he's the top scorer in team history and went on to play another 9 years with 3 other teams.

Rian Lindell and Donnie Jones were both still in the league in 2013, although Lindell is currently a free agent.

Jon Ryan is the only NFL player in history from the University of Regina, which is in Saskatchewan, Canada. Regina is one of 6 football teams in the Canada West Universities Athletic Association (CWUUA), which is part of Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) which has 27 teams country-wide that play football by a set of rules that is much closer to the Canadian Football League than our NFL rules. CIS has 54 total athletic programs, so only half currently play football.

Anyway, Jon Ryan has been rock-solid as our punter, so I'm picking him ahead of the man who scored more points than Shaun Alexander. I doubt many will disagree.

 

[Hawkstorian]

#8

First	Last	College	Pos	Years	Games	Starts
Jeff	West	Cincinnati	P	1981-1985	63	0
Sean	Salisbury	Southern Cal	QB	1986	1	0
Matt	Lytle	Pittsburgh	QB	2000	1	0
Matt	Hasselbeck	Boston College	QB	2001-2010	149	142

Jeff West held down the punting job for 4 years. He was better known for placement than power. He was near the bottom of the league in punting average most years. I looked around for net average for those years but didn't find anything.

Matt Hasselbeck had a rough start to his Seahawk career, but by the end of 2002 he had his rhythm down and went on to have what is the best career by a Seahawk QB to date. He also was probably the most engaging "face of the franchise" we've ever had. I love Russell Wilson, but I sometimes wish he'd let his guard down a little. Hass and Russ share, I think, many of the same qualities of leadership and character. I hope over time Russ is just able to add that little bit of humor and affability that made Hass so much fun to have in Seattle. Of course, Russ leads Hass in the one measure that counts the most; 1 - 0.

 

[3Girls'HawkDad]

Jeff West!!! That guy really sucked! Has to have set an NFL record for most punts from the 20 yard line and back to never make it to the opponents side of the field.

Add in Kriegs backward passes, and ability to get sacked taking us out of field goal range used to drive my old man bonkers.

Well, that and the Jameson's irish

 

[Hawkstorian]

#7

First	Last	College	Pos	Years	Games	Starts
Gale	Gilbert	California	QB	1985-1986	25	2
Jeff	Graham	Long Beach State	QB	1992-1994	0	0
Jon	Kitna	Central Washington	QB	1996-2000	40	34
Brandon	Coutu	Georgia	K	2008	0	0
J.P.	Losman	Tulane	QB	2010	0	0
Zac	Robinson	Oklahoma State	QB	2010	0	0
Ryan	Longwell	California	K	2012	1	0
Tarvaris	Jackson	Alabama State	QB	2011,2013	19	14

The Seahawk's were always trying to replace Dave Krieg. Some of it was justified, like trying to get Warren Moon, and some of it was asinine, like benching him for Gale Gilbert mid-way through the 1986 season. Gilbert started 2 games before Krieg came back and led the team on a 5 game winning streak to end the season, the only time the Seahawks ever won 10 games and missed the playoffs.

I've heard people say that the Seahawks cut Michael Bennett so they could keep Brandon Coutu on the roster all year, but Bennett was cut in 2009, and Coutu was first here in 2008.

Tarvaris Jackson started most of the 2011 season, and earned the respect of most fans with his toughness. I think he played better than people want to give him credit for. The dude got sacked 42 times that year.

Jon Kitna went from un-drafted to the practice squad to leading the Seahawks to the playoffs in a very short stretch. Unfortunately, Mike Holmgren decided soon thereafter that Kitna was not the long-term answer. I remember a radio-interview on the eve of the 2000 (with Kitna the starter) where Holmgren was asked what the team needed to do to improve and he immediately called out the QB position. Clearly something was amiss, and a few weeks later Kitna was benched for an un-prepared Brock Huard. Kitna went on to have a long career with Cincy, Detroit and Dallas -- mostly as a backup -- but he did throw for 29,745 career yards -29,056 more than Huard.

 

[Hawkstorian]

#6

First	Last	College	Pos	Years	Games	Starts
Frank	Garcia	Arizona	P	1981	1	0
Charlie	Whitehurst	Clemson	QB	2010-2011	9	4

Jeff West broke his ankle in the 2nd to last game in 1981, so the Seahawks brought in Frank Garcia to punt in the season finale. Fortunately the Seahawks put up 42 points so Garcia only had to punt twice. Garcia was the only player to wear #6 for the Seahawks until they traded for a backup quarterback from San Diego.

Charlie Whitehurst will never quite qualify for the Mount Rushmore of Seahawk quarterbacks .. but he did win the game to get the Seahawks into the 2010 playoffs and the beastquake game.

 

[JMR]

I really like Jon Ryan, but I think I go with Norm Johnson at 9.

 

[Sac]

Ha ha! CBJ made the list!!!

 

[Hawkstorian]

I really like Jon Ryan, but I think I go with Norm Johnson at 9.

I fully expected to pick Johnson, but the more I looked at his career........

 

[Happy]

Kitna was an everyman - classic will over skill guy. Holmy kinda did him dirty. I like Holmgren and all, but what was that all about?

 

[volsunghawk]

Kitna was an everyman - classic will over skill guy. Holmy kinda did him dirty. I like Holmgren and all, but what was that all about?

Kitna just wasn't anything to write home about. Sure, he could put up numbers in a pass-friendly system, but he wasn't ever going to be the guy to spark a team and be a game-changer. I think Holmgren - coming from Green Bay where he had Favre - wanted more out of the position, even if he had to assume greater risk in doing so.

 

[253hawk]

Norm Johnson went to the pro bowl in 1984, but if you compare his numbers by today's standards it sure seems like he missed a lot of kicks. His FG% was less than 70%. He missed 1 of 5 kicks from 30-39 yards and 1 of 10 from 20-29. His missed XP in the 1987 playoff game at Cincinatti left the team down 2 scores instead of 1, negating the comeback atttempt. Still, he's the top scorer in team history and went on to play another 9 years with 3 other teams.

The average % by 1990 was between 65~70%, so I'd say Norm was perfectly average in terms of league-wide numbers.

 

[Hawkstorian]

Cool graphic.

Johnson was probably about average for his time. I still think Ryan is above average for his time.