Field Gulls
Thomas’ ‘Legion of Boom’ teammate, Kam Chancellor, did not reach the semis.
I read the news today, and oh boy, Seattle Seahawks greats Marshawn Lynch and Shaun Alexander didn’t even make it to the semifinals of the NFL Pro Football Modern-Era Class of 2025 Hall of Fame balloting. The semifinal list of 25 was released live on NFL Network’s Good Morning Football on Wednesday morning.
The list, which was originally released in September with 167 nominees on it, had most recently been whittled down to 50 last month. That list of 50 included Seattle Seahawks legends Marshawn Lynch, Shaun Alexander, Ricky Watters, Earl Thomas, and Kam Chancellor. Now, only Ricky Watters and Earl Thomas remain.
Marshawn Lynch and Earl Thomas were the only Seahawk first-time nominees in the list of 50; now Earl Thomas, alone, stands as a potential first-ballot Hall of Famer. Ricky Watters has been a semifinalist five times.
Earl Thomas, of course, most famously known for his pivotal role in the Seattle Seahawks Super Bowl-era smash-mouth defensive hit-squad ‘Legion of Boom,’ finished his NFL career as a six-time Pro Bowler and three-time first-team All-Pro. Over 10 seasons, Thomas had 713 tackles, 30 interceptions, and 71 tipped passes. With Thomas at the helm, the Legion of Boom and the Seattle Seahawks defense was the only team in the Super Bowl era to lead the league in scoring defense for four straight seasons (2012 – 2015). He was also named to the NFL Hall of Fame All-Decade team of the 2010s.
Ricky Watters only played in Seattle for four seasons. Prior to joining the Seahawks, Watters was a member of the Philadelphia Eagles for three seasons and the San Francisco 49ers for three seasons before that. San Francisco selected him in the second round of the 1991 draft, though he sat out his entire first season with injuries. He helped take the 49ers to a Super Bowl win in 1995 (1994 season), scoring three touchdowns in the contest.
Watters signed on with the Eagles in 1995 as a free agent and rushed for over 1,000 yards all three seasons he was there. After which, Watters joined the Seahawks and rushed for over 1,000 yards for another three seasons in a row. This brought his total to six seasons straight of rushing for over 1,000 yards – for three different teams. Watters called it a career as a Seahawk in 2001 with 10,643 rushing yards, 4,248 yards receiving, and 91 touchdowns during the regular season. He was a 5x Pro Bowler and member of the Seattle Seahawks 35th anniversary team. He also played the star running back of the Dallas Knights in Oliver Stone’s timeless masterpiece, Any Given Sunday.
Along with Earl Thomas, the first-ballot semifinalists also include Eli Manning, Luke Kuechly, Terrell Suggs, Adam Vinatieri, and Marshal Yanda.
The list of modern-era players will be reduced to 15 finalists sometime in December. The selection committee will then vote on the 2025 Hall of Fame class ahead of Super Bowl...
