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Seahawks Top 50 Players Position-By-Position: Running Backs 

While voting is open, we will take a position-by-position look at all the eligible players for the Seahawks Top 50 Players.

50th Season Running Backs

In 2025, the Seahawks will celebrate their 50th season in franchise history and ahead of that season will be naming their Top 50 Seahawks Players. The 12s can vote now through December 22nd for which players they think deserve to be a part of the Top 50 Seahawks Players at Seahawk50.com.

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Vote For Your Top 50 Seahawks Players

Next season, we celebrate our 50th season. Since 1976, over 1,200 players have put on a Seahawks uniform and for our 50th season, we will recognize the Top 50 Players in Seahawks history.

Vote now for your Top 50 Seahawks Players!

The eligible players include 163 players who have all played for the Seahawks at some point in their career and have met at least one of the criteria listed below.

  • Started at least 45 games
  • Voted to an AP All-Pro or NFL Pro Bowl team
  • Won Seahawks Man of the Year or the Steve Largent Award
  • Currently leads a career major statistical category, such as Most Receiving Yards in a Career
  • Part of an iconic moment in Seahawks history

For the next few weeks, on Wednesdays and Fridays, while voting is open, we will take a look at each position group of eligible players. We've already taken a look at quarterbacks and today we're looking at running backs.

The Seahawks have a list of 13 quarterbacks that are eligible for the Top 50. When you think of the Seahawks running backs, you probably think of the 2005 NFL MVP Shaun Alexander or Marshawn Lynch and his iconic time with the Seahawks. But the entire eligible group of running backs collectively, in their time as Seahawks, have 20 Pro Bowl seasons, two players that are Super Bowl champions, two Seahawks Ring of Honor members and an NFL MVP.

  • Shaun Alexander
  • Steve Broussard
  • Chris Carson
  • Bobby Joe Edmunds
  • Marshawn Lynch
  • Michael Robinson
  • Sherman Smith
  • Mack Strong
  • Curt Warner
  • Chris Warren
  • Leon Washington
  • Ricky Watters
  • John L. Williams

The Fullbacks

Michael Robinson played four years in Seattle, earning one Pro-Bowl nomination in 2011. He was also a key member of the Super Bowl XLVIII winning team, serving as the starting fullback and added an important locker room presence. Mack Strong went on to play all 14 of his seasons in Seattle, paving the way for some of the best running backs in franchise history. Strong served as the lead blocker for 1,000-yard rushers Chris Warren, Ricky Watters and Shaun Alexander, including Alexander's record-breaking MVP season in 2005. He was awarded AP All-Pro honors and his first trip to the Pro Bowl in 2005 during Seattle's run to the Super Bowl. John L. Williams became a unique offensive option for Seattle. Williams led the Seahawks in receptions for three seasons (1988, 1990, 1992), including a career-high of 12 receptions in a game, showcasing his versatility as a fullback.

Special Teams Playmakers

Bobby Joe Edmonds immediately established himself as one of the league's top return men right away, leading the league with a 12.3 yards-per-return average on punt returns, piling up 419 yards, the most by a rookie in franchise history, including a touchdown. Edmonds also had 764 yards on kick returns, helping him earn first-team AP All-Pro and Pro-Bowl honors as a returner. Leon Washington became one of the most prolific return specialists in franchise history. He was named second-team AP All-Pro in his first season with the team, later being named special teams captain in 2011 and earned a Pro Bowl selection in 2012. Washington ranks third in punt returns (104) and punt return yards (1,069) in Seahawks history. He also has the second-most kickoff return yards (3,299) and holds the franchise record for most kickoff return touchdowns (4), including two in a single game against the Chargers in 2010. Washington tied an NFL record with eight career kickoff return touchdowns and holds the Seahawks' record for most career return yards (4,398). While Steve Broussard had some big contributions on offense, including a 77-yard touchdown run in 1997, he made his biggest impact as a kick returner. In four seasons with Seattle, Broussard had 165 returns for 3,900 yards, both of which still stand as franchise records. He is also one of 11 players in team history to return a kickoff for a touchdown.

RB's From Teams Inception – 90's

Sherman Smith was the third draft pick in franchise history as he was selected by the Seahawks with the 58th overall pick in the 1976 NFL Draft. The running back out of Miami (Ohio) was the leading rusher of the Seahawks during their inaugural season as he ran for 537 yards and tied the team lead with four rushing touchdowns. Curt Warner, a standout running back, was selected with the third overall pick in the 1983 NFL Draft. He made an immediate impact, rushing for 1,449 yards and scoring a career-high 14 total touchdowns in his rookie season. His performance earned him second-team AP All-Pro and Pro Bowl honors, and he was named the Seahawks' MVP, an award voted on by his teammates. Though a torn ACL sidelined him in the 1984 season opener, Warner made a remarkable comeback the following year, surpassing 1,000 rushing yards and earning the Sports Illustrated Comeback Player of the Year award. Chris Warren ranks second in franchise history with 6,706 rushing yards, fourth in rushing touchdowns with 44, and holds the seventh-most total touchdowns in a season (48) in Seahawks history. By the end of his time in Seattle, he held what was then the franchise record for total rushing yards (later surpassed by Shaun Alexander in 2005). Ricky Watters quickly became a vital part of the team after being acquired during free agency. He is one of only seven players in franchise history to surpass 4,000 rushing yards, achieving this milestone with fewer than 1,000 rushing attempts, a feat accomplished by only one other Seahawk.

2000's – Now

Shaun Alexander was a dominant force for Mike Holmgren's offenses in the 2000s. A first-round pick in the 2000 draft, Alexander went on to rewrite the franchise record books, rushing for 9,429 yards while scoring 112 total touchdowns in eight seasons with the Seahawks, earning first-team AP All-Pro honors to go along with his MVP award in 2005, as well as three Pro-Bowl selections. Marshawn Lynch went on to have four Pro Bowl seasons with Seattle, during his first stint with the team, and was named first-team AP All-Pro in 2012 and second-team AP All-Pro in 2014. He posted four 1,000-yard rushing seasons and was the league leader in touchdowns in both 2013 (12) and 2014 (13). He is known by many as Beast Mode and claims the most famous postseason run in NFL history, where he barreled through the Saints defense, breaking eight tackles on the way to a touchdown in the 2010 Wild Card Game. Though injuries cut Chris Carson's career early, he amassed the eighth most rushing yards (3,502) and sixth most rushing touchdowns (24) in team history. Carson is also one of just five Seahawks, along with Marshawn Lynch, Shaun Alexander, Kenneth Walker III and Rashaad Penny, to rush for 100 yards in three straight games.

Check out the Seahawks 53-man roster for the 2024 season.

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