LeBron James says he belongs on the NBA’s Mount Rushmore of great players, and he’s probably right.
But that got me thinking about which four players, coaches or executives belong on the Seattle Seahawks' Mount Rushmore.
Here's my four for now. However, we're talking about a team that just won the Super Bowl for the first time, so don’t carve all these in stone just yet.
No. 1 -- Steve Largent
The most beloved player in franchise history and an original Seahawk in 1976, the stand-out wide receiver was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1995, the first Seattle player to achieve the honor.
Largent ended his 14 NFL seasons (all with Seattle) with league records at the time for receptions (819), yards (13.089) and touchdowns (100). He later became a four-term U.S. Congressman in his home state of Oklahoma.
No. 2 -- Walter Jones
Arguably the best offensive tackle ever to play the game, Jones was a first-ballot Hall of Fame selection on Feb. 1, getting to enjoy the moment while the Seahawks were in the Super Bowl.
Jones was a nine-time Pro Bowler and a four-time All-Pro. He was named to NFL's All-Decade Team of the 2000s. He started all 180 games he played for the Seahawks and was whistled for holding only nine times in 5,703 pass plays while he was on the field. That's once every 634 plays.
Jones allowed only 23 sacks during his entire career, which is only one in every 248 pass plays.
No. 3 – Paul Allen
This franchise would not be in Seattle today if not for Allen. Previous owner Ken Behring announced in February 1996 that he was moving the team to Southern California, but a home-town guy saved the day.
Allen, who became a billionaire as the co-founder of Microsoft with Bill Gates, purchased the team from Behring and was instrumental in getting a new stadium built, which is now known as CenturyLink Field.
In 2008, Allen also moved the team to one of the best facilities in the NFL on the banks of Lake Washington, the 200,000-square foot Virginia Mason Athletic Center (the V-MAC, as it’s called).
Allen has given the Seahawk organizations all the financial support it needed to reach two Super Bowls in the last eight years, finally winning the big game this year.
No. 4 – Russell Wilson
Yes, he’s only two years into his NFL career, but I’m betting on the future here. After all, Wilson is the only quarterback to win a Super Bowl for the Seahawks.
More big moments are ahead for Wilson, but his accomplishments so far are astonishing. His 24 regular-season victories are the most in NFL history for a quarterback’s first two seasons, and he’s 28-9 overall, counting playoff games.
His 52 regular-season TD passes are second all-time to Dan Marino, who had 68 in his first two seasons at Miami. Wilson also has led the team to 10 fourth-quarter comebacks in his first two years.
The future is bright and you can start carving his face on that mountain right now.