Seahawks say 'Deflategate' has no effect on Super Bowl

Several members of the Seattle Seahawks say the controversy surrounding the New England Patriots has no effect on their upcoming Super Bowl matchup.

SI Wire | Jan 22, 2015

Seahawks say 'Deflategate' has no effect on Super Bowl /

Several members of the Seattle Seahawks say the controversy surrounding the New England Patriots has no effect on their upcoming Super Bowl matchup.

The NFL is currently investigating the Patriots after reportedly finding all 12 of the game balls provided for the AFC Championship Game against the Indianapolis Colts were under-inflated.

"If it's against the rules, it's against the rules. It's not going to have any effect on this game. You know nobody is going to get suspended, nothing is going to happen. They're going to play this game,” Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman said during a press conference.

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Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson was mostly measured when asked about the controversy, but joked, saying as long as the ball has laces, he will be fine.

"I don't know anything about that, I honestly don't, so there's not much I can really comment on that," Wilson said. "You know, obviously they're a great team, so I don't think that has an issue probably, but I have no idea."

- Scooby Axson

GALLERY: TOP 15 SEATTLE SEAHAWKS OF ALL TIME

The Top 15 Seattle Seahawks of All Time

#15: Jim Zorn

Zorn was Seattle's first quarterback, throwing for over 20,000 yards and 113 touchdowns from 1976 to 1984. The undrafted free agent from Cal Poly-Pomona added excitement to the Seahawks' early offensive adventures with a gambling, mobile style, and he led the NFL in yards per completion in 1977, with an impressive 16.2-yard average.

#14: Dave Krieg

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Krieg, a name that became synonymous with the Seahawks franchise in the 1980's and early 1990's, played 12 years in Seattle as a quarterback. He debuted in 1981, but did not receive serious playing time until 1983, when he started half of the team's games and led the Seahawks to their first playoff appearance. Seattle actually made it all the way to the AFC Championship before falling to the Raiders. Krieg became a full-time starter in 1984 and led Seattle to a 12-4 record and a second-straight playoff berth. A three-time Pro Bowl pick in 12 years with Seattle, Krieg threw 195 touchdowns, the most in franchise history.

#13: Shaun Alexander

Alexander rushed for over 1,000 yards five times in his career, including a league-leading 1,880 yards and 27 rushing touchdowns in 2005. He racked up 9,453 rushing yards in his career, the vast majority of which came with Seattle. Alexander is the Seahawks' all-time leading rusher by a long shot; he was one of the NFL's best running backs during his prime, and for a couple years was considered to be the best in the league.

#12: Matt Hasselbeck

Never the flashiest quarterback, Matt Hasselbeck instead defined the role of game manager in his 10 years in Seattle. But he got the job done: Seattle made the playoffs six times with Hasselbeck under center, including a loss in Super Bowl XL. As the primary quarterback behind Mike Holmgren's West Coast Offense, Hasselbeck was named to three Pro Bowls. His best statistical season was 2007, when he tossed 28 touchdown passes and nearly 4,000 yards in 2007.

#11: Russell Wilson

Wilson was relegated to the third round of the 2012 draft because teams didn't know how well a 5-10 1/2-inch quarterback would do in the modern NFL, but Seahawks GM John Schneider saw greatness in him, and the Seahawks promoted him over free agent acquisition Matt Flynn in time for his first NFL game. In three years, Wilson has never played in a game where his team hasn't held a lead, has comparable stats to Tom Brady in Brady's first three seasons, and is almost impossible to beat at home -- just ask the Green Bay Packers.

#10: Richard Sherman

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The Seahawks were able to steal Sherman in the fifth round of the 2011 draft because he split his time between receiver and cornerback at Stanford, but he soon became one of the NFL's best (and loudest) pass defenders. In 2013, Sherman had an all-time career year, intercepting eight passes despite the fact that no starting NFL cornerback was targeted on a smaller number of plays.

#9: Marshawn Lynch

In October, 2010. the Seahawks traded a fourth- and fifth-round conditional pick to the Buffalo Bills for Lynch, which will go down as one of the better deals in recent memory. All the four-time Pro Bowler has done since then is rush for 6,745 yards and 87 touchdowns, create an earthquake in the playoffs, and become the beating heart of the franchise.

#8: Joe Nash

Nash lined up at nose tackle and defensive tackle for the Seahawks for the entirety of his 15 seasons in the NFL. He was named to one Pro Bowl and one first-team All-Pro team -- both in 1984 -- but his most impressive feat was perhaps his longevity. Nash played 218 games for the Seahawks, the most in franchise history.

#7: Earl Thomas

Few players burn to succeed more than Thomas, who has exhibited the most impressive closing speed in the NFL since the Seahawks took him with the 14th overall pick in the 2010 draft. Early in his career, Thomas needed to settle down and learn where he was going, and missed tackles were the result. But Thomas has upped the mental part of his game, and the three-time First-Team All-Pro might be the most irreplaceable defensive player outside of J.J. Watt.

#6: Jacob Green

Green, a defensive end, was drafted with the 10th overall pick in the 1980 NFL Draft and lived up to the hype. An impressive pass rusher, Green finished his career with 97.5 sacks, the most ever accumulated by a Seahawk. From 1983 to 1986, Green recorded at least 12 sacks each season.

#5: Cortez Kennedy

The eight-time Pro Bowl selection and three-time first-team All-Pro defensive tackle was enshrined in Canton in 2012. Kennedy played the entirety of his 11-year pro football career with the Seahawks. His most dominant season was probably 1992, in which he notched 14 sacks and won the NFL Defensive Player of the Year.

#4: Kenny Easley

Easley only played seven years, but he established himself as one of the league's best safeties during that time. Drafted fourth overall in 1981, Easley was a five-time Pro Bowl pick and a three-time first-team All-Pro. In 1984, he intercepted ten passes, two of which he returned for touchdowns, and was named the NFL's defensive player of the year. Easley was also known as a hard-hitter. But when Seattle tried to trade the safety to Arizona, Easley was forced to retire after a physical showed serious health problems in his kidneys.

#3: Steve Hutchinson

After a stellar college career at Michigan, Hutchinson was drafted by the Seahawks in the first round in 2001. He soon blossomed into one of the best offensive linemen in the NFL, teaming up with Walter Jones on the left side to form probably the best tackle/guard combination in the league. The Seahawks lost Hutchinson to Minnesota prior to the 2006 season in a contractual dispute, and their run game fell apart for years after.

#2: Steve Largent

Relatively unknown coming out of college -- he was drafted by the Oilers in the fourth round before being traded to Seattle after the preseason -- Steve Largent became one of the NFL's great receivers. He caught 819 passes in his career, including 100 receiving touchdowns. Largent also racked up 13,089 receiving yards throughout his time in the NFL. When he retired in 1989, all three numbers were league records. Largent was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1995.

#1: Walter Jones

Hall of Famer Walter Jones played 12 seasons at left tackle in the NFL, all of which came as a member of the Seattle Seahawks. Named to nine Pro Bowls and four first-team All-Pro squads, Jones anchored one of the league's best offensive lines. Led by Jones, the Seahawks had perhaps their most successful stretch in franchise history, earning playoff berths in five straight seasons from 2003 to 2007, including a Super Bowl appearance to cap the 2005 season.

Published Jan 22, 2015

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