If you’ve been a Seahawks fan for the past 12 seasons, consider yourself fortunate.
Not everyone has had the privilege of watching 
ESPN.com recognized this fact while compiling its all-decade offensive team that was announced today. Jones is one of the tackles. Former Baltimore Raven Jonathan Ogden is the other.
It’s something those who have been around Jones already knew.
“Walter is the best lineman I’ve ever seen, and I’ve been around some good linemen,” former Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren said. “Walter is the best offensive player (I have ever coached). Reggie (White) was the best defensive player.”
That’s saying a lot, considering that Holmgren coached quarterbacks Joe Montana and Steve Young while an assistant with the San Francisco 49ers and quarterback Brett Favre as the coach of the Green Bay Packers.
When there was talk of the team finding an eventual replacement for Jones with the fourth pick overall in this year’s NFL draft, Seahawks president Tim Ruskell offered this cautionary assessment: “Well, you’re not going to find a Walter Jones, that’s for sure. I can say that right now.”
Jones, 35, is recovering from microfracture surgery on his left knee that forced him to miss the final four games last season. His return to Pro Bowl form is a pivotal element in the offensive transition from Holmgren to new offensive coordinator Greg Knapp.
With Jones, left tackle remains the strength of a line that must open holes for
Without Jones, well, that a road no one wants to head down.
His unique set of skills has been apparent since the Seahawks made Jones the sixth pick overall in the 1997 draft.
Jones didn’t report to training camp as a rookie until a couple of days before the Seahawks’ third preseason game – a Friday nighter against the 49ers in San Francisco. The obvious question: Would Jones play, and how much?
“Walter Jones isn’t only going to play, he’s going to start,” former offensive line coach Howard Mudd confided at the time. “And this kid is going to be better than anyone can possibly imagine.”
Several years later, while coaching with the Indianapolis Colts, Mudd had not altered that lofty evaluation.
“I only had him as a rookie, but he turned out to be a phenomenal player,” Mudd said in 2005. “Of all the linemen I’ve coached, Walt would be the outstanding player in the group.”
That group includes Russ Washington, Randy Cross, Jeff Saturday, Kevin Mawae and Tarik Glenn.
The longer Jones played, the more it became apparent just how special a player he was.
“Walt is just unbelievable,” said Steve Hutchinson, a former teammate who now plays for the Minnesota Vikings and was one of the guards named to the ESPN.com all-decade team.
“To be 330 pounds and to be able to move like that, he’s got feet like a running back. And he’s strong as hell, too. Everybody talks about what a great athlete he is, but I’ve seen him take so many defensive ends and just send them flying with one quick thrust of his arms. He is a big man and a big-time talent.”
One of those defensive ends was Pro Bowler Aaron Schobel, who plays for the Buffalo Bills.
“I played Ogden. I played (former Chief) Willie Roaf. I would say Walter was the best of those,” Schobel offered before the Bills and Seahawks played in the 2008 season opener.
“What can I say about him? I mean it. He’s athletic. He’s obviously big. He knows how to play the position.”
Which anyone fortunate enough to watch Jones play his entire career also knows.