The Seahawks first made a name for themselves in the 1980s, in no small part, thanks to a standout secondary full of ball hawks and big personalities. That same formula helped the Seahawks win their first Super Bowl as the Legion of Boom anchored one of the best defenses in NFL history.

So it comes as no surprise that those 1980s and 2010s secondaries are well represented in the Seahawks Top 50 Players, making up six of the nine defensive backs selected. In all, five safeties and four cornerbacks were selected: cornerback Dave Brown, safety Kam Chancellor, safety Kenny Easley, safety John Harris, safety Eugene Robinson, cornerback Richard Sherman, safety Earl Thomas III, cornerback Marcus Trufant and cornerback Devon Witherspoon.

Easley, a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, as well as fellow Ring of Honor member Brown, led, along with Harris, a dominant group in the 80s that, among other accomplishments, helped the Seahawks force 63 turnovers, a franchise record that is also the most by an NFL team since the NFL-AFL merger.

Two decades later, Sherman, Chancellor and Thomas formed the nucleus of the Legion of Boom secondary—a nickname that would later be adopted by the entire defense—a unit that helped the Seahawks build the NFL's best defense in the 2010s. From 2012-2015, the Seahawks led the league in scoring defense for four consecutive seasons, the only team in the Super Bowl era to pull off that feat, and in 2013, the Seahawks led the league in total defense, scoring defense, passing defense and takeaways in a season that culminated in a 43-8 Super Bowl XLVIII victory in which Seattle held the highest scoring offense of all time to a single score after the game was already out of hand.

Rounding out the group of defensive backs are Marcus Trufant, a Tacoma native who helped take the Seahawks to their first Super Bowl; Robinson, a two-time Pro Bowler in his 11 years in Seattle whose 984 tackles rank second in history behind only Bobby Wagner; and Witherspoon, a current standout who is one of only five players in franchise history to make the Pro Bowl in each of his first two seasons.

The nine defensive backs are among the top 50 players in franchise history, a group selected in honor of the Seahawks' upcoming 50^th season. The Top 50 Players were voted on by fans, media members and internal stakeholders. The voting process took place toward the end of the 2024 season, with more than 160 players eligible based on the following criteria:

• Started at least 45 games
• Voted to an AP All-Pro or NFL Pro Bowl team roster
• 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 more information on the nine defensive backs selected to the Seahawks Top 50 Players, see the link below to their full bios:

CB Dave Brown, 1976-1986: Brown joined the Seahawks via the 1976 expansion draft, and proved to be a great early addition to the franchise. In 11 seasons in Seattle, Brown recorded 50 interceptions, a franchise record that still stands, five interceptions return touchdowns and 12 fumble recoveries, a resume that helped him become the third player inducted into the Seahawks Ring of Honor. A four-time team captain and the team's Man of the Year nominee in 1982, Brown returned to the Seahawks as a defensive backs coach from 1992-1998. Brown later went on to coach defensive backs at Texas Tech before dying of an apparent heart attack in 2006 at the age of 52.

S Kam Chancellor, 2010-2017: The tone setter on one of the best defenses in NFL history, Chancellor was a four-time Pro-Bowl selection, a two-time second-team All-Pro, and an important leader over eight seasons in Seattle before his career was cut short by a neck injury. Chancellor saved some of his best performances for the biggest games, including Seattle's dominant Super Bowl XLVIII victory in which he recorded nine tackles, an interception, two passes defensed and a huge tone-setting hit on Demaryius Thomas on Denver's third offensive play. A year later in a playoff win over Carolina, Chancellor recorded 10 tackles, returned an interception 90 yards for a touchdown, and twice hurdled Carolina's line trying to block field-goal attempts.

S Kenny Easley, 1981-1987: Known as the Enforcer, Easley was equal parts intimidator and playmaker in his seven seasons with the Seahawks, earning first-team All-Pro honors three times and Pro-Bowl honors five times before a kidney ailment cut short his career. A member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the Seahawks Ring of Honor, Easley is one of two players in franchise history to earn AP Defensive Player of the Year honors.

S John Harris, 1978-1985: A seventh-round pick in the 1978 draft, Harris would prove to be one of the great late-round gems selected by the Seahawks in their history. Harris started 112 of 119 games played in eight seasons with the Seahawks. Harris' best season came in 1981 when, playing alongside rookie safety and future Pro Football Hall of Fame member Kenny Easley, he had a team-leading 10 interceptions, two of which he returned for touchdowns, as well as three fumble recoveries and a forced fumble. Harris had at least six interceptions in four of his eight seasons with the Seahawks, and his 41 in his Seattle career rank third in franchise history.

S Eugene Robinson, 1985-1995: Robinson was selected to two Pro Bowls in his 11 seasons with the Seahawks, and his 984 tackles are the second most in franchise history. A five-time team captain, Robinson was the Seahawks' nominee for the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award four times, won the Steve Largent Award in 1993, and was voted team MVP by his teammates two times.

CB Richard Sherman, 2011-2017: One of the best cornerbacks of his or any era, Sherman went from former college receiver and fifth-round pick to a player opposing offenses game-planned around, often avoiding his side of the field entirely. The outspoken voice of the Legion of Boom, Sherman earned first-team All-Pro honors three times and Pro-Bowl honors four times in his seven seasons with the Seahawks, recording 37 interceptions, including 20 in his first three seasons before teams just stopped throwing at him. Sherman is also responsible for one of the most important and memorable plays in franchise history, his tipped pass late in the NFC championship game that resulted in Malcolm Smith's game-clinching interception. Sherman was named to the 2010s All-Decade Team along with teammates Earl Thomas III, Bobby Wagner and Marshawn Lynch, as well as coach Pete Carroll.

S Earl Thomas III, 2010-2018: One of the most important pieces of Pete Carroll's dominant defenses was Thomas, an elite safety who all but eliminated deep passes from opposing offenses playbooks when they faced the Seahawks. A first-round pick in 2010, Thomas was a six-time Pro-Bowl selection and three-time first-team All-Pro during his time in Seattle, and was named to the 2010s All-Decade Team.

CB Marcus Trufant, 2003-2012: A Tacoma native and Washington State University standout, Trufant stayed in his home state for his NFL career, spending 10 seasons with the Seahawks after being selected in the first-round of the 2003 draft. Trufant was an important part of the Mike Holmgren era teams that earned five straight playoff berths from 2003-2007, winning four straight NFC West titles, and he and the rest of the defense played a big, though at times overshadowed by the offense, role in the Seahawks reaching their first Super Bowl after going 13-3 in 2005.

CB Devon Witherspoon, 2023-present: The fifth overall pick in the 2023 draft, Witherspoon burst onto the scene as one of the NFL's best young defensive backs, earning Pro-Bowl honors while also being a finalist for Defensive Rookie of the Year honors. Witherspoon backed that rookie season up with another Pro-Bowl campaign in 2024, making him one of just five players in franchise history to make the Pro Bowl in each of his first two seasons. Witherspoon's energy and competitiveness are often cited by coaches and teammates as contagious traits that help inspire the entire team.