Thursday afternoon saw head coach Pete Carroll, strong safety Kam Chancellor, free safety Earl Thomas, and linebacker Bobby Wagner meet with the media in the auditorium at Renton's Virginia Mason Athletic Center ahead of Sunday's NFC Championship game against the Green Bay Packers.
We brought you eight key takeaways from coach Carroll's press conference earlier today, but here are nine things we learned from Thursday's sessions with Chancellor, Thomas, and Wagner.
Kam Chancellor
1. He's Not Concerned With Aaron Rodgers' Hobbly & Wobbly Calf
Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers threw for 316 yards and three touchdowns in Green Bay's divisional-round win over the Dallas Cowboys last week. Rodgers, who is dealing with a calf injury, was noticeably slowed for much of the game. But Chancellor said the Seahawks can't go into Sunday's matchup expecting the setback to limit the Packers quarterback - that's when things gets dangerous.
"I'm not really concerned on his hobbly or wobbly calf," said Chancellor. "I'm concerned about Aaron Rodgers. If he's in that game, no matter how he's feeling, he's still Aaron Rodgers. He's capable of making plays, capable of getting the ball downfield, getting it to his receivers, just running their offense. You've got to respect a guy like that.
"You can't -- no matter what's wrong with him, you can't just doubt him or say that it's going to be a little different because he's hobbly and wobbly."
2. He Sees Similarities In Former Seahawks Safety Kenny Easley
After his 10-tackle, 90-yard pick-six performance in this past Saturday's 31-17 divisional-round win over the Carolina Panthers, Chancellor said he wished he had the opportunity to talk to former Seattle safety and Seahawks Ring of Honor member Kenny Easley, who was on hand to raise the 12 flag prior to kickoff.
"I wanted to see him after the game, wanted to shake his hand, and just wanted to hear from him," Chancellor said. "Just wanted to hear anything from him, and get a picture with him, also."
Chancellor, who dated Easley's daughter in high school, said he sees plenty of parallels in playstyle with the elder Easley.
"I can see a lot of similarity," said Chancellor. "A lot of physicality, just going out there dominating, and you can't do nothing but look up to a guy like that."
3. He Never Senses Fear, Only Respect
With all of the bone-crushing hits he's delivered through his first five seasons in mind, Chancellor was asked if he ever senses fear in opposing pass catchers.
"I never sense fear," Chancellor said. "I sense respect. I never sense fear, I wouldn't call it fear. These are grown men. I call it respect."
Earl Thomas
1. The First Time He Met Chancellor Was In A Hotel Room Watching "Family Guy"
Thomas and Chancellor were each drafted by the Seahawks in 2010 - Thomas in the first round (No. 14 overall) and Chancellor in the fifth (No. 133 overall).
The initial meeting between the two safeties came when they shared the same hotel room their rookie year.
"The first time I did meet him [Chancellor] we were in a hotel watching Family Guy," said Thomas. "And that was kind of awkward because all I did was watch SportsCenter back then."
But Thomas didn't ask Chancellor to change the channel.
"I didn't," he said. "I just asked him, 'Bro, you watch Family Guy?' Like that, and that was it."
Five seasons later, the two have developed into one of the top safety tandems in the League.
"Coach Carroll is a mastermind in a lot of ways," Thomas said of his rookie-season roommate situation. "We didn't see it, but he saw it."
2. He Thinks He Brings Everything To The Defense
When asked what he brings to the defense, Thomas was blunt.
"Everything, in my eyes," he said. "I'm biased, but I think I bring everything to the defense."
His resume backs up his bold statement, with Thomas having been named first-team All-Pro in each of the past three seasons.
3. He Has Respect For Rodgers
Thomas called out Rodgers' confidence when asked to pinpoint one thing he really respects about the Green Bay Packers quarterback.
"You can tell that he knows the game," Thomas said. "He has a lot of confidence back there. You don't really see a lot of quarterbacks of his skin color with soul like that, and I like it."
Bobby Wagner
1. He Knows There's A Lot Of Time Left In This Era
Defensive end Michael Bennett made a comment yesterday touting Seattle as the best defense of this era.
When asked whether or not he agreed with Bennett's take, Wagner said, "We've got a lot of the era left, but I definitely feel like we're working our way to be a really, really good defense.
"If we continue to do the things we're doing now and continue playing the way we're playing and having y'all talk about us, we'll be up there."
2. It Sucked To Sit And Watch For Five Games At Midseason
After suffering a toe injury in the team's Week 6 loss to the Dallas Cowboys, Wagner was sidelined for the Seahawks' next five games. He came back with a vengeance, playing his way to Pro Bowl and first-team All-Pro honors for the first time in his career.
Wagner explained how difficult it was to play spectator at midseason.
"It sucked," he said. "The first game I watched it on TV and that was terrible. And the second game I watched it, and I think we were at home. So they had to stop me from taking the brace off and trying to get in the game. And the third game I think we were playing the Panthers. I flew out to Carolina and had to watch the game in the locker room because I had just gotten my cast off.
"All that was tough, but all of that made me more hungry to get back. So I just focused on getting healthy, staying in shape, making sure my mind was up to par because my body was down but my mind wasn't. So as long as I stayed right mentally, I knew everything else would take care of itself."
3. Seattle Is Ready For Anything The Packers Want To Throw At Them
It's been well-documented that the Packers did not throw a single pass to cornerback Richard Sherman's side of the field in the Seahawks' 36-16 Week 1 win over the Packers. Wagner was asked if he thought Green Bay's offense played out of character in that game in an attempt to gain an advantage over certain traits the Seahawks defense possessed.
"No, I mean, if you look at last game somebody [Panthers quarterback Cam Newton] tried Sherman and picked it, so I wouldn't change anything," Wagner said. "I don't know what they're going to do. We can't anticipate. We've just got to be ready for what they're going to do.
"We're ready for anything they want to throw at us. If they want to throw at Sherm, he's going to pick the ball off. If they want to throw at Earl, he's going to pick it, too. If they want to run the ball, we're going to hit them."
