“It’s not the Seahawk that’s on you. It’s the Seahawk that’s in you!”

Last week, the Seattle Seahawks celebrated their 10 year anniversary of their mighty Super Bowl victory over the Denver Broncos. In doing so, many of the old players came back to the team facilities to hang out with the Seahawk players of present.

In that, a video of former defensive lineman Red Bryant giving a hype speech to the club went viral over the weekend, and people got jacked. Magnificently, he crescendoed his fiery speech with the above quote, and you could feel it hit you square inside your soul.

If you haven’t watch it, I highly encourage it. Red Bryant was (and still is) exceptionally good at firing up troops. At 6-4 330 pounds, he is a monstrous man, but it is what exists inside him that makes him special.

His intensity is real. He is equal parts fire and brimstone baptist minister, and General George S Patton. There’s fire in his eyes, and a conviction in his voice that pierces your soul.

Conviction.

That is what made Red Bryant a great Seahawk in his day. It is what made him a champion.

He had a conviction to set a tone on defense. Every time he stepped on the field, he was determined use every ounce of his massive frame to snuff the run, and defend every blade of grass like it was a baby kitten about to be trampled on by a pulling guard. He had others on that defensive line just like him.

Brandon Mebane was a nasty run stuffing nose tackle. Tony McDaniel was a long bodied, tough as nails DT, and Chris Clemons brought a fierce attitude as the rush end.

All of this isn’t even bringing up the fact that Michael Bennett and Cliff Avril were rotating pass rush hotshots. Then, of course, behind them were Bobby Wagner, KJ Wright, and the Legion of Boom players led by Kam Chancellor who was arguably the single most intimidating defender in the league at that time.

All of these guys had a conviction in their game. They weren’t just going to try to stop an offensive. They wanted to punish the offense for even daring to step out onto the field with them.

They made it personal, and because of that, they made football great as they played it. I have never seen a better defense played on the football field, and I vividly remember the 1986 Bears.

This level of conviction wasn’t just on the defensive side of the ball, either. On offense, Marshawn Lynch provided the heartbeat of the entire team. He was the rare running back who actually sought out contact against linebackers and DBs, and he did it with a fierce determination to punish anyone who dared to tackle him.

The conviction he had to inspire his teammates bled into fierce play from receivers Golden Tate and Doug Baldwin. It led to fierce run blocking by a nasty offensive line that played like a goon squad.

Kam Chancellor was once quoted as saying that Marshawn’s toughness inspired him to be vicious on defense. To see 24 play like that made him what to set an equal tone, and that essentially was the birth of the LOB.

The 2013 Seattle Seahawks were as badass of a collection of players as I have ever seen assembled. They were a band of merry men, sure, but they filled to the gills with bad intentions.

Who were the tone setters of that club?

The proper question is – “who wasn’t?”

They had tone setting bad asses at almost every position group and sometimes, it was the whole group. Teams did not want to play them on Sundays. You could feel it.

So, ten years later, who is it now who are the tone setters of these 2023 Seattle Seahawks?

For the first time in quite a while, I sense this team is forming a few, and it’s encouraging, and refreshing. I think this is why I might feel more optimism in this club this year. I sense a return to more genuine bad-assed-ness of football.

Here are some of the tone setters for this club that I see emerging in really promising ways.

Jarran Reed returning to Seattle to play defensive tackle again is a total blessing. For a guy who was a productive pass rusher as he was during his first stay here, I was always a bit surprised that he didn’t have as much fanfare as I thought he deserved. Fans either dug him, or thought he was overrated and overpaid.

He came into Seattle as a highly touted run stopper from Alabama, and he developed into a good pass rusher. What more do you want at that position?

So far, through three games, Jarran Reed has been Seattle’s best interior run stopper and pass rusher, and their run defense has been very good. He has better production in these games than the combined efforts of Shelby Harris, Al Woods, and Poona Ford who were the entire starting defensive line of this club last year, and are all playing for other clubs now.

Jarran Reed is a classic, old school, every down DT. He has a genuine nastiness about him in the way he tackles. He will also put a little extra tabasco in his sauce taking down quarterbacks, as well.

I think Seattle brought Jarran Reed back because they knew what they would have with him, and they didn’t have hardly enough of that from other defensive linemen they had rostered here last year. He is going to bring an intensity up front not too much unlike Red Bryant and Brandon Mebane.

It is just a small sample size of a couple games with him, but I think rookie defensive tackle Cameron Young could have some Jarran Reed qualities going on, too. Pro Football Focus dug his play against the Panthers last week, and I thought he made a pretty flashy run stop the week before against the Lions. If Seattle wants to do more 4-3 stuff again, I can see the potential of Reed and Young being a very physical tandem inside on run downs. We will see, but I think the team hopes to develop Young into a pass rusher, as well, much like they did with Reed some years ago.

Uchenna Nwosu has a fieriness about himself as an edge defender. He has no problem sticking his nose in the fray looking to blow up a run play. He’s a good pass rusher too, but I think he’s plus run defender, and an emerging leader of this squad.

Bobby Wagner, of course, is back as the leader of this defense, and he will be the alpha dog of this entire team. While it is possible that his coverage skills might be declining, his run stopping skills remain elite, and after a tough season opener loss to the Rams, he’s already stepped in to fire up the troops with an ear full of absolutely everything they needed to hear said at the moment. He is the undisputed leader of this team this year.

His mate beside him, Jordyn Brooks, is stepping into his own as a leader, and will bring fierce heat on any ball carrier. He is in his contract year of his rookie contract, and is playing for a big pay day in 2023. As this defense settles in more, I suspect Brooks is going to be a menace. He has to be.

On the back end of this defense, people will probably point to Jamal Adams as a toner setter when he returns, but for my money, Devon Witherspoon plays cornerback with the mentality of pit bull who just got a ribeye steak ripped away from him. Through two games into his career, you can see all the reasons why Seattle felt compelled to select him fifth overall. He tackles with violence. He’s a determined run stopper, and he’s sticky in coverage.

It would not shock me at all if Spoon quickly becomes a leader on this defense. In fact, I would suggest that Seattle has not had a player in their secondary with his level of tone setting bad-assed-ness since Kam Chancellor played here. It will be fascinating to see how his play blends in with Riq Woolen, Quandre Diggs, Adams and others.

Back in the day, players like Chancellor inspired others to play fierce. Will Spoon be the guy who’s play makes others on the backend play more ferocious? Will he be the straw that stirs the drink?

I’m eager to find out.

On offense, I think the tone setters are clear. I see several, and this is exciting.

When he’s healthy, right tackle Abe Lucas plays with the type of meanness you want in an offensive lineman. Personally, I think rookie guard Anthony Bradford has the potential to drive defenders nuts, as well.

Speaking of nuts, sometimes DK Metcalf drives me bonkers with plays wide receiver with a linebacker’s mentality. He wants to go extra on the run blocking, and that’s a big benefit for Seattle. He wants to be physical with the ball in his hands, as well.

Another rookie who has huge potential to set tone through the course of a game is running back Zach Charbonnet. He’s a huge, powerful, explosive runner, and when he lowers his shoulder with the determination to pop a would be tackler, he’s got the power to send a guy flying.

The hit he put on a Carolina defender near the goal line last Sunday is my favorite play that I have seen from a Seahawk player this year. He blew that guy up and sent him flying. That play, right there, is the exact type of play that these Seahawks need this year.

If Charbonnet has soaked up that moment, and really has taken just how much he fired up his teammates and the fans, he can take the next step forward and be that thunderous hammer to go along Ken Walker’s lightening style of running. He can be the physical force of this offense.

And let’s be clear what football is. It’s not a contact sport. It’s a sport of violence. The teams who collect the most players willing to sellout on the violence tend to win a lot of ball games.

The 1986 Bears were this. The Ravens in the early 2000’s were this. The Seahawks 2012-2015 were this. The 49ers are this now.

If the Seahawks want to topple the 49ers, they need to be the nastier team. It feels like a tall order now, but this season is young, and let’s see how this things gels.

Right now, I think Seattle has more pieces in place than they did last year. Jarran Reed plays a mean style of football that you want to see out of your DT. Seattle has Bobby back, and Witherspoon feels like the real deal. I really like the potential nastiness with the offensive line once they get more of their starters healthy again. Zach Charbonnet can definitely step into a tone setting role as a runner, and we know what DK is about.

Let us not forget one other thing. At the most important position in the game, the Seahawks have a veteran quarterback who has been through a lot of dark times, and has come through it to see the light. Geno Smith is a tough cookie. He’s built differently than Russell Wilson is in his mentality. He’s a bit more scrappy, and has a sharper edge.

Many of those old Legion Of Boom players have said how much they like Geno. Maybe they see something in him that they find more relatable.

Guys tend to play hard for quarterbacks who they relate strongly with. It’s a natural instinct.

So, yeah. I think Seattle is poised to be in a good spot this year. I can feel it. I can’t wait for the tone setters to take over and make this team their own. I think Seattle has the potential of having a number of really good ones. I’m ready for it.

Bring on the Giants.

Go Hawks.