Selected in the second round of the 1988 draft, Brian Blades arrived in Seattle with lofty, and arguably unfair, expectations placed on his shoulders. With Steve Largent, a future Hall of Famer and Seahawks Ring of Honor member, approaching the final years of his storied career, Blades was viewed as the heir apparent to Largent after the Seahawks picked him out of the University of Miami.  

Blades finished an impressive 11-year career with the Seahawks by recording four 1,000-yard seasons on his way to 7,620 career receiving yards and 34 touchdowns on 581 catches.  

And Blades didn’t waste much time making his presence felt, finishing his rookie season with a 123-yard, two-touchdown performance in a win that allowed the Seahawks clinch an AFC West title. In that rookie season, Blades had 40 receptions for 682 yards and a career-best eight touchdowns, earning PFWA All-Rookie Team honors, and a year later he would post his first 1,000-yard season on his way to a Pro-Bowl selection.  

“For the next 10 years, he was as consistent of a receiver as there was in the NFL,” said Seattle Times Seahawks beat reporter Bob Condotta. “… He’ll always be regarded as one of the top receivers in team history.”  

Blades was voted team MVP by his teammates in 1989, won the Steve Largent Award in 1994, and was also the team’s nominee for the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award that year.  

“A lot of contemporary Seahawks fans probably don’t remember Brian Blades,” said longtime Tacoma News Tribune columnist Dave Boling. “I have to say he was one of the toughest pound-for-pound players that the Seahawks have ever had. He was really one of the tough Seahawks receivers.”  

Blades finished his career second in franchise history behind Largent in both receptions and receiving yards, and he currently ranks third in those categories having been surpassed by Tyler Lockett.