The Seahawks traded up to secure the rights to take Walter Jones with the sixth overall pick in the first round of the 1997 NFL draft. That selection was a move that would anchor the offensive line for more than a decade. Jones quickly emerged as an elite offensive tackle and one of the premier offensive linemen in the entire NFL on his way to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
After coming out of Florida State, Jones played all of his 180 games with the Seahawks in 13 seasons, beginning with his 1997 NFL All-Rookie Team campaign. He allowed only 23 sacks in 5,703 passing attempts and was flagged for holding just nine times. With Jones as an impenetrable force, the Seahawks were back in the postseason by 1999 and made the playoffs for five consecutive seasons beginning in 2003. He was a cornerstone on the 2005 Seahawks, the first team in franchise history to reach the Super Bowl.
“It was giant,” former Seahawks Vice President of Football Operations Randy Mueller told The Athletic about the drafting of Jones in 1997. “It helped us turn the corner as a playoff team.”
Jones went on to appear in nine Pro Bowls, setting a new franchise record, and he was named to six AP All-Pro teams (first team in 2001, 2004, 2005, 2007, and second team in 2006 and 2008). Along with fellow Hall of Famer Steve Hutchinson, he formed the NFL’s best left side of an offensive line through Seattle’s first Super Bowl season. Jones helped pave the way for Shaun Alexander’s 2005 NFL MVP season and three All-Pro campaigns.
According to ESPN, former Seahawks head coach Mike Holmgren called Jones the best offensive player he ever coached. The three-time captain’s offseason workouts were legendary. Jones became widely known for his penchant for pushing trucks in a parking lot as his way of preparing for upcoming seasons.
“When you’re in a game and your legs feel strong and you’re dominating guys in the fourth quarter, you know it’s because of pushing the truck," Jones told the Tuscaloosa News.
In August of 2014, Jones was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility, and he is widely considered one of the greatest left tackles of all time. In 2010, his number 71 became just the second player number to be retired by the Seahawks, and he joined the Ring of Honor in 2014. Further illustrating his greatness, the NFL named Jones to the 2000s All-Decade Team and 100th Anniversary All-Time Team.
Jones was the Seahawks’ honorary captain for their Super Bowl XLVIII victory over Denver.
