Walter Thurmond still owns a house in Seattle, and he visited the Pacific Northwest this past week, checking in on his former Seahawks teammates, guys with whom he won a Super Bowl one year ago.
Thurmond could tell from what he heard that these Seahawks understand their epic comeback victory in the NFC Championship Game, coupled with a monumental collapse by the Packers, makes Sunday’s trip to Glendale, Ariz., far different than last year’s trip to New Jersey.
“I talked to some guys on the team, and they were just talking about they really had to work for all their wins this season, nothing came easy,’’ Thurmond told The Post. “They weren’t as dominant as they were last year, from a defensive side. It was really a grind for them throughout this whole season. Watching that game Sunday was really a testament to how their season played out. Guys are very humble, they’re fortunate to be in this situation and be able to come back to the Super Bowl.’’
Humble and the Seahawks are not often linked, but it’s also not often that a team survives and advances after being down 19-7 in the last few minutes of the fourth quarter. Thurmond spent his first four NFL seasons with the Seahawks, a cornerback who grew up in what would become the Legion of Boom secondary, before signing with the Giants in 2014. This past season was a non-event for him: He tore a pectoral muscle in his second game and spent the remainder of the year on injured reserve. Once again a free agent, Thurmond would like to return to the Giants, a sentiment he shared during his exit interview.
“I love the city of New York and I’m willing to come back,’’ he said.
Thurmond rose through the ranks in Seattle to emerge as the nickel back and he started in Super Bowl XLVIII, when the Seahawks overwhelmed the Broncos 43-8 at MetLife Stadium. With his intimate knowledge of the inner workings of the Legion of Boom, Thurmond offered these observations of the Fabulous Four:
Richard Sherman
“An ultra-confident person. I don’t think you can get any more confident than Richard is. Big, long rangy corner, probably one of the best deep ball catchers on the defensive side of the ball in the NFL, especially with his background playing receiver, understanding route concepts and formations. He’s one of the smartest cornerbacks in the league, for sure. When you go through the best cornerbacks, it’s hard to rank them as far as there are so many different schemes and everyone has their own criteria. as far as what they view as the best corner. It’s interesting because the Seahawks play man more on third down, but they play a lot of zone-type coverages on first- and second-down situations, where you have a little more freelance ability in the secondary.’’
Byron Maxwell
“I remember him coming in his rookie year, and I really liked his game. He was one of my favorite players coming in that training camp. His playmaking ability, another big, rangy corner who is very cerebral and very talented back there.’’
Earl Thomas
“One of my favorite players in the NFL, just his relentlessness, his desire to want to be great, his competitive nature is as good as I’ve seen. Being able to play with somebody, he’s a type of player people talk about going 100 percent, 110 percent every play and Earl is the epitome of that. He goes 110 percent every play. You can see him on the field — there’s not one moment he gives up. It’s all or nothing with that guy. Earl’s 5-10, 205 and you would think he’d be like 250 pounds the way he throws his body in there, regardless of how big the player is, he just thrives off that physical contact. He sacrifices his body every single play.’’
Kam Chancellor
“He’s a nice, different guy off the field, but once he gets inside those lines he’s the ultimate competitor. I would say he’s the most feared player in the NFL just because of his physical stature and because of his ability to be able to wreak havoc on opposing offensive players. He’s really where the Legion of Boom comes from, him and Earl and that relentless pursuit to want to be great. He plays dominant. Some guys talk about playing dominant, but some guys are in your face every play. I’ve seen Kam do some crazy stuff to players, from his rookie year until now, it’s really been amazing to see him grow as a player.’’