The Rise and Fall of the Legion of Boom: The NFL's Most Dominant Secondary

it's not an easy task to build a top tier NFL defense it requires careful management of talent pinpoint scouting accuracy and a scheme that's able to maximize the potential of each one of your players while defenses are able to remain solid by Landing a home run draft pick every once in a while or signing veterans in order to make a run in the playoffs the greatest defenses in NFL history were product of great team building and roster Management in order to bring young defensive players together in their primes the legion of boom was just that an invention of Pete Carroll and his coaching staff that ended up becoming one of the defining lights out defenses in all of football with arguably the best secondary of all time and talent all over that roster nearly every player's name is recognizable for how excellent they were in Seattle scheme with the recent release of Cam Chancellor who's the last remaining member of the trio that gave the lob its name the long decline of the historic Seahawks defense is now in the books forever so today I'd like to take a moment to sit down and reflect on the Marvel that was the legion of boom and what happened that led to where we stand now before I get into things though don't forget to share this video with your friends if you enjoy what I do here on the channel it really helps out the community we have to continue to grow now to begin let's jump into before any of the key pieces of the legion of boom had even played a snap in the NFL for the first time to go back to the very beginning of even the entirety of the Seahawk Super Bowl run we have to start with Pete Carol himself after a near decade of coaching USC's Powerhouse college football team Carol took over the Seahawks in the wake of Jim moa's disappointing 5-1 season despite the appearance of a multi-year rebuild being on the table he wasted no time in cleaning house and overhauling the entire roster as alongside GM John Schneider over 200 transactions were made over his first season as head coach he set a new Foundation through the draft with young excellent defensive players like Earl Thomas in the first round and cam Chancellor later in the fifth the team still had a number of holes and a lot of inexperience and they' finished that season 7 and N but in an extremely odd scenario that was actually enough to secure the division and make the playoffs as the first team in NFL history with losing record even if you don't quite remember how odd their road to the playoffs was I'm sure that you can at least remember one particular play that happened in the very first playoff game of the Peete Carrol era after upsetting the defending Super Bowl champs Seattle would fall out of the playoffs and move on to the next off season where they added other key defensive additions and fifth rounder Richard Sherman in the draft they'd also signed Canadian football cornerback Brandon Browner in free agency now Pete Carol has always been a unique personality as a player's coach and his philosophy can be summed up with the idea that preparation and compet ition or everything and winning football games is merely an extension of that work in the Seahawks secondary that particular Outlook would resonate with their Core group of guys many of whom were already underdogs that were looking to outwork everyone else on the field within just 2 years and before they even knew anything for sure Carol had brought together the pieces to create one of the most combative and hungry units in football and they hadn't even gotten started yet 2011 was a year of finding an identity as a team and though the offense struggled throughout the season the defense got stronger as players began to come into their own particular particularly in the secondary with Thomas Chancellor Browner and Sherman despite another s-9 finish all it would take Pete Caroll was one more draft to fully establish a team that could move the ball on offense and command respect in both run and pass defense the most notable pickups from the following draft were Bruce Irvin Bobby Wagner and Russell Wilson the man who is now the highest paid player in NFL history as of recording this video 2012 would Mark a turning point for the Hawks not just in success but also in attitude before the year began the secondary had already been dubbed the legion of boom by fans which is the most badass name for a defense since at least the 80s and not long after that they'd make a habit of following up on the hype that was surrounding them coach Chris Rashard who was promoted to defensive backs coach in 2012 had long established a play style in his DBS that emphasized physicality and aggression to instill that attitude in practice receivers would run routes holding chest Shields that his players would aim for on paper they employed A system that wasn't particularly complex but utilized the physical Gifts of their guys to a tea with Sherman ch and Browner all 6'3 or taller and the top roaming free safety in Earl Thomas patrolling deep middle the Seahawks secondary could really match up with any player anywhere on the field and with an emphasis on punching the ball out and jumping passes when the opportunity arose there wasn't going to be a single yard just handed to the opposition their confidence would begin to build as a unit through the 2012 season bolstered by Richard Sherman's legendary trash talking skills which was just as much of an element of his game as anything else in the first official year of the legion of boom the Seahawks would go undefeated at home and secure a spot in the playoffs behind rookie quarterback Russell Wilson eventually losing to the Atlanta Falcons in the divisional round but now equipped with a strong defense that finished first in points allow a competent quarterback and a star running back the Seahawks were about to take flight higher than ever part of the beauty of getting things right in the draft is the immense flexibility it affords your roster for years to come and with a franchise quarterback and the entirety of your new Superstar defense on rookie contracts it was needless to say that the Seahawks were about to make some moves to become a Super Bowl Contender with that extra cap space they brought in solid veteran additions in cliff averil and Michael Bennett at defensive end players who would continue to solidify the defense from the outside in and put even more pressure on opposing quarterbacks after the top secondary in the NFL got even more help in the off season it was complete domination across 16 games the legion of boom would allow an average of 172 passing yards per game 14.4 points per game and they racked up 28 interceptions all of those statistics led the NFL they hardly ever gave up a deep Play Over the middle of the field with only eight attempts from opposing teams on the entire season and allowed an anemic 63.4 passer rating across the whole secondary they were going to do everything in their power to prevent you from Catching the ball but if you happen to you were still going to pay that was part of their philosophy their growing rivalry with Jim Harbaugh 49ers was easily one of the best in the league and after splitting their regular season series they met again in the NFC Championship Game whose ending would go down in NFL history the Seahawks defense would force turnovers on all three of the 49ers fourth quarter possessions per perfectly summing up the dominant season that their secondary had already completed the game would be sealed by a tipped pass from Richard Sherman prompting his now Infamous postgame rant to Aaron Andrews well I'm the best corner in the game when you try me with a sorry receiver like crab that's the result you going to get don't you ever talk about me that's just who they were on the field uncaged and always over the- toop energetic and it worked it was beautiful to watch especially as a guy who has always had a soft spot for great defense but as awesome as their performance in the NFC champion ship game was it couldn't hold a candle to what they accomplished two weeks later in the Super Bowl they met pton Manning's Broncos who were not only the best offense in the league but historically one of the best passing offenses of all time averaging over 295 yards through the air and nearly 39 points per game the most in NFL history did any of that matter at all absolutely not because in one of the ugliest Super Bowls of all time the Broncos were held to one touchdown all game long in a 43 to8 blowout through the first 26 minutes of Regulation they held MVP pyton Manning to 56 passing yards they were fast brutal and uncompromisingly dominant to the point that you wanted to turn off the TV and a lot of people did this Super Bowl win was not only the highest peak that the L would ever reach but also the Seattle Seahawks as a whole because while they didn't just disappear things would never Top This Moment again the following year would be a similar story for the Seahawks defense who was by now the most feared group in the NFL they continued to suffocate offenses again holding opposing teams to the fewest points in the league for the third year in a row though they struggled in the start of the Season they'd pull together and finish 12-4 in order to secure a number one seed in the playoffs after taking care of business they'd end up with their second consecutive Super Bowl birth but despite an excellent game on both sides and some truly incredible plays only one of them would forever be remembered as its defining moment play clock at five pass is intercepted at the goal line by Malcolm Butler in Miracle fashion the Patriots pulled a victory out of their hat and sealed the game with only 25 seconds left to play that game would end up being a devastating blow to Seattle who had not only been torched by Tom Brady for over 300 yards and four touchdowns but had squandered away what looked like the start of a potential Dynasty now it wouldn't be right to say that one play is what led to their disintegration but there's no question that it certainly didn't help at all Sports Illustrated wrote an article last year that chronicled the building resentment of where the team had been heading around the time of that Super Bowl loss many players on the defense had begun to think that their quarterback Russell Wilson had been too coddled by their coach and didn't have any accountability but in the same sense the defense had certainly taken on a life of its own and their immense success had driven a wedge through the locker room anytime there were team struggles but no matter what was going on behind the scenes after Super Bowl 49 it was about to create a hell of a hangover to have years of effort and passion reduced to a mistake that you had no part in personally that's got to mess with you and it makes you question what you're even doing in the first place despite the best efforts of those in and around the team the years that would follow would always live in the shadow of what seemed like it should have been and the Seahawks would never make it back to the Super Bowl in the legion of boom era so how did it all just come to an end well no matter what happened in that game they weren't going to stay together forever no matter what as a result of age and the big contract money that each of their key players did deserve that writing was quick to show up on the wall as well because as early as the very next offseason cam chanler held out due to a contract dispute though he'd return in week three and the year would still be filled with Incredible moments and another year of first in scoring defense it was a step back as a unit overall After exiting in the playoffs that year 2016 would see yet another huge drop in performance despite high expectations as a team Seattle could never fully live up to them and every single issue would continue to deepen the divides that were causing turmoil in the locker room the roster would continue to change and have its own problems as the years went on and the growing consensus was that a lot of players were unhappy with how everything was being managed between meetings contract discussions practices and everything else in between and to add on to all of that injuries now plagued the same team that used to have the most energy and Swagger of any group in the league and despite the fact that they still remained a top NFC Contender the atmosphere was just different in Seattle blowups on the sidelines became more and more frequent and there was far more blame than Brotherhood that seemed to be being passed around in 2017 though they'd really start to see the first of players be ready to actually leave the offensive line had become an immense concern along with Russell Wilson's Health as he was sacked 43 times and the injuries began to pile up alarmingly fast in the middle of the Season cam Chancellor suffered a neck injury that would threaten his football career entirely and one that he will never likely return from his fellow founding member of the Legion Richard Sherman would struggle with Achilles issues through the entire year before eventually rupturing his Achilles in week 10 of that season that would also be his last game in a Seahawks uniform as he would eventually sign with the 49ers the very next off season playing with the speed and intensity that the Lo always had had taken its toll and now it was spelling the end of an era the team back the identity that it had built for so many years and players were ready to move on with their lives regardless of what could have been for Pete Carol Seahawks though the team was a product of years of excellent drafting the years that followed were not as kind especially in the later rounds of the draft leaving the unit without the future generation that had always given it such energy many of the key pieces that brought Seattle its success over time were those who had become the biggest critics of the organization this was embodied perfectly in one last contract hold out from Earl Thomas where he eventually gave up and returned to the team only to suffer a season-ending injury just weeks later that reaction is not a representation of what the Seahawks had been but it seemed to represent how their veterans had felt it had become though the foundation that Seattle built its dominance on was never going to last forever it's hard not to wonder what really could have been now the Seahawks still have an excellent coach a star quarterback and continue to find ways to win games and make the playoffs year after year so it isn't like they cannot move on without the secondary that carried them to the Super Bowl in 2013 and 2014 there are still excellent players on both sides of the ball and if they were able to draft top talent once there's no reason that they hypothetically can't pull it off again but whether it was egos mismanagement or a combination of it all the legion of boom is now fully disbanded once and for all so until the next historic defense emerges out of thin air let's just all take solace in the agreement that they should have just run the damn ball yeah oh yeah oh oh yeah oh oh yeah oh

Channel: Set the Edge

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Keywords: seattle seahawks, richard sherman, kam chancellor, earl thomas, legion of boom, rise and fall legion of boom, legion of boom highlights, set the edge, seattle seahawks highlights, richard sherman funny, richard sherman highlights, richard sherman trash talk, lob highlights, legion of boom 2013, seahawks superbowl, seahawks super bowl 48, seahawks super bowl interception, seattle seahawks draft 2019, kam chancellor hits, earl thomas highlights, set the edge seahawks

Id: 4nYf6Bzvtso

Length: 12min 44sec (764 seconds)

Published: Fri Jun 07 2019