Tag: Jermaine Kearse

Jermaine Kearse named Seahawks Legend of the Year for 2024

Jermaine Kearse named Seahawks Legend of the Year for 2024

Each year, the Seattle Seahawks acknowledge one of their former great players and their contributions back to the community. They bestow the coveted title of “Legend of the Year” upon them. Last year, Seattle named Randall Morris to this honor.

On Monday, the Seahawks have named their Legend of the Year for 2024… Super Bowl XLVIII Champion and hometown hero Jermaine Kearse!

“Seahawks Legend” is the perfect way to describe Jermaine Kearse and what he means to this franchise. A Lakewood, WA native, Kearse became a Washington Husky, and after going undrafted, signed with the hometown Seahawks. A longshot to even make the roster, Kearse would go on to prove to be one of the most impactful players who ever donned the navy and neon Seattle uniforms.

It is not an overstatement to say Jermaine Kearse has the four single most important receptions in Seahawks history:

  • Go-ahead touchdown on 4th down in the 2013 NFC Championship to give Seattle a 20-17 lead (Seahawks eventually won 23-17)
  • “Pinball Wizard” touchdown in Super Bowl XLVIII to extend Seattle’s lead to 36-0 late in the third quarter.
  • Overtime touchdown reception in the 2014 NFC Championship to beat the Packers 28-22 (Kearse’s only reception of the game)
  • Improbable reception in Super Bowl XLIX to give the Seahawks a chance to repeat as Champs.

Kearse played in the league for seven years, the first five of which were in Seattle, the last two in New York. In his career, Kearse had 255 receptions for 3,290 yards and 17 touchdowns. But to Seahawks fans, he is a franchise Hall of Fame caliber player.

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Previewing Chiefs’ Week 2 game vs. Bengals on Chiefs Wire Podcast

On the latest episode of @TheChiefsWire podcast: @EdEastonJr’s chats w/ Jermaine Kearse & Trent McDuffie #CINvsKC

We’re back with an all-new episode of the Chiefs Wire podcast! This week, we’re previewing the Kansas City Chiefs Week 2 matchup with the Cincinnati Bengals.

Senior Writer Ed Easton Jr. spoke to Chiefs All-Pro cornerback Trent McDuffie after he hosted the Little Caesars’ Love Kitchen’ event at Arrowhead Stadium. He recapped the fantastic event with Little Caesars, the NFL’s Official Pizza Sponsor, spreading love to Kansas City and looking ahead to Week 2 against the Cincinnati Bengals.

We check in with this past week’s press conferences, which featured comments from quarterback Patrick Mahomes, wide receiver Xavier Worthy, and head coach Andy Reid ahead of Sunday’s game at Arrowhead Stadium. Lastly, Former Seattle Seahawks Super Bowl champion Jermaine Kearse opened up about his involvement in the inaugural First Responders Children’s Foundation Golf Classic Fundraiser to honor local first responders in commemorating the 23rd anniversary of 9/11 event and thoughts on the success of fellow Washington Huskies alum McDuffie.

The latest episode of the Chiefs Wire Podcast will inform listeners about all developments in the team’s game plan and allow them to learn more about their Pro Bowl cornerback.

Check out the link below to get your fill of Chiefs talk ahead of Sunday’s kickoff:

Seahawks legend Jermaine Kearse reflects on Super Bowl XLIX catch, September 11th terrorist attacks

Seattle #Seahawks legend Jermaine Kearse reflects on Super Bowl XLIX catch, September 11th terrorist attacks w/ @EdEastonJr

The NFL and the rest of the country stood still on September 11, 2001, after the terrorist attacks in the United States. Football would return the following weekend, and life began to normalize over time, but no one will ever forget the tragic day and everyone it affected.

Ed Easton Jr. spoke to Seattle Seahawks legend Jermaine Kearse and Jillian Crane, President and CEO of The First Responders Children’s Foundation, before the inaugural Golf Classic Fundraiser to honor local first responders in commemoration of the 23rd anniversary of 9/11.

“I was 11 years old, so I was probably in elementary school or middle school,” Kearse explained of his experience on 9/11. “I grew up in a military family, and so I just remember I was living on JBLM (McChord Air Force Base) out in Washington, and I just remember just how chaotic everything was, and not necessarily knowing what’s going on and having to get it explained to me.

“I was a very young age, but it was just a tragic day for our country, something none of us will forget. I remember living on base, and everything was shut down, so it was pretty chaotic. Being as young as I was, just trying to figure out what was going on, then having it explained, and seeing the impact it had everywhere in the country.”

The First Responders Children’s Foundation was established as part of the country’s rebuilding efforts following the attacks.

“The First Responders Children’s Foundation started 23 years ago,” Crane said. “So we started after really as a response to the attacks on 9/11 in the World Trade Center, 800 children lost a first responder parent, and our founder Al Kahn was in the kid’s toy and licensing business, whose father was young, thought, what’s going to take care of them? We look at it as if one family member serves as a first responder. The whole family serves, so our programs are here for those families.”

Kearse was participating in the Golf Classic Fundraiser and described his competitive energy, especially when it was displayed during his memorable Super Bowl XLIX catch against the New England Patriots.

“It was a really competitive play in one of the biggest moments, one of the year’s biggest games,” Kearse said. “You always try to go out there and compete, position everything. And so every chance we get out there, if we’re competing, it’s going to be no different. Today out there, I’m coming out to compete in this golf tournament. And so it’s built in my DNA to compete and fight for everything. And that’s kind of just what that scenario was, just fighting for the ball to make a play.”

Additional information about FRCF can be found at 1stRCF.org and on Facebook, X, and Instagram @1strcf.

Washington Huskies legend Jermaine Kearse on the development of Chiefs CB Trent McDuffie

Super Bowl champion Jermaine Kearse reflects on the growth of Kansas City #Chiefs cornerback Trent McDuffie w/ @EdEastonJr

The Kansas City Chiefs made a significant change in their secondary before the start of this season, and a young defensive back has risen to new levels as the leader on the depth chart.

Chiefs Wire’s Ed Easton Jr. spoke to the Washington Huskies alum Jermaine Kearse at Sebonack Golf Club in Southampton before he participated in the inaugural Golf Classic Fundraiser to honor local first responders in commemoration of the 23rd anniversary of 9/11.

Kearse opened up about his involvement in the event and thoughts on the success of fellow Huskies alum Trent McDuffie.

“I serve on the Board of PLTgolf, the leading sponsor of this event, and when I joined the board, our tagline was, Give, Golf, Grow,” said Kearse. “The support behind the First Responders Children’s Foundation, my brother, my younger brother, just recently became a police officer.

“There are a lot of things that brought me out here to be able to support, knowing that I have a family member who’s a first responder and all the families across the country who ultimately make the sacrifice that each first responder makes. It was a no-brainer for me to support it here. It’s such a great event.”

Kearse was a standout wide receiver during his college playing days at the University of Washington before becoming a Super Bowl champion with the Seattle Seahawks and stints with the New York Jets and Detroit Lions in the NFL. He returned to the school, serving as an assistant coach in previous years and getting an early look at future Chiefs All-Pro Trent McDuffie.

“I got to watch Trent (McDuffie) play up and close and personal,” Kearse explained. “I was on the coaching staff a bit when he was playing at Washington, and you just automatically saw his talent through his work ethic and how he goes about his business on nongame days.

‘He’s a hard worker. He’s always trying to perfect his craft. The University of Washington has a lineage of great DBs (Defensive Backs) to come out of there, and he’s just continuing that legacy; he is just a tremendous hard worker and a super awesome person, which translates into what he’s doing on the field.”

McDuffie earned All-Pro honors in his sophomore season and has been tabbed as the Chiefs top cornerback. He has already made sensational plays in Week 1 of the season as the team seeks an unprecedented three-peat.

“Back-to-back Super Bowls, in the future, a three-peat, it’s a really cool thing to see from where he started, coming in as a freshman at UW (University of Washington),” said Kearse. “Carrying out that work to the NFL, seeing his success blossom and his talents being exposed to the world to see how really good of a player he is, he continues to show that day in and day out.”

First Responders Children’s Foundation is a national organization that provides programs and resources to address the needs of first responders and their families. It was founded over 22 years ago in response to 9/11 when 800 children lost a first responder parent.

Additional information about FRCF can be found at 1stRCF.org and on Facebook, X, and Instagram @1strcf.

Former Seahawks WR Jermaine Kearse praises Pete Carroll’s leadership ability

@EdEastonJr spoke to Former Seahawks WR Jermaine Kearse and Jillian Crane, President and CEO of The First Responders Children’s Foundation.

The importance of leadership in the NFL or life can’t be underestimated. Guidance is essential to any level of success, whether on the field or off.

Ed Easton Jr. spoke to Jillian Crane, President and CEO of The First Responders Children’s Foundation, and former Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Jermaine Kearse before the inaugural Golf Classic Fundraiser to honor local first responders in commemoration of the 23rd anniversary of 9/11.

“We’ve never done any golf tournament before, and this is the inaugural First Responders Children’s Foundation Golf Classic. It all became possible because of Bryan Weeks, PLTgolf, and Sebonack Golf Club in Southampton offering to host,” Crane said of the fundraiser. “[This is an] historic, amazing Golf Club in New York, Bryan came to the organization and said I care about your mission. I love that you’re doing scholarships for children, have the mental health program, and do community engagement.”

Kearse serves on the board of PLTgolf and is proud of his involvement in the inaugural event. He shared his appreciation for the leadership he followed while playing under head coach Pete Carroll with the Seahawks.

“Our head coach, Pete Carroll, did an absolutely great job creating culture,” Kearse explained. “I think that’s one of the biggest keys when you have teams that are winning Super Bowls or success, and that’s what you see at this event today.

“It is just building a culture with the people on the same mindset, the same goals, and coming together as a collective to achieve one goal, and so Pete did such a great job of bringing people from all over the country to be able to buy into one idea and one goal and being able to get people to rally around that.”

Kearse appeared in two Super Bowls for the Seahawks under Carroll, notably winning in Super Bowl XLVIII over the Denver Broncos. He brings his leadership and commitment to winning to ensure the inaugural golf fundraiser is a success.

“We want to start here today and sort of put a flag in the ground and say, I want everyone to think of the first responders Children’s Foundation when anything happens around the country,” said Crane. “First responders, because we’re seeing it now: the fires in Chico, the shooting in Georgia, the hurricanes, the civil unrest, a lot of things happening around the country.”

Additional information about FRCF can be found at 1stRCF.org and on Facebook, X, and Instagram @1strcf.

Jermaine Kearse believes Doug Baldwin belongs in the Ring of Honor

Ask Baldwin’s former teammate Jermaine Kearse and he’ll tell you that No. 89 belongs in the team’s Ring of Honor.

The finest tradition for these Seahawks is at wide receiver. The franchise’s greatest skill player of all time was Steve Largent, who put in 200 incredible games for Seattle in the 70s and 80s on his way to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

A lot of other good receivers have come along since. In our mind, the next-best is Doug Baldwin, who came into the league in 2011 undrafted out of Stanford. Baldwin steadily worked his way up the depth chart and become a full-time starter in 2014. He led the league in touchdown catches the next season (14) and continued balling out at a high level the rest of his career while competing with an intensity reminiscent of Steve Smith.

Ask Baldwin’s former teammate Jermaine Kearse and he’ll tell you that No. 89 belongs in the team’s Ring of Honor.

To be fair there are a lot of individuals from that era who deserve the honor, but Baldwin has to be included in the count. In the end, he finished with 493 catches, 6,563 yards and 49 touchdowns. Baldwin made two Pro Bowls and won one championship.

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Why Washington’s Aaron Fuller could make Seahawks roster

The Seattle Seahawks love their undersized, UDFA receivers, and Aaron Fuller has a little Jermaine Kearse and a lot of Doug Baldwin in him.

The Seattle Seahawks brought in a whopping 17 undrafted free agents from the 2020 class to compete for spots on the active roster.

Most years, teams are lucky to get one UDFA to make the squad, as they are primarily brought in to give the team extra bodies during training camp.

However, the Seahawks have had plenty of luck in the past, going all the way back to Dave Krieg, and including Jermaine Kearse, Doug Baldwin and more recently, defensive tackle Poona Ford.

Speaking of Kearse, the Seahawks are hoping another undrafted receiver out of the University of Washington, Aaron Fuller, will do enough during training camp to earn a spot on the team’s roster in 2020.

While Kearse is the obvious comparison thanks to their alma mater, Fuller actually drew a lot of comparisons to Baldwin, Seattle’s other prominent undrafted free agent receiver.

Baldwin was an unassuming, undersized slot receiver out ot Stanford who Seattle signed in 2011. He went on to haul in 493 receptions for 6,563 yards and 49 touchdowns in eight seasons with the Seahawks, retiring after the 2018 season after suffering a shoulder injury the previous year.

Fuller has some big shoes to fill that role, but at five-foot-ten and 190 pounds, and with excellent production in college and some of the best route-running skills in the NCAA coming out of UW, there’s plenty of reason for optimism.

Seattle already has their own mini-Baldwin on the roster, however, after using a seventh round pick to select John Ursua in 2019.

Ursua and Fuller are two of a handful of receivers competing for one of the final spots on Seattle’s 53-man roster, a list that includes David Moore, Penny Hart, Cody Thompson, Freddie Swain, and Seth Dawkins.

With Tyler Lockett, DK Metcalf and Phillip Dorsett all seemingly locked into the top three receiving roles, there’s little room for error if Fuller wants to make the roster.

However, Moore is a potential cap casualty, and no one else has proven anything in the NFL – so if Fuller makes a strong impression in camp, there’s reason to believe he will be wearing the green and blue next year, and still donning the No. 2 he wore while with the Huskies.

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3 undrafted free agents who could make Seahawks roster

The Seattle Seahawks have 17 undrafted free agents vying for roster spots this summer. Here are three that could make it.

The Seattle Seahawks have now signed a whopping 17 undrafted free agents to the 90-man roster, after reportedly coming to terms with 12 more on Monday afternoon.

Add in the eight draft picks and the Seahawks have 25 first-year players vying for spots on the active roster this summer.

While most of the draft picks are expected to earn a spot, that is not the case for the undrafted guys. Seattle has had plenty of success with undrafted free agents in the past, including Doug Baldwin, Jermaine Kearse and Poona Ford, but for the most part they are camp fodder who end up getting cut in early September.

Still, of the 17 newcomers, there are a handful who appear to have the tools, athleticism, and performance to make this squad out of camp.

Here are the three with the best chance, and why they could find themselves on the field in Week 1.

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Todd McShay: Sam Darnold more talented than other recent college QBs

ESPN NFL draft analyst Todd McShay said Sam Darnold was more talented than other elite college quarterbacks when he entered the NFL.

Jets quarterback Sam Darnold has not had much to work with in his two seasons in the NFL.

Throughout his rookie season, Darnold’s only consistent target was Robby Anderson. No. 2 receiver Quincy Enunwa missed five games due to injury. Jermaine Kearse regressed after a strong 2017 campaign. Free agent signing Terrell Pryor contributed next to nothing before being released. Chris Herndon performed relatively well, but still caught only 39 passes as he learned the ropes in his rookie year.

In 2019, the Jets made an effort to surround Darnold with some weapons by signing Le’Veon Bell and Jamison Crowder. Crowder developed chemistry with Darnold, but Bell failed to contribute much of anything due to pitiful offensive line play. Enunwa and Herndon appeared in one game each, forcing Darnold to work without one of his starting receivers and a budding tight end.

Darnold has caught plenty of heat for his turnover-prone play in his first two years with the Jets. Some have questioned his ability to read NFL defenses, while others have questioned his arm talent. Throughout all of this, the lack of talent the USC product has been surrounded with frequently flies under the radar.

On Monday, ESPN’s Todd McShay shined a light on the subject. Not only did McShay emphasize that Darnold needs help from his skill position players, but he went as far as saying he was better coming out of college than other recent signal callers that have either entered the NFL in recent years or are preparing to do so in the 2020 draft.

“Sam Darnold was more talented than Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray and Joe Burrow coming out of college,” McShay said. “Darnold just needs people around him.”

Many will argue against McShay’s opinion, but his tenure as a veteran draft analyst gives his words some credence. The jury is still out on Burrow and Murray, but Mayfield had Odell Beckham Jr., Jarvis Landry and David Njoku to throw to last season, yet failed to lead the Browns to more wins than Darnold accumulated with the Jets while working with a motley crew of wideouts.

Regardless of McShay’s words, it looks like Darnold will be forced to make due with less yet again in 2020. Bell returns at running back, but it remains to be seen what he can bring to the table in his second year with the Jets. Anderson departed in free agency and his replacement, Breshad Perriman, still has to prove he can consistently produce for a whole season.

On the bright side, Darnold still has Crowder to work with in the slot and the Jets will feature a solid tight end duo in Ryan Griffin and Herndon. Enunwa could return, although it is unclear what kind of impact he can make after a second neck injury. It’s not the most electric group of skill position players in the league, but one that can get open and catch passes.

Could year three be the year Darnold breaks out and separates himself from the quarterbacks he has been compared to for years? Only time will tell. Until then, let the record show that any evaluation of Darnold’s play must take into account how little he has had to work with throughout his professional career.

How did former Jets fare in 2019 after leaving New York?

Here’s how some notable players performed a year after playing for the Jets in 2018.

The Jets had a lot of roster turnover between 2018 and 2019 — thanks in part to a lot of organizational turnover — which left a handful of players in new locations this past season.

There were an abundance of notable players from New York’s 2018 roster that were on different teams in 2019. That list includes Darron Lee, Mike Pennel, Morris Claiborne, Buster Skrine, Jason Myers, Leonard Williams, Andre Roberts, Josh McCown, Isaiah Crowell and Jermaine Kearse.

Let’s take a look at how those 10 players performed after leaving the Jets.

Super Bowl Champs

Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

Three former Jets were were part of the Super Bowl-winning Kansas City Chiefs: Darron Lee, Mike Pennel and Morris Claiborne.

Lee found himself in a backup role this season with the Chiefs after being a three-year starter for the Jets. After having three straight seasons of 40+ tackles, Lee only recorded 22 tackles in his first season in Kansas City.

Despite not playing a full season, Pennel had one of the better years of his career. In the Super Bowl, he was one of the players who caused Jimmy Garoppolo to throw his first interception. Pennel had 13 total tackles and one sack during the regular season.

Like Lee, Claiborne was also a backup player. He only played in eight games and had nine tackles to go along with no pass defenses. It was the first time in his eight-career that he didn’t record a breakup.

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