'79 Draft Success Too Soon to Tell
By John Thompson
Norm Evans' Seahawk Report
July 23-Aug. 5, 1979
While Don Testerman wanted to be traded because he felt he could be a starter elsewhere, we obviously can't afford to make decisions solely for that reason, and we didn't. The trade should work out well for the Redskins and for ourselves. Larry Polowski might not have been available to us later in the seventh round, plus we'll pick up an extra player a year from now.

Source: Norm Evans’ Seahawk Report, Oct. 29 – Nov. 4, 1979
A Seahawk Blueprint: from expansion to contention
By Gary Huff
If past history holds, several of this years draftees should star this season. Already producing are Manu Tuiasosopo (1st round), tight end Mark Bell (2nd round), Robert Hardy (10th), Joe Norman (2nd), Michael Jackson (3rd) and Jeff Moore (12th).

Ezra Tate, taken in the ninth round, is spending the year on the injured reserve list along with free agent Marc Allen. Larry Polowski, a seventh round pick who was nearly sentenced to Buffalo, will play for the Seahawks after all.

Carl Eller, Dan Doornink, Jesse Green, Tony Green and Jeff Sevy were added to the team.

Al Hunter was the FIRST player picked in the FIRST NFL Supplemental Draft in 1977, and it was the Seahawks who did so on Round #4. As a result Seattle had to forfeit their 4th Round pick in the 1978 regular NFL Draft. -- submitted by Sharpclaw, 2007

Source: Norm Evans’ Seahawk Report, Oct. 29 – Nov. 4, 1979
A Seahawk Blueprint: from expansion to contention
By Gary Huff
In the third year, Seattle went 9-7 and barely missed not only a spot in the playoffs but also the division championship. Much of the improvement can certainly be traced to the development of the young players acquired during the previous two campaigns. But again in 1978, Jack Patera and John Thompson used all available means to improve the team. In the draft, the Hawks added Keith Simpson (1st round), Keith Butler (2nd), Louis Bullard (5th) and John Harris (7th). Again there was one disappointment. Third-rounder Bob Jury fell behind Harris at free safety and as a result wound up in San Francisco. At last report, Jury was no longer in the NFL.

Seattle also used the trade route to good advantage in 1978, acquiring Efren Herrera and Bill Gregory from the Cowboys. Herrera cost Seattle a fifth-rounder whereas Dallas got sixth round pick and an exchange of third round drafting positions for Gregory. Detroit gave up Ernie Price for defensive lineman Bill Cooke (who has since returned) and Seattle's position in the 1979 eighth round.

As in prior seasons, several free agents made the 1978 team. Still with the Seahawks are Kerry Justin and Brian Peets.

Source: Norm Evans’ Seahawk Report, Oct. 29 – Nov. 4, 1979
A Seahawk Blueprint: from expansion to contention
By Gary Huff
For the second season, the Hawks picked up Cornell Webster, a future star at cornerback, via the free agent route. Also signing on as free agents were Herman Weaver and Charles McShane. John Sawyer was picked up on waivers from Houston. Bill Sandifer was acquired from San Francisco for linebacker Ed Bradley. Autry Beamon came from Minnesota with linebacker Amos Martin, both for a `78 eighth-rounder.

The biggest assist to the Seahawks building plans came, however, from the 1977 college draft. The Tony Dorsett trade helped by increasing the number of early Seattle picks. However, the team's fine selections continued throughout the two-day affair. As a result, Steve August (1st round), Tom Lynch, Terry Beeson, Pete Cronan (all 2nd), Dennis Boyd (3rd), John Yarno (4th), Tony Benjamin (6th), David Sims (7th) and Sam Adkins (10th) all cavort on the Kingdome carpet. The only `77 draft disappointment was Larry Sievers, a highly touted receiver whom the Hawks drafted on the 4th round with the selection acquired from Minnesota for Ahmad Rashad.

Thanks to a draft-day trade, Duke Fergerson came to Seattle. Dallas obtained a mid-second round pick in return and used it to select backup quarterback Glenn Carano. In a later supplemental draft, the Hawks gave up a 1978 fourth round pick to select running back Al Hunter.

The foundation in the second season had progressed but was still incomplete. The record: 5-¬9.

Source: Norm Evans’ Seahawk Report, Oct. 29 – Nov. 4, 1979
A Seahawk Blueprint: from expansion to contention
By Gary Huff
The bulk of the Seahawks first team in 1976 came, of course, from the veteran allocations draft. Many of those drafted merely filled positions until the college draft could provide quality replacements. Only four of those expansion draftees, Nick Bebout, Art Kuehn, Sam McCullum and Dave Brown remain today.

The Hawks' first-year college draft, while tainted with a few drafting errors, added five quality players. The selection of Steve Niehaus, the team's initial first-rounder, must now be regarded as one of the team's larger draft mistakes. In the third and fourth rounds, where a team should come up with some fine down-the-road players, the Hawks bombed. Jeff Lloyd (DL) and Randy Johnson (OG) didn't survive training camp. Rick Engles (P), Don Bitterlich (K) and Andrew Bolton (RB) didn't last much longer. All of these players have had shots with other teams, but their careers are essentially over.

Despite these shortcomings, the `76 draft did produce some important members of the `79 team: Sammy Green, Sherman Smith, Steve Raible (all in the second round), Steve Myer (4th) and Don Dufek (5th).

Three of Seattle's greatest personnel coups occurred prior to the start of the `76 regular season. First, of course, was the free agent signing of the then-unknown Jim Zorn. Seattle stole Steve Largent from Houston for an eighth round draft choice. The Hawks also acquired guard Ron Coder from Pittsburgh for a 1977 17th round draft choice. When the `77 draft was shortened to 12 rounds, the Hawks wound up switching places in the final round with the Steelers. Coder, who was drafted by the Steelers as a defensive tackle, spent his first year in Seattle learning the ways of an offensive lineman. For the 1976 campaign, Seattle also acquired guard Bob Newton on waivers from Chicago. Thus, with the foundation just underway, Seattle's first-year record was 2-12.