Happy Birthday, America! (And to some of our favorite players as well)

By Frank T. Raines Jul 4, 2021, 7:00am PDT

I have always been a fan of symmetry and as a fan of symmetry, I have always loved the fact that the Seahawks organization began play shortly after our country’s 200th birthday - with their first preseason game taking place on August 1st, 1976 and their first regular season game kicking off in the Kingdome at 1:09pm PST on September 12th, 1976.

Game PDFs are courtesy of the Wayback Machine - and are pretty fun to look at!

While it is true that the organization was technically (and officially) “born” two years earlier, in 1974, when Seattle was awarded one of the league’s two expansion franchises, everyone I know considers 1976 the franchise’s actual birthyear.

A couple of days ago, Mookie asked all of us where we are from and what we are doing this weekend to celebrate our nation’s birthday.

Me? I am from here (born in Michigan, raised in Washington) and I am celebrating our nation’s 245th birthday by celebrating the Seahawks!

Players on the current Seahawks roster with July birthdays

Seattle currently has 8 players on the roster who were born in the month of July.

Note: Age before beauty so that I don’t appear to be playing favorites.

Gabe Jackson - born July 12th, 1991

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Jordan Simmons - born July 15th, 1994

NFL: Seattle Seahawks at San Francisco 49ers

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Danny Etling - born July 22nd, 1994

NFL: New England Patriots at New York Giants

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Will Dissly - born July 8th, 1996

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Penny Hart - born July 15th, 1996

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Marquise Blair - born July 18th, 1997

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Jake Curhan - born July 9th, 1998

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Jared Hocker - born July 11th, 1998

COLLEGE FOOTBALL: AUG 29 Texas State at Texas A&M

Former Seahawks with July birthdays

I am going to play favorites with a few of these ... the rest will be “age before beauty”.

...

Brian Blades - played his entire career in Seattle (1988-1998); born July 24th, 1965

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K.J. Wright - played his entire career (so far) in Seattle (2011-2020); born July 23rd, 1989

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Ron Essink - played for Seattle from 1980-1986; first player ever drafted out of Grand Valley State (10th round, 1980); scored the only touchdown in a 51-7 loss to Dallas his rookie year (notable because he was an Offensive Tackle); born July 30th, 1958

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Michael Jackson (not the pop star) - played for Seattle from 1979-1986; born July 15th, 1957

NOV 21 1982, NOV 22 1982; Football - Denver Broncos (Action); Broncos’ Rick Upchurch takes a hard hi

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Terry Taylor - played for Seattle from 1984-1988 and again in 1994; born July 18th, 1961

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Paul Moyer - played for Seattle from 1983-1989; born July 26th, 1961

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Chad Brown - played for Seattle from 1997-2004; born July 12th, 1970

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Jay Bellamy - played for Seattle from 1994-2000; born July 8th, 1972

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Pete Kendall - played for Seattle from 1996-2000; born July 9th, 1973

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Julian Peterson - played for Seattle from 2006-2008; born July 28th, 1978

Seattle Seahawks vs San Francisco 49ers - November 19, 2006

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Shaquill Griffin - born July 20th, 1995

Wild Card Round - Los Angeles Rams v Seattle Seahawks

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Shaquem Griffin - born 2 minutes after Shaquill

A pair of NFL legends with July birthdays

These next two players are considered to be among the best players in NFL history.

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Barry Sanders - my all-time favorite non-Seattle player; born July 16th, 1969

Detroit Lions vs Pittsburgh Steelers - September 3, 1995

(What? I told you he’s my favorite non-Seattle player; he gets 2 pictures!)

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Walter Payton - the man known as “Sweetness”; an all-time great who passed too soon; born July 25th, 1954; passed November 1st, 1999 (R.I.P.)

Super Bowl LIII - New England Patriots v Los Angeles Rams

(The league’s Man of the Year award was renamed in Payton’s honor after he died; I think that says it all - don’t you?)

Other notable NFL’ers with July birthdays

This last section includes some non-players as well as a bunch of folks that don’t actually have ties to the Seahawks (but who I thought were worth including on the list).

(in no particular order - except the first one because of the Seattle connection)

Gus Bradley - former Seahawks Defensive Coordinator (2009-2012); born July 5th, 1966

(Sorry; I love the guy but that photo just cracked me up too much to NOT use it.)

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Jimmy Johnson - America’s favorite former coach ... or not; born July 16th, 1943

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Trent Williams - the NFL’s highest-paid Left Tackle can afford to get himself something really nice; born July 19th, 1988

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Jimmie Ward - SF got a good one in the 2014 NFL Draft; born July 18th, 1991

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A.J. Green - 10 years in the league and still haulin’ in passes; born July 31st, 1988

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Rodney Hudson - another player with 10 years in the league that’s still going strong; born July 12th, 1989

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Darrelle Revis - who else has had an island after them? (born July 14th, 1985)

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John Stallworth - widely considered one of the best wideouts in league history; born July 15th, 1952

Kansas City Chiefs v Pittsburgh Steelers

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Dak Prescott - another guy who can afford to buy himself something nice this month; born July 29th, 1993

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Roger Craig - the first player to have 1,000 yards rushing and 1,000 yards receiving in the same season; won 3 Super Bowls with the 9ers ... before we started to really dislike them; born July 10th, 1960

Miami Dolphins v San Francisco 49ers: Super Bowl XIX

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Terry Crews - perhaps better known for being the host of America’s Got Talent, but did play in the league from 1991-1996 ... (insert objections and caveats here); born July 30th, 1968

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Ryan Tannehill - got his birthday gift early in the form of Tennessee’s trade for Julio Jones; born July 27th, 1988

Wild Card Round - Baltimore Ravens v Tennessee Titans

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Antonio Brown - aka “AB”; born July 10th, 1988

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Patrick Peterson - switching teams and numbers this year; born July 11th, 1990

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Xavien Howard - had 10 INTs last season; would like a raise for his birthday; born July 4th, 1993

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Believe it or not, Xavien Howard is the only person in this article who shares the birthday month and the birthday DAY with our country - which is why I saved him (and that picture) for the end.

Have a great weekend, everyone.

And ...