SEATTLE — Mike Holmgren first brought it to my attention years ago when he was leading the Seahawks to their first Super Bowl. We were having a casual chat about the talent on his 2005 NFC Championship team. He knew other teams in the conference started the season with similar talent, but said, "Sometimes it's the healthiest team that wins it all."
The present-day Seahawks are one of several playoff contenders realizing the health of their talent may be more important than the wealth of their talent.
Back in week five, Seattle's starting running back Rashaad Penny suffered a season-ending leg injury in New Orleans.
Sunday in Los Angeles, the Hawks lost running back Ken Walker to an ankle injury in the second quarter, and by halftime, an ankle injury knocked running back Deejay Dallas out of the game.
The Seahawks were down to Tony Jones Jr., undrafted out of Notre Dame back in 2020. For that moment, he was the only healthy running back they had left.
And in a line straight out of nearby Hollywood and the Christmas classic Die Hard (arguable, yes) the Rams could be heard saying, "Welcome to the party pal."
No team has been hit harder by injuries this season than the Rams, and if the Seahawks got a sampling of LA's injury nightmare Sunday, the 49ers got the main course when starting quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo suffered a season-ending foot injury.
The NFC West leaders have now lost both of their starting quarterbacks this season leaving them with Brock Purdy. The 49ers made him the final pick of this year's NFL draft, which automatically earned him the title of “Mr. Irrelevant,” given annually to the final player picked in the draft.
Now they need Purdy to help them stay relevant.
The Seahawks on the other hand have never drafted a Mr. Irrelevant.
Since their inaugural season in 1976, there have been just five NFL players drafted last who have played at least 50 games. Considering the draft was 12 rounds until 1993, those players were some of the longest of long shots.
Kicker Ryan Succop is generally regarded as the most successful Mr. Irrelevant in history. The Chiefs drafted him in 2009 and 14 seasons later, he's still going strong. He's currently tied for fourth in field goals made this season.
As a side note, Succop went to high school in Hickory, North Carolina - the same city where I got my first job out of college. Thought I'd throw in an irrelevant fact, you know to keep the theme going.
One last stat about Succop - he's the only Mr. Irrelevant to win a Super Bowl, thanks to Tom Brady and the Bucs.
The 49ers can only hope Purdy becomes the second Irrelevant to win it all.
But for now, their misfortune could make things a little more interesting in the NFC West.
They're already without their top running back, Elijah Mitchell.
The Seahawks are in the same boat.
Both teams are counting on the next-man-up mentality that every team leans on when injuries hit.
But sometimes it's not about the next man up. It's about the last man standing, which could determine how the West was won.