Next Season Sports: SEAHAWKS: Top 10 moments of the decade

Alexander is named league's Most Valuable Player

A short stutter step, a moment's hesitation and he was off, quick as a jackrabbit. Thus was the running style of former Seahawks RB Shaun Alexander.

For years he simultaneously delighted and horrified fans. With a great blend of size and speed, he rarely used his size, and his running style could hardly be described as downhill.

But he was effective, and for one season in 2005, Alexander would put it all together in the perfect blend of balance, quickness and toughness--a human freight train.

To continue...

Hall of Fame RB Eric Dickerson had this to say of Alexander's running style:

His style is different. Marcus Allen and I were talking about that the other day. He's not like me, not like Marcus, not like Jim Brown, not like Emmitt Smith, not like Barry Sanders. He's got his own style.

He has the instincts to get through the opening and get positive yards. He's always going forward. He runs extremely hard and wears a defense down. He makes the Seahawks go, no doubt about that. You take him out of there, and they aren't the same team.

The season
Alexander didn't take long to get started in 2005. After an iffy first game, he took off for 144 rushing yards in a 21-18 victory against the Falcons in week two.

The following week, he would account for all of the team's touchdowns, racking up four in a 37-12 demolishing of the Cardinals.

All year long, Alexander had big holes to run behind, but he also seemed to play with a renewed purpose. With his contract ending (he was franchise tagged before the season) and the Seahawks seemingly on the verge of a special season, he played with more toughness than ever.

Tacklers bounced off him as though he were made of rubber, and always, Alexander's hand was there to absent-mindedly brush them away as though they were a slight nuisance.

On the year, he would finish with more than 100 yards rushing in 11-of-16 games. Only twice did he finish without a rushing touchdown (Jaguars and Cowboys).

Records and accolades

"We know we have a great shot to break some NFL records," Alexander said during the season. "We have a great shot to break all of the Seahawks records. We have a shot to do some great things that have never been seen or done in this city. Are we trying to accomplish them all? Yes, all of them. We are going to keep shooting for it."

When it was all over, he would finish with a record 28 rushing and receiving touchdowns, topping Priest Holmes' previous record by one. He led the league in just about every rushing category imaginable--attempts, yards, touchdowns, yards per game)

In addition, he would be awarded the following accolades:
third-straight Pro Bowl
first-team All-Pro
Associated Press (AP) Offensive Player of the Year
NFL Bert Bell Award (Player of the Year)
Newspaper Ent. Assoc. MVP
PFWA MVP
AP MVP

Not since Steve Largent had a Seahawk so thoroughly dominated the NFL, but even he was never named MVP (though to be fair, no wide receiver ever has).

Putting Seattle on the map
With Seattle reaching its first Super Bowl ever, Alexander was the poster boy as far as the rest of the country was concerned. To them, Seattle was Shaun Alexander.

While his fame would overshadow certain deserving players on the national stage, he did bring Seattle a notoriety no athlete had since Ichiro Suzuki arrived.

A once under-the-radar team, the Seahawks were no longer ignored nationally, even if they still received a healthy amount of disrespect.

Unfortunately, it wouldn't last long. An injury at the beginning of 2006 would signal a drastic decline for Alexander and an even more drastic decline in Seattle's reputation as an NFC power.

One for the history books
With only one Seahawk in the Hall of Fame, individual accolades aren't exactly something the 12th Man is used to.

So when RB Shaun Alexander broke NFL records on the way to the MVP, a first for any Seahawk in team history, it was certainly a moment worthy of Seattle sports lore.

Say what you want about Alexander's career in Seattle, no Seahawks player has ever had a season equal to the greatness he exhibited in 2005, before or since.

In a year of many firsts for Seattle football, Alexander's MVP award ranks near the top. As long as the team exists, his great season and accomplishments will always be remembered, as they should.

Let's end with a video:
Shaun Alexander MVP song