The Seattle Seahawks traded for Rashid Shaheed, presumably, to help make the passing game more explosive. That hasn’t quite materialized yet, and ideally he’s extended soon so we can see him with a full
offseason more integrated as a wide receiver. In the meantime, Shaheed has made the once nightmarish Seahawks kick and punt return game the envy of the NFL.
In just 10 games played (counting last week’s playoff game against the San Francisco 49ers), Shaheed has two kick returns for touchdowns, as well as a punt return for a score.
Shaheed became only the fourth player in NFL history to open a playoff game with a kick return touchdown. He also joins Charlie Rogers and Percy Harvin as the only Seahawks to house a kick or punt return in postseason play.
We’ve come a long way from the disaster that was last year’s return game, which produced more turnovers than touchdowns. Shaheed is already Seattle’s best returner since early career Tyler Lockett, and he’s already on the brink of tying the all-time franchise mark for most kick/punt return touchdowns.
Seahawks all-time kick/punt return touchdown leaders (postseason included)
- Leon Washington – 4 (4 kick returns, 0 punt returns)
- Joey Galloway – 4 (4 punt returns, 0 kick returns)
- Nate Burleson – 3 (2 punt returns, 1 kick return)
- Charlie Rogers – 3 (2 kick returns, 1 punt return)
- Rashid Shaheed – 3 (2 kick returns, 1 punt return)
Only Washington and Shaheed have ever returned three kicks/punts for touchdowns in a single Seahawks season. Washington had the misfortune of being let go by Seattle ahead of the Super Bowl winning 2013 campaign. Shaheed has already found himself the beneficiary of a midseason trade from the NFC South’s worst team, the New Orleans Saints, to the arguable best team in the NFL… and hopefully, a Super Bowl champion.
John Schneider, you’ve done it again.
