SeaTown Sports Top 100 (#90-#81)
Brian and Kevin count down the top 100 professional Seattle sports athletes of all time.
In celebration of surpassing 100 subscribers, SeaTown Sports will be counting down the top 100 professional Seattle sports athletes of all-time. This list will not include individual athletes like Apolo Ohno or Michael Chang and it does not include any college stars who did not play in Seattle professionally (think Steve Emtman or Kelsey Plum). Also, you won’t see any Seattle Kraken athletes on the list. We just haven’t seen any individual performers at a high enough level in the past three seasons in the deep. Kevin and Brian hope this list provides an opportunity for fun discussion as our readers keep engaging with us moving forward.
#90 - Slick Watts, Sonics
Key Accomplishments: 1x 1st team All-Defense, ranks 7th in assists and 5th in steals in Sonics history, first-ever NBA player to ever lead the league in assists (8.1) and steals per game (3.2) in 1975-76 season.
Donald Earl “Slick” Watts was undrafted out of Xavier University of Louisiana in 1973. Bill Russell, who was the coach and general manager of the Sonics at the time, gave Watts a tryout at the urging of Russell’s cousin, Bob Hopkins, who coached Watts at Xavier.
Watts then earned a rookie contract with the Sonics. He played 4.5 years with the Sonics and earned the name “Slick” because of his shaved head. He was known for wearing his headband off-center. Slick is beloved in Seattle, so much so that he has a rap named after him.
#89 - John Olerud, Mariners
Key Accomplishments: 1x All-Star selection, 3x Gold Glove, 2x 100 RBI seasons
Olerud was an exceptional hitter. He also played great defense as evidenced by his three gold gloves with the Mariners. In his five seasons with the Mariners, Olerud hit .285 with 72 home runs and 405 RBI.
He is perhaps best known for wearing a helmet while on the field for defense. Olerud wore this helmet to protect his head after suffering from a brain aneurysm in college.
As good as Olerud was in Seattle on the baseball field, he was also a big fan of the Seattle skyline. In 2013, he paid a neighbor to cut down a rare Chinese pine tree that blocked his home’s view of the Seattle skyline.
#88 - Darrell Jackson, Seahawks
Key Accomplishments: Ranks 5th all-time in receiving yards and 4th all-time in receiving touchdowns in Seahawks team history.
Also known as “D-Jack,” the Seahawks drafted Jackson in the third round out of Florida. Jackson emerged as Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck’s primary target between 2001 and 2006. This was despite the high expectations set for teammate Koren Robinson, a No. 9 overall pick in the 2001 NFL Draft. Jackson emerged and earned the trust of Hasselbeck.
Jackson was a member of the 2005-2006 Seahawks team that made it to the Super Bowl where the referees eventually gave the game to the Pittsburgh Steelers. While not the worst call of that game, Jackson was denied a touchdown as a result of a soft offensive pass interference call.
#87 - Hisashi Iwakuma, Mariners
Key Accomplishments: 1x All-Star; 3rd in Cy Young (2013); No-Hitter (2015); 7th best career WAR for a Mariners pitcher; 7th in wins, 2nd in WHIP, 8th in strikeouts in Mariners history.
Iwakuma had an underrated six-year run with the Mariners. His best season came in 2013, where he finished 14-6, compiled a 2.66 ERA, and pitched over 219 innings. Among AL pitchers, he ranked 3rd in opponent batting average (.220); 4th in quality starts (23); and 5th in opponent OPS (.630).
In 2015, Iwakuma pitched the fifth no-hitter in Mariners history. He became the second Japanese-born player to ever throw a no-hitter in the MLB (first was Hideo Nomo). At 34 years old, Iwakuma was the oldest at the time, to throw a no-hitter since David Cone did it at the age of 36.
One interesting fact about Iwakuma is that he initially did not make the Mariners rotation in 2012, his first season with Seattle, and instead made his debut out of the bullpen.
#86 - Swin Cash, Storm
Key Accomplishments: 2x All-Star, 1x 2nd team All-Defense, averaged 11+ points and 5+ rebounds each year, 4th all-time ppg (12.7) in Storm history.
Before coming to the Storm, Cash was already an established star in the WNBA. With the Detroit Shock, Cash was named to two All-Star teams and two All-WNBA second teams. While Cash did not put up the same scoring numbers in Seattle as she did at Detroit, she had an impressive four-year run with the Storm. In 2010, Cash, along with Lauren Jackson and Sue Bird, led the Storm to an WNBA championship.
The following season, Cash collected All-Star game MVP honors. Cash retired after the 2016 season. In 2021, Cash was named to the WNBA 25th Anniversary Team. Her No. 32 jersey is retired at UConn.
#85 - Marcus Trufant, Seahawks
Key Accomplishments: 1x Pro Bowl, 7th all-time interceptions in Seahawks history, 10 seasons with the Seahawks.
Trufant was fan favorite in Seattle, especially because he was a local player through and through, attending Wilson High School in Tacoma and then Washington State University, where he was a standout for the Cougars.
The Seahawks drafted Trufant No. 11 overall in the 2003 draft. In 2007, Trufant had his best season in Seattle, tallying seven interceptions, 15 deflections, and 85 tackles, earning himself a Pro Bowl selection.
#84 - John L. Williams, Seahawks
Key Accomplishments: 2x Pro Bowl, over 70 catches in 3 seasons for Seahawks as full back, 6th in rushing yards, 9th in receiving yards, 5th in receptions in Seahawks history.
I profess. I did not know who John L. Williams was before we embarked on this exercise. The only John Williams I knew was the legendary composer of the Harry Potter and Star Wars movie soundtracks. But after discussing with Brian, Williams deserves a spot on the SeaTown Sports 100.
The first round (15th overall) draft pick by the Seahawks played eight seasons in Seattle. The fullback had his best two seasons in 1990 and 1991. In those two seasons, he appeared in all 32 games for the Seahawks and tallied over 700 yards in both seasons, and also collected three and four touchdowns in 1990 and 1991 respectively. His performance in those seasons earned him two consecutive Pro Bowl nods.
#83 - Nate McMillan, Sonics
Key Accomplishments: Spent his entire career (12 seasons) with the Sonics, 2x 2nd-team All-Defense, 3x Top 10 in defensive player of the year voting, led the NBA in steals per game in 93-94.
Known as Mr. Sonic, Nate McMillan was drafted by the Sonics with the 30th pick in the 1986 NBA draft. He was the team’s starting point guard from 1986, until Gary Payton’s arrival in 1990. Like Payton, McMillan was a stellar defender, and was named to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team in the 1993-94 and 1994-95 seasons. He was a critical member of the 1995-96 team that reached the NBA Finals and fell to Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls.
After his 1998 retirement, McMillan joined the Sonics coaching staff as an assistant and eventually served as the team’s head coach between 2000 and 2005, leading them all the way to the Western Conference semifinals in 2005. The team retired his No. 10 jersey in 1999.
Perhaps, more importantly, McMillan is a nice guy. His daughter was a classmate of mine and when we graduated from Seattle Prep, Nate was so game to take a picture with me and some other of his fan boys. Proof below:
#82 - Xavier McDaniel, Sonics
Key Accomplishments: 1x All-Star, averaged 20+ ppg for four straight seasons, 5th highest ppg average (20.7), 7th in rebounds (7.0), 8th in points, 7th in rebounds in Sonics history.
Also known as the X-Man or X, the Sonics drafted McDaniel with the fourth overall pick in the 1985 draft out of Wichita State. McDaniel’s rookie season was one of the best in Sonics history.1 He finished second in Rookie of the Year voting (behind Patrick Ewing), and averaged 17 points and 8 rebounds per game.
In his second season (1986-87) with the Sonics, he was one of three Sonics, joining Dale Ellis and Tom Chambers, to average 23 points per game or more. Seattle advanced to the Western Conference finals that season. McDaniel was a physical and tough player, who could score, rebound, and defend.
#81 - DK Metcalf, Seahawks
Key Accomplishments: 2x Pro Bowl, 1x 2nd-team All-Pro, 6th in yards, 8th in catches, and 5th in touchdowns in Seahawks history.
Metcalf, like Julio Rodriguez, is still building his resume in Seattle. Metcalf’s resume is already impressive and he will likely continue to rise on this list. Entering his sixth season as a Seahawk, Metcalf has eclipsed the 1,000 yard mark in three of his five seasons.
I am excited to see how new Seahawks offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb will use Metcalf. Not that last year was a down season for Metcalf, but it will be interesting to see how a likely pass-first offense will benefit him.
Kevin Durant owns that honor. In his rookie season with the Sonics in 2007-08, Durant won Rookie of the Year, averaging 20.3 ppg, 4.4 rpg, and 2.4 apg.
How are you guys writing this so quickly? HolySpitMarta! I haven't heard of a lot of folks on this one (I've heard of less vs the first round? that can't be right...). Awesome to read. Thank you.