Obscure sports trivia

You thinking Shaun Alexander?

 

Couldn’t have been Derrick Fenner, could it?

He had a cup of coffee with the Seahawks after beating a murder rap in Maryland during college. Don’t remember him ever having a very good year, though.

 

Correct!

 

Way before Alexander

 

That sounds right.

 

That is another one. Karim Abdul Jabaar scored 15 touchdowns in 1997 (tied for the NFL lead with Terrell Davis) while rushing for 892 yards.
Abdul Jabaar was also the last one to do it.

There are actually two Seahawks on this list. The one you're thinking of, and another guy I've never heard of. The one you're thinking of was one of the two players who did it in the same year (1990).

 

Derrick Fenner is correct. Ran for 859 yards and tied for the NFL lead with 14 rushing touchdowns in 1990 — with another player on this list who only had 808 yards.

So we've gotten Johnny Hector (1987), Derrick Fenner (1990) and Karim Abdul Jabaar (1997). Three more.

 

Touchdown Tommy Vardell

 

Would the other Seahawk -- the one you never heard of-- be former Georgia Tech star David Sims?

 

That would be the one. Did it in 1978, with 14 touchdowns and 752 yards. I feel like I have at least a passing knowledge of most of the prominent players from that era and couldn't tell you a single thing about him.

He earned that nickname in college, not the NFL. His career high was six TDs in 1998, which wasn't close to leading the league.

 

I'm a Tech alum and before I went there, my Boy Scout troop served as ushers at Tech football games. Sims was the star RB in that era, when Tech ran the Wishbone under Pepper Rodgers.

Seattle actually had two Tech players on those late '70s teams -- Sims and WR Steve Raible. Sims only lasted a short time in the NFL, but managed one strong season in which he looked like he might be something. Raible stuck around a little longer, but never made much of an impact.

Edit: Sims shared the backfield at Tech with Eddie Lee Ivery, who broke out and had a gigantic season after Sims left, including a then-NCAA record 356-yard game.

 

The Rams had Touchdown Tony Baker in 1973 and 74, who they often brought in at the goal line. He scored 7 touchdown, and had 344 yards on 85 carries in 73, and 5 touchdowns with 135 yards on 53 carries in 74. My 50 years ago memory would have thought it was more. He had just three other touchdowns in an 8-year career, and never more than one in a season.