Legion of Ink

When the ink dried on the 2025 NFL season for the Seattle Seahawks, its “Two-High Defense” and “West Coast Offense” were forever engraved in the annals of Super Bowl history as signature components of the winning program instituted by Head Coach Mike Macdonald.

For the outside world, it was a classic underdog story that started at Macdonald’s first team meeting with the Seahawks in April 2024, when he predicted, quite accurately, how his team would win the NFC Championship game in front of a ruckus home crowd. But inside the tall glass walls of the team’s state-of-the-art practice facility in Renton, Washington, another element added to the championship DNA of this NFL family: the Seahawks’ wide-ranging tattoo community, including General Manager and Team President John Schneider, who has visible body ink on his forearms.

It was a cold February afternoon in 2024 when Macdonald walked through the doors of the Virginia Mason Athletic Center, along the shores of Lake Washington, to fill the vacancy left by Pete Carroll, arguably the most popular Seattle coach in the history of pro sports. His even-keeled, on-to-the-next-one demeanor marked a departure from the larger-than-life personality of his predecessor.

In an era when league executives highly covet offensive play-callers from the Shanahan-McVay coaching tree, this, in many ways, was considered an under-the-radar signing. But, for Schneider and the rest of the Seahawks brain trust, acquiring this defensive-minded coach in particular was the most vital step in planting the foundational seeds that would bear fruit two years later — almost to the exact day — at Super Bowl LX, where the youngest head coach in the NFC West hoisted the Vince Lombardi Trophy surrounded by tattoo collectors like Quandre Diggs, Eric Saubert, and Cam Akers.

Etching a Path to Glory

Most people outside Coach Macdonald’s locker room didn’t foresee a chilly championship parade on the horizon for the NFL’s only Pacific Northwest team. But Diggs, a three-time Pro Bowl free safety who rejoined the team after one and a half seasons away with the Tennessee Titans, could sense that the young defensive backs from the newly nicknamed “Dark Side” had the potential to approach a standard once set by the legendary “Legion of Boom” team that won Seattle’s first title back in 2014.

“I knew early,” Diggs said. “The majority of guys who were starting and making those plays — those were my young guys. I was a big brother to a lot of those guys. So, I’ve always had faith in all those guys and always believed in them from the jump. For me, to see the growth and to see the change that Mike (Macdonald) instilled into those guys — it was impressive.”

Meanwhile, on the opposite side of the practice field, Saubert, the most experienced tight end on the roster, was sharing insight with his fellow position players. Much like the team’s starting quarterback, Sam Darnold, and offensive coordinator at the time, Klint Kubiak, Saubert had previous stops with the San Francisco 49ers and other teams that ran similar personnel packages to the wide-zone running plays that distinguish the Shanahan-McVay offense. His ability to interpret the terminology for the newly installed offense made him a go-to communicator for his younger teammates.

“Everyone was very quick to buy into this system,” Saubert said. “We’d obviously seen it work at different capacities around the league. Sam (Darnold) obviously had some familiarity with the system as well. The types of people that we had teaching the offense to us and the types of people we had in our locker room running the offense, it couldn’t have been a better combination. That paid dividends for us throughout the playoff stretch — our run game was operating at another level.”

After steamrolling past the San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams in the NFC divisional and championship games, Akers, who was signed late-season to add depth to the running game and special teams, shared his winning pedigree with those who sought his advice on what to expect leading up to the Super Bowl. He was one of the few players on the team who’d already earned a ring, years before this magical run.

“My main advice to the guys was ‘It’s the biggest game of your life, but don’t treat it like that,’” Akers shared with Inked Magazine. “Because, mentally, you have to block the outside noise. Don’t let the moment get too big. Get your rest, prepare, and make sure you’re mentally ready. The game plan was already there.”

The result was a Super Bowl performance so one-sided that, by the time recording artist Bad Bunny took the field for his halftime performance, the Seahawks’ running back Kenneth Walker III had already rushed for 94 yards. Meanwhile, their opponents, the New England Patriots, had failed to score in the first half, despite being led by the league’s MVP runner-up, Drake Maye.

It wouldn’t be long before the game clock hit zero, and Macdonald’s team was showered in a haze of blue and green confetti, below the high-definition scoreboard at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California. This was a highly sentimental moment for Akers, one that tied his love for football to his love of tattoos.

Winning Ethos x Tattoo Culture

The winning ways of the team that overcame 60-1 odds to capture the second Super Bowl in the Seahawks’ franchise history are undoubtedly a reflection of the iron will and player accountability that Macdonald built their culture upon. But in several instances, it was his tatted-up players who helped bring balance to the competitive work environment with a popular creative outlet that strengthened team chemistry.

With so many tattoo collectors on the squad, the stories behind their body ink gave the players a variety of ways to connect emotionally, from their faith and college playing careers to the cities that raised them, and the family lineages they represent. Many of the guys, like three-time Pro Bowler Leonard Williams, 2025 Offensive Player of the Year Jackson Smith-Njigba, and the game-breaking return man Rashid Shaheed, have large-scale tattoos that carry different meanings.

For Akers, the sentiment behind his most recent tattoo session is something that will always be linked to the NFL’s biggest stage. “There’s only one person who’s done my tattoos,” Akers said in a somber tone of tattoo artist Talmond “Jammal” Jones. “The last time he tattooed me was after the (2022) Super Bowl, when he flew to L.A. He sadly passed away.”

Akers procured a backpiece from the Atlanta-based tattoo artist, along with the image of the Super Bowl trophy. Four years later, when he took the field for the Seahawks’ 29-13 victory over the New England Patriots at Super Bowl LX, it was a full-circle moment that allowed him to carry the legacy of his late friend. During the interview, his teammate, Diggs, revealed that he, too, has permanent ink that represents a heartwarming bond.

“The inside of my arm was the first part of my sleeve to go all the way down,” Diggs explained. “It’s a ribbon, and a key, and a world — because my family is my world. And then, my outside part is a big wolf and two smaller wolves. It symbolizes my mom, and the two smaller wolves are me and my older brother (former San Diego Chargers player Quentin Jammer).”

Both Diggs and Saubert plan on getting their legs tattooed sometime during the off-season. With a newborn on the way, Diggs intends to stick to the tradition of honoring his family, while Saubert, who leans toward realism tattoos, plans to commemorate his alma mater, Drake University, and each of his NFL career stops. Saubert also plans on getting a tattoo of the Super Bowl trophy, like Akers.

Saubert will likely continue to get his ink from John David Staniforth, aka Mr. Ginger Jaw, a Georgia-based artist who completed the St. Michael piece on his arm, along with the wolves and roses on his sleeve. While undecided on his next tattoo, Akers said he resonates with defensive tackle Byron Murphy II and punter Michael Dickson’s preferred tattoo styles. He indicated that he’ll look to add more art to his backpiece sometime during the off-season.

By the time training camp rolls around in the latter part of July, the ink will have dried on new contracts, and once-empty skin canvases will have been filled with more stories to share with teammates. As Coach Macdonald writes the next chapter in the franchise’s history, time will tell if it will once again result in the ink enthusiasts on the team adding another Lombardi Trophy to their tattoo collections.