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The unheralded member of the Legion of Boom -- Jeremy Lane

The unheralded member of the Legion of Boom -- Jeremy Lane.

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I know what you were thinking upon reading "unheralded member of the Legion of Boom" you instantly thought of Richard Sherman, who clearly is not given the respect he deserves and is never on any commercials or talked about or anything. I had the sarcasm font turned on there, for those who take the internet super seriously.

Jeremy Lane is the Seahawks nickel cornerback, and special teams gunner on punt returns. We were dangeriously close to Jeremy Lane being in the same sentence as Nickelback non-intentionally, which is a tragedy safely averted. No one wants to be associated with Nickelback, not even Nickelback.

Jeremy Lane is apart of a stellar 2012 draft class that included Bruce Irvin, Bobby Wagner, some quarterback you might have heard of named Russell Wilson, Robert Turbin, Korey Toomer, JR Sweezy, Greg Scruggs, and obviously Lane himself. We also got Jermaine Kearse as an UDFA that same year. All praise be to Carroll and Schneider.

In pretty much any other profession, being a gunner sounds ultra badass. "I get to man the gun? You kidding me? I'll pay YOU to get to do that!" If you played Halo with friends, you likely fought over who got to be the warthog driver and the gunner because there is no fun to be had as the third wheel in the passenger seat. Unless you were like me and played with MLG settings because you're a competitive try-hard.

Jeremy Lane and Ricardo Lockette make being gunners in Football badass as well, so we've come full circle. This blog now confirms being a gunner is badass in all professions.

It is no secret that special teams is a huge emphasis in Pete Carroll's programs, and that holds true in Seattle. Everyone in the Legion of Boom plays some form of special teams. The more players that can hold down a starting special teams spot and their natural position, the more it allows a team to have more flexibility with their roster which is a huge plus.

Jeremy Lane is a big part of having an elite special teams unit. When Jon Ryan punts and you know most the time Lane and/or Lockette will be there to force a fair catch, that is huge. A lot of times, dodging the first man on punt return results in a good punt return. But if you wave for fair catch (Or opt for the Ricardo Lockette ending-your-life-and still-gaining-0-yards option) you get no return, which puts the defense in a great position to get the offense the ball with good field position.

Seemingly every year Jeremy Lane has been here (I say this as if he's been here for 8 years, but this is only his third year) they try to give him some legitimate competition. The Seahawks brought in Antoine Winfield in 2013, and there is "hashtag" #speculation that Antoine Winfield was not winning out over players like Thurmond and Lane, which could have played a decent role in him retiring. The Seahawks followed suit this year, bringing on Terrell Thomas to bolster the competition, but he was recently cut. Jeremy Lane consistently fights off his combatants like he's a gladiator in an arena.

Jeremy Lane's motto "It's nothing!", which I believe stems from 2012 when fans / national media doubted if Lane could fill the void during Browner's suspension -- was in full effect vs the Chicago Bears in pre-season. He had a near interception on Brandon Marshall, and then got an interception when the Bears were threatening to score with their first string offense. It's also worth noting that Jeremy Lane had a nice Madden-esque return too on the INT. Always try to score!! Yes, it's pre-season, but he has flashed this ability in the regular season, but has just came short of getting interceptions.

Jeremy Lane might not be the most heralded member of the Legion of Boom. He isn't even featured on the loading screen of Madden 15, which features his Legion of Boom brethren Richard Sherman, Earl Thomas, Kam Chancellor, and Byron Maxwell. But he has shown time and time again that whether it's at the nickel cornerback position, or at punt return gunner, or when called upon to play outside -- It's nothing.