Cliff Avril praises Seahawks defense, ‘excited to see’ Boye Mafe

Retired Seattle Seahawks legend Cliff Avril always keeps close tabs on his former team, and so far he likes what he sees out of this year’s defense.

In an interview with our old pal Brandan Schulze on the Sea Hawkers Podcast, Avril briefly gave his thoughts on the Seattle roster, and had specific shoutouts to Pete Carroll, John Schneider, and Boye Mafe.

“They got some young players that can get after it,” Avril said. “Especially you talk about some of these young DBs, impressive. I think the coolest thing of it all is just seeing how well John Schneider and Coach Carroll drafted. These young players are making some things happen.

“I think the defense looks really good on the back-end. Up front, the guys are figuring themselves out. [Boye] Mafe, the young pass rusher, every time I see him, or I see Coach Carroll he’s like, ‘Hey, he reminds me of you, man! He reminds me of you!’ The difference is consistency! I had 10 years [in the NFL]! But he has the potential, though, and he’s showing it this year. So I’m excited to see him.

“Collectively I think this defense looks thirsty, they’re hungry, and they’re out there making some things happen.”

Mafe has drawn Cliff Avril comparisons from Pete before, and it’s been hard for the Seahawks to replace Avril’s value since his career ended in 2017. So far, so good for Boye in his second season, as he’s recorded four sacks and he’s been tearing up the pass rush win rate metric.

We might as well note that Avril was also promoting the new Courtyard Ultimate Seattle Seahawks Fan Room in Downtown Seattle. As an official hotel partner of the NFL, Courtyard by Marriott and Marriott Bonvoy launched three team-themed Courtyard Fan Rooms, and the Seahawks were part of that exclusive group.

“It’s Seahawks everything,” Avril said. “Whether you talk about the memorabilia, the lights in here—it’s blue and green—you’ve got jerseys, you’ve got footballs, they’ve got all kinds of stuff. Only true 12s would really appreciate!”

The Seahawks Fan Room has available booking dates from October 28 (today) to November 10, and have the cash to shell out for this suite, then head over to the Courtyard by Marriott Seattle Downtown/Lake Union location on Westlake Ave and Aloha St.

AP Images for Courtyard by Marriott

AP Images for Courtyard by Marriott

(Note: The hotel room does not come with Cliff Avril.)

You can listen to the full interview in this link!