RENTON — A familiar sound greeted the Seahawks’ Bruce Irvin in his return to Lumen Field on Sunday, a sold-out crowd humming “Bruuuce!” after he had pin-balled Giants quarterback Daniel Jones into Saquon Barkley in the backfield for an 8-yard loss.
It was a throwback play that brought back some familiar vibes for Irvin.
“We’re starting to get that feeling. We’re starting to get that 2012, ’13, ’14 feeling,” Irvin said in the locker room after the 27-13 victory over the Giants. “Guys are confident and we go out there and do what we said we would do.”
Irvin, of course, was a key figure in those Legion of Boom glory days for the Seahawks defense. And here he is, a decade later, a changed man still eager to prove he has more to give.
The Seahawks, who signed the veteran edge rusher to their practice squad last month, formally announced they have signed him to their 53-player roster on Friday, three days after his 35th birthday.
Irvin showed the past two weeks, after being elevated from the practice squad for games against the Chargers and Giants, that he can still play, and with Darrell Taylor (groin) ruled out for Sunday’s game at Arizona, the expectation is Irvin will again play a significant role for the revitalized Seahawks defense.
Of all the players he has coached in his career, Pete Carroll said Irvin is one his favorite success stories.
“He had been through a lot of stuff, and he righted the ship and got on course,” Carroll said Friday, adding: “I had a lot of background on him, really appreciated his background, and always could feel that he was going to be one of those guys that could really find the edge and find the deep desire to be something special. I’m always willing to give him a chance at it, so it’s really fun to see him here again.”
Irvin’s past has been well chronicled, and he’s been open about some of his missteps — the drugs, the arrests, the homelessness.
“I used to do a lot of bad stuff, man — stuff I would never forget if a person did it to me,” he said in a story for The Players Tribune in 2017.
A father of three now, Irvin said he gave up alcohol this summer. After playing sparingly in six games for Chicago last season, he rededicated himself this offseason hoping for one last shot with an NFL team.
“Shoot, (if) I can come in Week 8 every year I could do this about five more years,” he said with a laugh Friday.
Irvin said he felt good this week after playing 52 snaps Sunday, and Carroll said he has been surprised at how good Irvin has looked physically, less than two years after Irvin’s complicated return from a major knee injury.
“It’s a remarkable recovery at his age to look like he looks right now,” Carroll said.
The return to Seattle has been a “perfect” fit so far, Irvin said. The Seahawks are asking a lot of him on the field — and in the locker room too, as a new voice for young edge rushers Darrell Taylor and Boye Mafe, among others.
“I don’t think with my personality — you know, I’m not a bad person, but I’m very vocal,” Irvin said Friday. “I have a certain way about me. I’m kind of in my ways — not bad, but I don’t want to go nowhere new to experience that. I might come off to other people as rude somewhere else. But here it’s just me being me, just being real authentic.”
Goodwin ruled out
In addition to Taylor, the Seahawks on Friday also ruled out veteran wide receiver Marquise Goodwin (groin) for Sunday at Arizona.
Goodwin injured his groin sometime during Sunday’s game vs. the Giants, Carroll said.
“He came out with something and it lingered,” Carroll said.
DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett — questionable to play at this time last week with various injuries — were full participants in practice this week. Second-year receiver Dee Eskridge could see increased playing time against Arizona, and Carroll is hopeful receiver Penny Hart can return from a hamstring injury.
Hart and safety Joey Blount (quadriceps) are the only players listed as questionable for Seattle.