If this was it for Bruce Irvin, what a way to go out, eh?
Irvin was credited with 1.5 sacks in what might have been his final game with the Seahawks, a 19-16 overtime victory Sunday in the final game of the regular season.
“I don’t know what my future holds. I said I was gonna retire two years in a row, but I’m here with you all,” said Irvin, the 35-year-old edge rusher. “So I don’t know what my future holds. I’m not trying to look into that, you know. I’m just trying to live in the moment.”
During a team meeting on Saturday night, Irvin spoke to the Seahawks defense about embracing the opportunity to play Sunday with a playoff bid on the line.
“Just go out there and play for one another. Just cherish this moment,” Irvin said he told teammates.
Familiar chants of “Bruuuuuce!” broke out from the sold-out crowd at Lumen Field after Irvin’s first sack of Baker Mayfield in the first quarter, a 10-yard loss.
Over a decade ago, Irvin was the Seahawks’ first-round draft pick in a 2012 draft in which they selected Bobby Wagner (second) and Russell Wilson (third) right after him.
Irvin was home near Atlanta settling into semiretirement with his wife and kids when the Seahawks called him in October and asked him to try out. They signed him to the practice squad initially, his third stint with the Seahawks. They signed him to the 53-man roster a few weeks later.
He finished with 3.5 sacks in 11 games this season.
“(He) couldn’t make me more proud. I love that guy so much,” Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said. “It’s been an amazing career to get to this point. To finish like that, it’s just awesome.”
The Seahawks had five sacks of Mayfield on Sunday. Darrell Taylor continued his late-season surge with one more sack — giving him 9.5 this season — and rookies Boye Mafe and Coby Bryant added one each.
Part of the reason the Seahawks wanted to sign Irvin was so he could mentor Taylor and Mafe, and Irvin embraced that role.
“I’ve seen the Darrell Taylor you all were expecting in training camp,” Irvin said. “He’s special, and he’s been displaying that this last month. When ain’t talking loud and listening, he actually can play some ball. Him and Boye, man. Boye has made tremendous strides since I’ve been here. Tremendous strides.
“Those guys are two special guys, man, and I’m just happy I got to come in and work with those guys and leave my impression on them. Hopefully it will last with them for a lifetime.”