At the end of the first half of the Seattle Seahawks’ thrilling win over the San Francisco 49ers, rookie wide receiver Dee Eskridge scored his first NFL touchdown. Eskridge had missed two months of the season after suffering a scary concussion on opening day against the Indianapolis Colts, and prior to the 49ers game he’d been largely uninvolved in the offense since his November return. Against the Niners, all three of his catches were a first down or a touchdown.
But we’re not here for a deep dive into Eskridge’s day. There’s a bit of a tradition the Seahawks have had under Pete Carroll. Dee is the 9th Seahawk to score his first NFL touchdown against the 49ers. Let’s take a trip down memory lane and remember all of them!
2010: Deon Butler
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2011: Golden Tate, Doug Baldwin
2013: Luke Willson
2014: Paul Richardson
2016: Christine Michael
2017: Nick Vannett
If one day #RussellWilson could throw from the pocket and have a higher career passer rating than #TomBrady, #PeytonManning and #DrewBrees, perhaps the #Seahawks wouldn’t be too shabby. ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/zD2f55HGAR
— Ryan Michael (@theryanmichael) November 28, 2017
2020: DeeJay Dallas
2021: Dee Eskridge
The first of many for @allaroundplays.
#SFvsSEA on CBS pic.twitter.com/me7fAiCDtk
— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) December 5, 2021
Butler, Tate, Michael, and Vannett were not rookies at the time but none of them had scored touchdowns. Baldwin outdid everyone else on this list by scoring a touchdown in his NFL debut and not just as a rookie.
If you really want to add to the fun, Tyler Lockett’s first receiving touchdown was at San Francisco in 2015, but he’d already scored on a punt and kick return TD earlier that year.
And from the “what-if?” files, if John Ursua was just one yard closer…
Not only do the Seahawks own the 49ers, but they’re apparently the preferred opponent for Seattle players to get into the end zone for the first time.