Stephen Sullivan Soaks Up Seahawks Debut, Records First NFL Tackle in Victory

SEATTLE, WA - All week long while preparing to play the 49ers, Seahawks coach Pete Carroll knew there was a good chance his team would be missing several key players on both sides of the football due to a myriad of injuries.

By the time Sunday afternoon rolled around, safety Jamal Adams, cornerbacks Shaquill Griffin and Ugo Amadi, and defensive end Benson Mayowa were all ruled inactive. Though losing the first three players obviously left Seattle short-handed in the secondary, Mayowa's ankle injury loomed as arguably the biggest one.

With Carlos Dunlap, who was acquired earlier this week from the Bengals via trade, unable to play due to COVID-19 protocols, the Seahawks had limited depth at the LEO defensive end spot. Minus Mayowa, rookie Alton Robinson stepped into the starting lineup, leaving only Damontre Moore and Shaquem Griffin on the active roster as reserve options.

Desperate for pass rushing reinforcements without the ability sign any free agents in quick order, Seattle turned to an unlikely source, elevating seventh-round pick Stephen Sullivan from the practice squad.

Making his NFL debut at defensive end, a position he has only played for a couple of weeks, Sullivan saw snaps rushing off the edge throughout the game, including on the Seahawks' opening defensive drive. Sniffing out a wild cat run by Jerrick McKinnon on 3rd and 5, he teamed up with Moore to bring the back down for a three-yard loss on his first career tackle.

"I was really fired up he got a chance to go," Carroll said following the game. "Benson [Mayowa] couldn't quite get that ankle going and we thought that might happen, so we had Sully working all week long in that spot so he could be ready to go."

Back in April, the Seahawks drafted Sullivan out of LSU as an athletic 6-foot-5, 248-pound tight end, with general manager John Schneider admitting he would be a high-upside "project." He competed for a roster spot in training camp at a crowded position headlined by Greg Olsen, Will Dissly, and Jacob Hollister, but after missing a few practices with a hip injury, he was waived during final roster cuts and re-signed with the practice squad.

With plenty of depth in front of him at the position, Sullivan indicated Carroll approached him at a recent practice during a special teams period and asked the rookie if he had interest in playing defensive end. Having overcome incredible adversity to reach the NFL, including being homeless at one point, he was more than happy to give it a shot despite not having much of a background playing defense.

"I didn't see this coming in a million years," Sullivan smiled when asked about the positional change. "The last time I played defensive end was in high school. I played all positions in high school, but when I got to college, when I got to LSU, I just played receiver and then my senior year I played tight end. I couldn't have told you that right here, right now, I'd be playing defensive end in the NFL."

Initially, when he first started working with the defensive line, Sullivan admitted he tried to use his athleticism to simply run past blockers off the edge. Quickly, he figured out that was not going to cut it at this level.

As a result, Sullivan started focusing on proper hand technique and developing counter moves rushing off the edge. Having only a few weeks of practice under his belt, he knows he still has much to learn before he can find his way onto Seattle's 53-man roster permanently.

"I'll say the hardest thing with it is working my hands," Sullivan explained. "Playing tight end, I was already in a three-point position quite a bit, so just working my hands, working a strike, and just really moves-wise because I had the speed, I had the get off. It just came down to me working my hands and getting my technique down with some stuff."

Though there's a ton of room for growth, the Seahawks decision to promote Sullivan for Sunday's game shows he's developing far faster than the coaching staff could have ever envisioned. Proving to be a quick learner, he's gotten acclimated swiftly and as long as he continues to improve at a similar rate and learns from film study, more opportunities will come his way in the near future.

While his present may involve chasing down opposing quarterbacks, however, Russell Wilson made sure to point out following the game that his future could still revolve around catching passes from him.

"He's such a great athlete," Wilson commented. "He knows how to play the game. He's a great tight end too, I'm telling y'all he can really play the tight end position, so I'm looking forward to just seeing his growth as a player and what he can do. Obviously, him stepping up and learning the defensive end position and just being such a great athlete and being so intelligent on his stuff, it was great to see him make a play or two today."

Without having watched the film yet, Carroll wasn't able to offer much of an assessment of Sullivan's play after the game. But having seen the rookie make tremendous strides in such a short time, he was excited to see him take advantage of his first opportunity as a Seahawk.

Applauding the rookie for his selflessness being willing to move to another position to help his team when they needed him most, he's looking forward to seeing how he performed on Sunday and continuing to aid in his development at multiple positions.

"This game is a very inspirational game in our locker room because a lot of guys had to step up so that we could go and then went out and played well too. That's a lot to ask guys, but they came through. Sully was one of those guys."