‘It’s Been Dope’: Quandre Diggs Blessed to Ride Shotgun in Seahawks’ Super Bowl Run
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Seattle Seahawks safety Quandre Diggs (37) against the San Francisco 49ers at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images [/caption]
RENTON, Wash. - For parts of five seasons, Quandre Diggs helped solidify the Seattle Seahawks’ secondary in the aftermath of the dissolution of the vaunted “Legion of Boom,” bringing star power back to the defensive backfield with three Pro Bowls to his name.
Carrying the torch passed from Earl Thomas, Diggs intercepted 18 passes in 72 games with the franchise from 2019 to 2023, vaulting to 11th on Seattle’s all-time list in that category. The ball-hawking safety played a key role in the Seahawks winning the NFC West in 2020 and returning to the postseason in 2022, doing so while playing alongside numerous players in the secondary along the way, before the team released him as a cap casualty in March 2024.
Now in the twilight of a fantastic career on Seattle’s practice squad, the 33-year-old Diggs doesn’t carry those burdens anymore, to the point where he recently joked on social media about getting an A on a group project after the team beat the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC Championship Game. After all, since re-signing in November after opening the season in Tennessee, he has played in just one game on special teams and hasn’t seen any action as a game day callup in the playoffs.
But those efforts as a staple for the Seahawks’ defense for half a decade could still yield an elusive Super Bowl ring for the long-time fan favorite, who has enjoyed every moment returning to the franchise even as Diggs rides shotgun this time around.
“It's obviously been a blessing,” Diggs said in the locker room on Friday. “It's been so exciting and so fulfilling to me because these are my guys. This whole locker room, even the guys that weren’t here when I was here, this is like family. So for me, I just enjoy the opportunities. I get to come to work every day, be around people that, we really in the trenches together for a long time. A lot of hard games. Things like that. So it's been dope. You couldn't draw this up any differently, making it to the Super Bowl and having an opportunity to win a Super Bowl in year 11, it's something that you could only dream of.”
Plenty has changed since Diggs roamed the defensive backfield as a starter for the Seahawks through the 2023 season. Weeks before his departure, one that he acknowledged on Friday that both he and general manager John Schneider could have handled better, the franchise made waves by firing Super Bowl-winning coach Pete Carroll and replacing him with Mike Macdonald, ushering in a new era with new philosophies and adjustments to the culture in the building.
Macdonald held Diggs in high regard upon his arrival from Baltimore, which he reiterated to reporters after the veteran returned to the practice squad in November, but Seattle had to find ways to clean up the salary cap with a new coaching staff coming on board. This meant that Diggs and Jamal Adams, whose tenure with the team unfortunately had been dogged by significant injuries, became expendable as a means for creating financial flexibility for the future with tough, yet necessary business decisions.
But while the coaching staff changed from the one that had been in Seattle for more than a decade, Macdonald did retain defensive pass game coordinator Karl Scott, the lone holdover from Carroll’s previous staff. Personnel wise, safeties Coby Bryant, Julian Love, and Ty Okada as well as cornerbacks Riq Woolen and Devon Witherspoon remained on the roster as holdovers who played with Diggs in 2023, making it seem as if he never left when he walked back into the building on November 26.
As for the players who weren’t with the Seahawks two years ago, Diggs already had built in relationships and connections with cornerback Josh Jobe and rookie safety Nick Emmanwori, who shares the same agent in David Mulugheta of Athletes First, easing the transition as he aimed to provide help in any way he could as the elder statesman of the group.
“It's cool because Coby, Julian, Riq, Ty, they were all here. We all were here. And I talked to them a lot when I was gone, so it's like, that was just normal conversations,” Diggs explained “Jobe is really good friends with my best friend, Darius Slay and me and Nick had the same agent, so I knew Nick. I knew of Jobe. So coming in here, just letting them know who I am, what type of person I am. And obviously, me being the oldest in the room, I automatically have some respect off that. But I want to earn my respect with those guys. I want to earn my voice with those guys. So it's been cool just to be around the guys that I wasn't here with, but also be around my brothers from when I was here before and just kind of mix those things together. It's been really cool.”
Heading into all the obligations leading up to the Super Bowl in Santa Clara, Diggs understands he likely won’t be in uniform next Sunday, but as he has done since he returned for the final stretch run as an experienced insurance policy, he hasn’t altered how he takes care of business during the practice week. He’s going to prepare as if he will be playing, keeping himself ready to go in case Seattle calls his name.
Even if he isn’t able to contribute on the field, Diggs will do everything he can from a leadership standpoint to help the Seahawks bring home a second Lombardi Trophy, including offering another experienced voice for youngsters such as Emmanwori to lean on as they gear up for the biggest game of their careers. Having faced Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels several times in the past, his observations and tips will be invaluable aiding the game planning process.
No matter what, Diggs is having one hell of a time on the journey, thankful for the opportunity presented to him to earn a coveted Super Bowl ring and hoist the Lombardi Trophy in the most high profile group project he has ever participated in.
“Obviously, I know I don't have a pressure to do it all anymore. I think for a while it was like I had the pressure to do it all, and it was from leadership on the field, playing with 10 different safeties or whatever it was, and I was here. I ain't got to be the old head no more either. We got guys like D-Law, J. Reed here. So for me, it's like I get to just kind of chill, just play it back, just catch the vibe of the team. And I keep telling everybody, I'm here for the vibes, you feel me? Like, it's all vibes for me. So I’ve enjoyed it, it's been amazing. I wouldn't change it for nothing. This is all family for me.”
