It is official...I am past #24 and onto #34. Well kind of...

As discussed, Thomas Rawls gives the Hawks hope looking forward to the 2016 NFL season. 

This is probably why the Seattle Seahawk brass were fine letting Lynch keep 5 million dollars despite his early retirement. Well, that and the fact that Lynch gave them so much every Sunday.

Rawls hopes to give the team that same effort next season, and showed that he is capable of it in his 2015 rookie campaign. Despite missing the latter half of the season with a broken ankle, Rawls compiled an impressive 5.5 yard average while gaining over 800 yards on the ground.

If not for the injury Rawls would have put up 1000 yards rushing easily, and added nearly 10 TDs as well (ending the year with 4 rushing and 1 receiving) All of this after being an undrafted free agent, which is just one of the interesting and remarkable parts if his story.

Rawls story officially began in his hometown of Flint, Michigan...The same Flint currently in the news for their water epidemic. 

Rawls was a star running back at Northern Flint High School. There he carried a more impressive average...an astounding 10 yards per carry. Apparently, the guy has got a thing for impressive run averages. He also broke many Flint records at the school that were once held by fellow NFLer Mark Ingram.

Despite the HS success, he struggled to get on the field in college. He did get to goto his dream college in his home state... The Michigan Wolverines. He hoped to break many records of one of his heros there as well. That hero was Mike Hart, but the dream faded fast and Rawls elected to transfer to Central Michigan.

There, success began...but it was shrouded in controversy. Hart did gain over 1000 yards and added ten scores for C Mich. This was most impressive as he did it in just 7 games playing with the team. The reason why he missed the games, though, was not as impressive.

Rawls did not miss time due to injury like the case of him with the Hawks last season. It was troubles with the law that kept Rawls off the field.

Rawls was involved in two separate incidents that probably left him officially out of the draft and ultimately landing with the Seahawks. Fortunately, for Rawls, the Hawks were able to look past the incidents (which included theft and larceny) and saw hope in the numbers he was able to put up in limited action.

He could not have landed in a better spot... A match made in heaven. The team and area should keep him out of trouble. He also seems to have a new lease in life with the success.

This was evident in an interview following the season. In the interview, he mentioned his first order of business was to head back to Flint to help with their water crisis any way he can. The words show a maturing back who, like his predasessor Lynch, can help off the field while getting his aggression out on it. 

Photo: flickr/creativecommons.com