Football immortality for teams is a weird thing.

It’s an elusive, mostly unattainable thing. You can get close. Real close. Points close. Yards close.

One day you’re riding high in the middle of a run and it looks like you’re going to win multiple Super Bowls. Then, out of nowhere, it ends…just like that.

After Wednesday’s trade of Michael Bennett to the Philadelphia Eagles and the seemingly inevitable departure of Pro Bowl cornerback Richard Sherman, it appears the Legion of Boom Seattle Seahawks are toast.

The team that gave us the burial of Peyton Manning and the highest scoring offense in NFL history (yes, Manning played two more seasons and won a Super Bowl but, he was washed by the end of Super Bowl 50); one of the greatest comebacks in NFC Championship game history; and one of the top postgame rants ever is no longer.

The 2018 Seattle Seahawks will likely be a shell of its former self after a series of moves of the past few seasons that has left the proverbial cupboard bare. This turn to the future follows Seattle’s first non-playoff season since 2012.

The Legion of Boom will effectively be dwindled down to Earl Thomas. Meanwhile, the offense still hasn’t fixed an ailing offensive line that must protect quarterback Russell Wilson.

Yes, they have respectable wide receivers including Doug Baldwin. However, they also a running back troupe this similar to a buffet line…a lot of options, some good, some ok, some not passible, but nothing leaving you craving for more.

Wednesday was a reminder that Pete Carroll and company are not interested in living in the past. The Seattle Seahawks are effectively slamming shut their window of opportunity. That window allowed them to accomplish the following:

• 5 playoff berths
• 3 NFC West crowns
• 2 NFC Championships
• 1 Super Bowl victory

It’s a great stretch…one that they will look on with joy and a sense of accomplishment.

Despite that tremendous amount of success, the Seahawks will be known for something not included on that list.

THIS:

The late Dwight White of the Pittsburgh Steelers once said there are two types of Super Bowl teams that nobody remembers.

First, the team that lost.

Secondly, the team that only won once.

That statement is largely accurate…except in this case.

The reason why Seattle’s run will be viewed with mixed emotions is because of Malcolm Butler’s last-second interception in Super Bowl XLIX to prevent Seattle from repeating as Super Bowl champions.

A victory would have made the Seahawks the first team in a decade to repeat as Super Bowl champions. It would have put them on a historical plain with the 60s Packers, 70s’ Steelers and Dolphins, 80s 49ers, 90s Cowboys and Broncos, and of course, the 2000s Patriots.

Instead of focusing on beating arguably the two greatest quarterbacks ever in consecutive Super Bowls (Peyton, Tom Brady), they had to relive the biggest error in franchise history over and over and over again.

Throwing the football rather than having Marshawn Lynch barreling in from the 1 is something will haunt Seahawks fans, players, and coaches forever.

Carroll and company chased the “Ghost of Super Bowl XLIX” for three years. Eventually, their chase became fruitless and they had to give up the ghost.

The Seahawks were just one yard away from being remembered as one of the greatest teams of all-time. Their moves on Wednesday close an era where ultimately one play greatly diminished a tremendous run.