PHOENIX — Carpe diem. Carpe dynasty.
Ken Norton Jr. knows all about seizing the day when football immortality is at stake. The Seattle Seahawks linebackers coach is the only player to win three consecutive Super Bowls.
So what wisdom does the champion with Dallas and San Francisco have for the Seahawks ahead of Super Bowl XLIX against New England?
“It’s important for us to understand how important this time is,” Norton said. “The window to be really good is short.”
Sunday, Seattle could become only the ninth team to win back-to-back Super Bowls. The last was New England in February 2005.
Seattle has the chance to beat this generation’s two best quarterbacks, Peyton Manning and Tom Brady, in back-to-back Super Bowls.
As rare as it is to repeat as NFL champs, it’s no wonder the Seahawks are thinking big if they win.
“For us to win the Super Bowl in back-to-back years, we definitely could be a team that’s talked about as a dynasty,” Seahawks linebacker K.J. Wright says. “I’m glad that the core players of this team are still together. The more we continue to stay around here, the more championships we’ll win.”
A mix of skill and luck has brought Seattle to the brink of history. Of the 22 Seahawks starters today, 16 are age 25-28 — generally considered the prime of a football player’s career.
Seattle’s three All-Pros on defense (Richard Sherman, Earl Thomas and Bobby Wagner) are all 26 or younger.
Luck played a role in that Seattle hit home runs with low draft picks that weren’t guaranteed a ton of money during their initial years in the NFL.
None stands out more than Russell Wilson, a third-round pick who is making $667,000 this season. The average NFL quarterback makes about $4 million, with top-tier signal callers commanding $20 million a year.
That allowed Seattle the salary cap flexibility to sign Sherman, Thomas, Michael Bennett and Cliff Avril to long-term deals.
This season, players have also successfully stepped into the roles vacated by Golden Tate, Chris Clemons, Breno Giacomini, Red Bryant and Brandon Browner.
Wilson and Wagner are the only stars Seattle still needs to sign to long-term contracts. That likely will happen this offseason.
Everything is set up for Seattle to be among the NFL’s elite for a long time. But Norton says the Seahawks can’t get caught up in the dynasty talk.
“This team is still in progress,” Norton said. “You can’t win one and think you’re a dynasty. They’re in the middle of their prime right now. History will judge them once it’s all over.”
Seattle struggled with team continuity early this season, which saw the Seahawks stumble to a 3-3 record. Both Thomas and receiver Doug Baldwin said the turning point came when the Seahawks “started playing for each other.”
“You have a little success, and then you start believing in it and it takes away from the team,” Norton said. “Sometimes when you have too much success as an individual, it makes you think that you’re the reason we’re winning. But football is the ultimate team game.”
Oddsmakers have Seattle a slight underdog against New England, which has held all but one of its last six opponents to 17 points or fewer.
But the Seahawks have won eight straight and were a larger underdog headed into last year’s Super Bowl demolition of Denver.
Norton isn’t talking dynasties. He just knows another Super Bowl ring would be sweet.
“A wise man once told me ‘once you start counting, that’s when you’re done,’ ” Norton said. “When you were young and trick-or-treating, while you were out you weren’t counting.
“Right now we’re still collecting the candy.”
