Sports
How Seahawks rookie Nick Emmanwori became Mike Macdonald's ultimate weapon
Jan 17, 2026; Seattle, WA, USA; Seattle Seahawks safety Nick Emmanwori (3) reacts after a fumble recovery against the San Francisco 49ers during the second half in an NFC Divisional Round game at Lumen Field. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Ng-Imagn Images SAN JOSE, Calif. — When Nick Emmanwori blows out his 22nd birthday candles on Saturday night on the eve of Super Bowl LX, there’s a reasonable chance the celebration will take place in one of the defensive position group meeting rooms in the San Jose Marriott and Convention Center.
From the seat of Seahawks general manager John Schneider and headset of coach Mike Macdonald, Emmanwori has been handing out gifts to Seattle’s defense for nine months and counting.
“My goal is a Gold Jacket,” Emmanwori said. “I want to be one of the greatest ever.”
As determined as Emmanwori is to get there, let’s backpedal to how he became a Seahawk.
With the clock ticking on the final picks of the first round in the 2025 NFL Draft, Seahawks general manager John Schneider was on the phone trying to find a trade partner.
One of the top players on their board, South Carolina safety Nick Emmanwori, was still there in what Schneider considered a stunning turn of events given their vision of what the 6-foot-3, 220-pound hybrid defensive weapon could do in Macdonald’s defense.
Already the Seahawks had selected Senior Bowl star and North Dakota State offensive lineman Grey Zabel with the No. 18 pick.
There was no trade match for the Seahawks as a nearly consummated swap with the Philadelphia Eagles fell through, but Seattle had put in place a deal to move up.
“Everybody was passionate about getting him,” he said.
They’d be in position with the third selection in the second round to hit their home run with Emmanwori with the 35th overall pick. Schneider gleefully parted with picks 52 and 82 to take 35 from the Titans.
“If we would have come out of the draft without him, we would have been disappointed,” Schneider said.
A linebacker background combined with the safety transition at South Carolina was enough for the Seahawks’ scouting staff to be more than enamored with the possibility of pairing Emmanwori with 2023 first-round pick Devon Witherspoon. Then came the Scouting Combine and show-stopping numbers. His workout quickly became the stuff of legend. With borderline linebacker size, Emmanwori became the only safety in at least 23 years at the combine with a 4.38-second 40, a vertical of 40-plus inches (43) and a broad jump of at least 11 feet (11’6).
He didn’t mind telling peers at the Scouting Combine what he could do, even if they didn’t know the depths of his truth.
“I don’t think you’ve ever seen a safety like me,” he said at the 2025 Combine. “Well, there are a lot of dudes that came through this league, but a safety like me hasn’t come through this league for a long time. My size, my speed, my ability.”
As more eyes were opened to Emmanwori’s potential impact on the field with Witherspoon — the fifth pick in the 2023 draft — injuries stunted his push for a starring role early in the season.
Confidence was still off the charts from Schneider, Macdonald and defensive backs coach Karl Scott, the only holdover from Pete Carroll’s coaching staff. Schneider had the long view and context of knowing what a “Legion of Boom” secondary would potentially do for Macdonald, the defensive mastermind who calls Seattle’s defense. Macdonald, though, admits he didn’t fully digest what Emmanwori was capable of on the field.
His thought process to start training camp was to test Emmanwori while giving him time to absorb the pass-fail processes of daily workouts, linking him closely with Scott and safeties coach Jeff Howard to develop a mental processing and details-driven toolbox to pair with his natural athletic gifts.
And you know what? The 21-year-old was even better than the Seahawks thought he could be as a rookie.
By September, after missing three games with an ankle injury, Emmanwori was proving he had the intelligence to meet the demands of being cross-trained at multiple positions. He went to meetings and film sessions with multiple position coaches. Then regurgitated the Xs and Os like a 7-year-old taking an alphabet test.
Again, the player is not surprised.
His goals-driven approach and “be great” mindset are a literal application of training as the youngest of five boys in his home. Emmanwori’s parents are educators — his father teaches engineering and thermodynamics at South Carolina State — and allowed him to escape South Carolina and college football only with a solemn vow to earn his degree.
Macdonald shared openly he “never really had a player like him” and it was necessary to “make it up as we go” in the “Nickel Emmanwori” set with three safeties — Julian Love, Witherspoon and Emmanwori — on the field at the same time.
In 768 regular-season snaps, Emmanwori lined up in seven different positions. He played in 14 regular-season games and tallied 81 tackles, 2.5 sacks, 11 passes defended and an interception.
When Patriots quarterback Drake Maye began watching film of the Seahawks, he quickly discerned there’s a “Where’s Waldo?” element to reading Seattle intentions in pass coverage. On that resume tape: Emmanwori all but erased 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey as a receiver. He ran stride for stride with Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson in coverage on the same series he aligned at defensive tackle. Macdonald had him spy quarterbacks, blitz every gap on the line and play 20 yards off the line of scrimmage.
Then he asked Macdonald, what’s next?
“He can do everything,” Witherspoon said. “He’s smooth. He can run 4.3. He’s big. He can literally do everything.”
Emmanwori might sound confident or cocky, but teammates and coaches have a different perspective.
“I think he has approached us with a lot of humility and approached us, coaches and teammates, for advice,” Love said. “He always carries a chip on his shoulders. He is making plays.”
–Jeff Reynolds, Field Level Media
Sports
Team Falcons, Team Spirit advance in group stage at BLAST Open Spring
A backlit keyboard is part of the gear online video game streamer Jordan Woodruff uses in his Gilbert home.
Jordan Woodruff
Team Falcons, FURIA, Team Spirit and The MongolZ each recorded wins on Sunday to stay alive in the BLAST Open Spring event in Copenhagen, Denmark and Rotterdam, Netherlands.
The Group A lower-bracket final on Monday is set between Team Falcons and FURIA, while Aurora Gaming and Natus Vincere previously secured the upper-bracket final.
The Group B lower-bracket final is between Team Spirit and The MongolZ, while Team Vitality and PARIVISION already had their spots in the upper-bracket final on Monday.
The 16 teams in the $400,000 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive event were split into two groups of eight that are contesting a pair of double-elimination brackets. The top three finishers in each bracket will advance to the six-team playoffs. All matches will be best-of-three until the best-of-five grand final on March 29.
The winning team will earn $150,000 along with three BLAST Frequent Flyer tokens.
On Sunday, Team Falcons rallied for a 2-1 win in the Group A lower-bracket semifinal over TYLOO, who opened with a marathon 16-14 win on Inferno. The Falcons responded in a big way with a 13-1 win on Ancient and a 13-2 victory on Mirage.
Nikola “NiKo” Kovac of Bosnia and Herzegovina led Team Falcons with a plus-14 kill-death differential while posting 45 kills, and teammate Maksim “kyousuke” Lukin of Russia had 50 kills and a plus-12 differential. No TYLOO players had a positive K-D differential.
FURIA followed a similar path in the other Group A lower-bracket semifinal, defeating NRG 2-1. NRG opened with a 13-10 win on Mirage, then FURIA surged past with wins on Nuke (13-2) and Dust II (13-7).
Danil “moloday” Golubenko of Kazakhstan led FURIA with 61 kills and a plus-32 differential.
Team Spirit swept 9z Team 2-0 in the Group B lower-bracket semifinal, winning on Overpass and Dust II on matching 13-6 scores.
Danil “donk” Kryshkovets of the all-Russian Team Spirit posted 44 kills and a plus-22 K-D differential.
The MongolZ notched a 2-0 win over Team Liquid in the other Group B lower-bracket semifinal, winning 16-14 on Ancient and 13-10 on Mirage.
Ayush “mzinho” Batbold led the all-Mongolian Mongolz with 45 kills while recording a plus-8 differential. Jonathan “EIGE” Jablonowski of the United States paced Liquid with 52 kills and a plus-10 differential.
Monday’s schedule
–Group A upper-bracket final, Aurora Gaming vs. Natus Vincere
–Group A lower-bracket final, Team Falcons vs. FURIA
–Group B upper-bracket final, Team Vitality vs. PARIVISION
–Group B lower-bracket final, Team Spirit vs. The MongolZ
BLAST Open Spring prize pool (cash prize, BLAST Frequent Flyer tokens)
1. $150,000, 3
2. $60,000, 1
3-4. $40,000, 1
5-6. $20,000, 1
7-8. $10,000
9-12. $7,500 — TYLOO, NRG, 9z Team, Team Liquid
13-16. $5,000 — FaZe Clan, B8, MOUZ, Ninjas in Pyjamas
–Field Level Media
Sports
Tundra Esports, MOUZ unblemished to start ESL One Birmingham
A backlit keyboard is part of the gear online video game streamer Jordan Woodruff uses in his Gilbert home.
Jordan Woodruff
Tundra Esports and MOUZ went undefeated in Group A on Sunday as ESL One Birmingham 2026 began play with 16 matches in the United Kingdom.
The $1 million tournament, featuring 16 teams in a Dota 2 competition, will award $750,000 in prize money and $250,000 in club rewards as well as 35,460 EPT points spread among all participants.
The group stage runs from Sunday through Wednesday, with two single round-robin groups of eight teams each. All series consist of two games.
The top two teams from each group advance to the upper bracket of the playoffs. The third- and fourth-place teams are delegated to the lower-bracket playoffs, and the remaining teams are eliminated.
The playoffs are March 26-29 with a double-elimination bracket. All matches are best-of-three except for the grand final, which is best-of-five.
Tundra Esports opened with a 2-0 sweep of PARIVISION, winning in 54 minutes on green and 29 minutes on red. Tundra also downed BetBoom Team in 30 minutes on green and 40 minutes on red.
MOUZ swept GamerLegion in 63 minutes on red and 46 minutes on green. MOUZ also swept REKONIX in 34 minutes on green and 29 minutes on red.
Team Yandex recorded a win and a tie on Sunday, while the remainder of Group A had a loss and a tie: BetBoom Team, GamerLegion, PARIVISION, REKONIX and Yakult Brothers.
In Group B, Aurora Gaming and Team Spirit are atop the standings with a win and a tie.
Aurora handled Team Falcons in 50 minutes and 26 minutes, both on green. Team Spirit and Aurora Gaming split their match, with the latter winning in 35 minutes on red and the former wining in 36 minutes on red.
Team Spirit also swept paIN Gaming with victories in 57 minutes on red and 30 minutes on green.
The following teams lost both matches: Nigma Galaxy, OG, Virtus.pro and Xtreme Gaming. Team Falcons and paIN Gaming each lost and tied after the first day.
Each group has eight matches scheduled for Monday.
Prize pool (prize money, club reward)
1. $250,000, $40,000
2. $100,000, $30,000
3. $80,000, $25,000
4. $60,000, $20,000
5-6. $40,000, $15,000
7-8. $27,500, $12,500
8-10. $20,000, $10,000
11-12. $17,500, $10,000
13-14. $15,000, $10,000
15-16. $10,000, $10,000
–Field Level Media
Sports
Spacestation Gaming stay hot in Overwatch Champions Series
A custom gaming keyboard backlit with red LED lights waits for tactile input before Manual took on Boone County in a Rocket League match, which was streamed on YouTube on Thursday, March 5, 2020. Spacestation Gaming recorded their second win in as many days by posting a 3-2 victory over Disguised on Sunday in the Overwatch Champions Series 2026 — North America Stage 1.
The Overwatch 2 online competition, with a prize pool of $75,000, features six teams playing a regular season with a round-robin format from March 21 to April 5. All matches are first-to-three.
The top four teams advance to the regional playoffs, which are April 10-12 and feature a double-elimination bracket. All matches are first-to-three except for the grand final, which is first-to-four.
Spacestation Gaming followed up their 3-0 victory over LuneX on Saturday by outlasting Disguised on Sunday.
Disguised jumped out to a fast start by sandwiching a 2-1 victory on Lijiang Tower and a 3-1 triumph on Aatlis around a 3-0 setback on Rialto. Spacestation Gaming, however, bounced back with a 3-1 win on Numbani and 89.69m-62.11m victory on Runasapi.
LuneX Gaming rebounded from Saturday’s setback with a 3-0 victory over Extinction.
LuneX notched a 2-1 win on Lijiang Tower, a 128.06m-51.42m victory on Esperanca and 3-2 triumph on Suravasa.
Saturday’s Week 2 matches:
–Team Liquid vs. Dallas Fuel
–Disguised vs. Extinction
Standings
1. Spacestation Gaming, 2-0, +4
2. Dallas Fuel, 1-0, +2
3. Team Liquid, 1-0, +1
4. LuneX Gaming, 1-1, 0
5. Disguised, 0-2, -3
6. Extinction, 0-2, -4
Prize pool:
1. $30,000, qualifies for Champions Clash, NA Stage 2
2. $15,000, qualifies for Champions Clash, NA Stage 2
3. $12,000, qualifies for NA Stage 2
4. $8,000, qualifies for NA Stage 2
5-6. $5,000, qualifies for NA Stage 2 promotion/relegation
–Field Level Media
Team Falcons, Team Spirit advance in group stage at BLAST Open Spring
Tundra Esports, MOUZ unblemished to start ESL One Birmingham
