Though I debated whether this was worthy of its own newsletter or not, I did not have to think about it for long. Survivor is my favorite reality show. The Seahawks are my favorite reality sports program. Never before have the two met.

Until now.

The season 43 Survivor finale was on Wednesday night and in usual fashion, the show teased the next iteration of the show. I was not overly excited for the teaser, as I can rarely muster up much enthusiasm for something that is still months away, but that changed as soon as someone said, “I did play in the NFL for the Seattle Seahawks.”

This is a bit of an exaggeration. But not entirely untrue.

Brandon Cottom was in the 2015 NFL Draft pool, but did not get selected. He did not even get signed after the draft. But as Danny Kelly wrote for Field Gulls on May 12, 2015, Cottom signed as a tryout player, along with linebacker Tyrell Adams.

Cottom was an excellent athlete at fullback (4.62 at 262 lbs) and that could serve him well at times in Survivor, although I don’t think a solid 40-yard dash is better than say… being able to complete a puzzle in the fastest time. Or not eating someone else’s rice.

The Seahawks had Cottom in camp that year but I’m unable to confirm if he played in any preseason games. That was the same year that Seattle’s running backs room was extremely loaded behind Marshawn Lynch, including undrafted free agent rookies Thomas Rawls and Rod Smith. You remember Rawls, but Smith played five seasons in the NFL for four different teams.

That’s in addition to Christine Michael, Robert Turbin, and fullbacks Derrick Coleman and Will Tukuafu.

Cottom didn’t make it past the cuts to a 75-man roster and he was waived with an injury designation. The Seahawks brought Cottom back in November, signing him to the practice squad. Cottom was again with the Seahawks going into 2016 camp, this time with C.J. Prosise, Alex Collins, Zac Brooks, and Tre Madden added to the roster.

Field Gulls writer “Kenneth Arthur”, most likely a stupid alias and not a real name, wrote a ridiculously stupid headline the previous month:

Seahawks bubble watch: Tight ends that gotta catch 'em all? Cottom, indeed

Of Cottom, Arthur wrote:

One of the benefits to Cottom's game is that he could realistically be the starting fullback, the emergency tight end, and a special teamer. That versatility could be what saves him in a situation where the Seahawks are already pretty much set at tight end.

Think again, dummy Arthur. Cottom was waived, again with an injury designation, on August 20. To be fair, the Spokesman-Review also predicted Cottom would make the roster.

If Brandon Cottom played a preseason down for the Seahawks in 2015 or 2016, I haven’t been able to find it or confirm it. That doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. It probably happened and I’m hoping that one of you can prove that it did.

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But to me, it makes no difference. I remember Brandon Cottom, I wrote about Brandon Cottom, and most importantly, I wrote punny headlines about Brandon Cottom.

My favorite Seahawks player of all-time?

Brandon Cottom.

Survivor season 44 premieres on March 4, 2023 and you can bet that Seaside Joe will be tracking Cottom’s progress, so subscribe to not miss a single tribal. You’ll wanna catch ‘em all.

Update: Largentium notes that Cottom made a tackle in 2015 preseason!