Jermaine Kearse

Jermaine Kearse (born February 6, 1990) is an American football wide receiver for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League. He was signed by the Seahawks as an undrafted free agent in 2012 and later won Super Bowl XLVIII with the team, beating the Denver Broncos. Kearse played college football at University of Washington.

Kearse attended Lakes High School in Lakewood, Washington. As a senior, he caught 54 passes for 903 yards and eight touchdowns.

Kearse attended the University of Washington, playing for the Huskies of the Pac-12 conference. As a true freshman in 2008, Kearse played in all 12 games, with two starts, and had 20 receptions for 301 yards and two touchdowns. As a sophomore in 2009 he started nine of 12 games and led the team in receptions with 50; yards with 866; and touchdowns with eight. He was named a second team All-Pac-10 selection. As a junior in 2010 he started all 13 games and again led the team in receptions with 63 for 1,005 yards and 12 touchdowns. He was named second team All-Pac-10 for the second consecutive year. As a senior, he had 47 receptions for 699 yards and seven touchdowns.

2012

Kearse was signed by the Seattle Seahawks as an undrafted free agent on April 28, 2012. He appeared in 7 games for Seattle in 2012, finishing with 3 catches for 31 yards and playing on special teams. Kearse underwent LASIK surgery during the offseason to improve his vision.

2013

During the 2013 season in a Week 1 game against the Carolina Panthers, Kearse caught a 43-yard TD pass late in the fourth quarter to lift the Seahawks to a 12-7 score.

In a Week 5 game against the Indianapolis Colts, Kearse caught 1 reception 28 yards for a touchdown, and blocked an Indianapolis Colts' punt which resulted in a safety. In Week 10 against the Atlanta Falcons, he scored a 43-yard touchdown after a trick play when Marshawn Lynch threw the ball back to Russell Wilson. In 15 games, Kearse played 15 games with 346 receiving yards and 4 touchdowns.

In the 2013 NFC Championship Game on January 19, 2014 against division rival San Francisco 49ers, Kearse caught a 35-yard touchdown pass from Wilson. The Seahawks eventually won the game 23-17 and advanced to Super Bowl XLVIII. During the Super Bowl against the Denver Broncos, Kearse had 4 catches for 65 yards including a 23-yard touchdown catch in the third quarter, breaking 4 tackles to get into the endzone. The Seahawks won 43-8, giving them their first Super Bowl win in franchise history.

2014

In 2014, Kearse played 15 games with 537 receiving yards and a touchdown.

In a 2014 NFC Divisional Round playoff game against the Carolina Panthers Kearse continued his streak of catching touchdowns in postseason games with a 63-yard catch-and-run in the second quarter, catching the ball with one hand. He would catch two other passes in the game, each going for 33 yards, and lead all receivers with 129 receiving yards on his three catches.

In the 2014 NFC Championship Game versus the Green Bay Packers, Kearse caught his only completion, a 35-yard game-winning overtime touchdown to give Seattle a 28-22 win after falling behind 16-0 at halftime. The victory sent the Seahawks to the Super Bowl for the second year in a row. Kearse had been targeted on five throws earlier in the game, the first four being intercepted (two of them tipped by Kearse) and the fifth being incomplete. It was the fourth straight postseason game in which Kearse caught a touchdown pass.

In the final minute of Super Bowl XLIX, Kearse caught the ball after a Wilson pass was tipped by Malcolm Butler and the ball bounced four times off Kearse's body before he secured the ball. The play seemingly looked to be a remake of the Helmet Catch. However, Butler would intercept at the goal line with under 30 seconds remaining, therefore foiling the Seahawks a chance for the second championship in a row as they lost to the Patriots 24-28.

2015

In the 2015 season, Jermaine Kearse caught 8 passes for 76 yards in the season opener in St. Louis, setting a new single-game high for receptions (breaking his previous record of 5). In week 5 in Cincinnati, Kearse caught his first touchdown of the season on a 30-yard pass from Wilson. In week 11 against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Kearse recorded 4 receptions for 47 yards and 2 touchdowns, his first career multi-touchdown game. Kearse started all 16 games for the first time of his career and finished the year with 685 receiving yards and 5 touchdowns.

In the Divisional Round against the Panthers, Kearse had 11 receptions for 110 yards and 2 touchdowns as the Seahawks lost 24-31.

Career Statistics