RENTON, Wash. – Walter Jones loves this Seattle team, but don’t expect him to say this one is better than the 2005 team that went to the Super Bowl with Jones as a Pro Bowl left tackle.

“I believed in our team,” Jones said Thursday. “I wouldn’t go against that team. It was a fun ride.

"But I think this [Seahawks] team is special and has a chance to do something we didn’t do, and that’s to win the Super Bowl. They’ve set themselves up to make a nice run. I can’t wait to see what happens.”

Jones also can’t wait to see what happens in the upcoming Pro Football Hall of Fame vote. This is his first year of eligibility. Many experts believe he has a chance to get in immediately.

“Anytime you can say first-ballot Hall of Famer, it’s a great title,” Jones said. “Will it be a letdown [if it doesn’t happen this year]? It probably will. But just saying Hall of Famer is a great title.

“It’s going to be exciting whenever it happens, if it’s this year or in two years. Just to be on that list is amazing. And to be able to play on one team is amazing, having my whole career with the Seattle Seahawks.”

The new inductees are announced the weekend of the Super Bowl. Jones was a six-time All-Pro and nine-time Pro Bowl selection, starting all 180 games he played for the Seahawks. He was whistled for holding only nine times in 13 seasons.

Jones was asked to compare how this Seahawks team differs from the 2005 team that lost to Pittsburgh 21-10 in the Super Bowl.

“This team goes out and plays physical,” Jones said. “In ’05, we were more offensive-minded and we wanted to put up numbers. This team is more defensive-minded, but the offense is right there, too.”

Jones likes what he sees in second-year quarterback Russell Wilson.

“Russell manages the game well and knows what plays to get into,” Jones said. “He knows to put the ball where it needs to be thrown.”