RENTON, Wash. — The Seattle Seahawks thought they were sitting down for another ho-hum evening meeting.

Instead, they got one of the greatest winners of all time.

Boston Celtics legend and five-time NBA MVP Bill Russell came from his home in suburban Mercer Island, Wash., on Thursday night to awe the Seahawks with an hour-long talk on what it takes to win as a team.

The players were silent and applauded throughout the speech.

The stately, 75-year-old former center renowned for team play then posed for pictures with the Seahawks, who are coming off a 4-12 season and have a new coach in Jim Mora.

When Mora was Atlanta’s coach from 2004-06, he brought Russell and former Atlanta mayor and United Nations ambassador Andrew Young in to talk to his Falcons.