Mike Curtis was there!

Hawks Look Back to Innocent Days

Source: The News Tribune, Tacoma, Wa.
September 18, 1994
By Bart Wright

Back then, the thought of pro football around here meant puffed-out chests, sweaty palms and a giddy sense of arrival in a new neighborhood.

We were on the edge of a civic frontier we knew would be changing the personality of the region in ways we could only imagine.

We were full of hunches and hysterical hopes attached to imperfect castoffs such as "Benchwarmer Bob" Lurtsema or unprepared and unfazed rookies like Jim Zorn. The future was a huge blank scoreboard waiting for the numbers to be filled in, and the Seahawks played in these rather plain blue and silver uniforms with their distinctive, determined, horizontal logo.

Neil Young sings of American heroes, "Through the years they changed somehow, they're different now," and the sentiment fits just as well around these teams and that concrete building up from the waterfront where it all started.

"I feel sorry for a lot of these guys today," Lurtsema, a modern-day football newspaper publisher and restaurateur, said on Friday. "It's not money, hell, I hope they get every penny they want, but I feel sorry for what they miss that we had. It's impossible anymore to generate the camaraderie, the friendship and fellowship we had.

"My God, we put those Seahawks uniforms on for the first time and there I was playing with Mike Curtis," Lurtsema said. "This was the best linebacker I had ever played with, a great guy and a man I continue to be friends with today. The fans loved us, and we loved the fans. We'd go to those Seahawkers (booster club) meetings, not because it was a payday - we didn't even ask to be paid - we went because they were our fans and we wanted to help them out.

"I love the game, I loved those old Seahawks and the experience we shared throwing a team together to compete in the NFL. But I honestly don't believe you can find many players today who take away from the game the love we had for it. God bless 'em, they take away more money than we did, but those memories I have are even stronger now than they were then, and you can't say that very often about money."

There has never been a Seahawks season quite like that first one.

Where are they now?

Source: www.coltpower.com

Mike Curtis, Potomac, Maryland. Operating partner of a company that develops and sells apartment buildings. (Baltimore Sun, 5/01)

Redskins Put Curtis On Roster

Leonard Shapiro, Washington Post Staff Writer
September 10, 1977

Mike Curtis, the former all-Pro middle linebacker and a veteran of 12 National Football League seasons, signed with the Washington Redskins yesterday and was in uniform for last night's preseason game against the Jets. Curtis, 34, placed on waivers by the Seattle Seahawks last Tuesday, was considered a free agent after all 27 other teams failed to claim him off the waiver list. Curtis signed a one-year contract with no option clause for a salary reportedly in the $70,000 to $80,000 range.

Curtis Shuns Hanger-On Role

By Paul Attner, Washington Post Staff Writer
August 9, 1979

Unless an NFL team guarantees his salary the rest of this season, linebacker Mike Curtis has played his final pro game, he said today."I don't want to get in a situation where I go to a team for a couple of months and then get cut and wind up like I am now," said Curtis, the 14-year veteran the Washington Redskins cut Tuesday."If they want to pay me no matter what, I'd play. I'd say I'll probably now be in a new profession.

Redskins Hand Hat To Curtis

By Paul Attner, Washington Post Staff Writer
August 8, 1979

CARLISLE, Pa., August 7, 1979 -- Mike Curtis' fabled 14-year professional football career may have ended today when he was cut by the Washington Redskins.

Curtis, 36, who played to years with Wasington, was another victim of the Redskin youth movement, which has seen the emergence of a handfull of fine young linebackers in this training camp. "We had to make a decission concerning youth and veterans," said Coach Jack Pardee. "We just had to give our young people the extra work. Mike's reaction was tremendous. He suspected it was coming and he took it well.

"He still thinks he can play another year and I told him, with a 16-game schedule, that his changes of catching on somewhere in the NFL this year were good."

The redskins had seriously considered not bringing Curtis to camp. When players like Don Hover, Neal Olkewicz and Dan Petersen showed promise, Curtis became expendable.

Although his agressive play both as a middle and outside linebacker made Curtis a favorite of Washington fans, the Redskins feld he had become slower and lost his ability to tackle consistently.

Harold McLinton remains as the No. 1 middle linebacker, but he is 32 and starting his 11th year in the league. For now he is holding onto his job, but the coaches are keeping a close eye on the development of Hover and other challengers.

"No matter what," said one team source, "the younger players will see time. Harold plays good position football but his legs aren't what they used to be. He has some circulation problems and they can bother him. But we'd have to be awful sure of one of those youngsters before you go with a rookie middle linebacker."

Pardee acknowledged that McLinton has had difficulty "playing 20 games a season. He had to come out of two or three games last season. By using him sparingly in these preseason games, it will help him and it will give our younger players more time."

Curtis may not be the last veteran linebacker to depart, even if McLinton survives camp. Rookie outside linebackers Monte Coleman and Rich Milot are improving so much that they now have the edge as backups to Pete Wysocki and Brad Dusek. That would leave such players as Dallas Hickman and Ken Geddes scrambling to stay with the club.

Curtis' bid to make the team was hurt by a bout with stomach flu the first week the veterans reported and he missed seven days of practice.

"We had the rookies for rookie week and then for another week while he was out. We got a real good look at them," said Pardee. "It became a matter of whether we should make the decision now or wait a while.

"This means someone like Olkewicz can have four of five more plays in a game. Mike wasn't on any special teams and if he wasn't a starter, it seemed better to keep a young one and groom him."

Hover, a second-year man from Washington State who, ironically, had not been having a standout training camp at first, finally led the Redskins to decide to waive Curtis. Hover played a superior quarter against Tampa Bay, catching the eyes of the coaches and diminishing Curtis' chances.

Curtis in his glory years played for Baltimore, where he earned four trips to the Pro Bowl and won MVP honors in Super Bowl 5. He was one of that special breed of middle linebackers such as Dick Butkus and Willie Lanier, who helped bring publicity to the position.

In terms of NFL experience, Curtis was first on the team. Now the remarkable Ken Houston and Diron Talbert, both entering their 13th season, have seniority.

Curtis Forgets Friendship

By Leonard Shapiro, Washington Post Staff Writer
November 4, 1978

Mike Curtis says Baltimore Colt quarterback Bert Jones is a good friend, that he respects his ability and admires his style. But do not expect Curtis to hold back if he gets a chance to bury Jones on Monday night, even if his friend does have a sore right shoulder."If the man is able to play, then he's able to receive anything he gets," the Redskin linebacker said yesterday." If by chance he's not ready to play, then they shouldn't play him.

Being Caught in Middle Delights Redskin Curtis

By Leonard Shapiro, Washington Post Staff Writer
August 2, 1978

Mike Curtis stands there in the middle of the field, crouching slightly, eyes darting this way and that, a scowl etched on a craggy face in need of a shave. Some quarterbacks quiver when they look across the line at him. Ever since he arrived in training camp 10 days ago to begin his second season as a Redskin. Curtis has been popping and hopping, bumping and thumping, bashing and crashing into people on a regular basis. "Don't he know we're on the same team?"

Pursuit by Curtis Saves Redskins, McLinton Lapse

By Mark Asner, Washington Post Staff Writer
December 5, 1977

Redskin linebacker Mike Curtis, who caused the fumble and Buffalo running back Jim Braxton who lost it, agreed completely over the most important aspect of Washington's biggest defensive play today. Braxton never saw Curtis before the Washington linebacker stripped Joe Ferguson's pass from Braxton's grasp at the Redskin 10-yard line early in the fourth quarter.