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The Beginning: "I think when I was 5 years old, I got my first Bart Starr uniform," Krieg said. Continue reading
The Seahawk Years: Dave Krieg trotted from the bench, threw touchdown passes to Steve Largent and Paul Johns and engineered a third.
Retirement: Fitting that after so many years, Dave Krieg chose to return to the place where he began his NFL career to announce his retirement.
What Others Say About Dave: Jerry Wunsch -- "When I was growing up, Seattle was my favorite team because of a guy name Dave Krieg. ...
Dave on Dave: "Sometimes you just wonder how I've been able to last 17 years coming from Milton College," Krieg said.
What You Say about Dave: Dave is my favorite football player of all time for one reason. He played at the highest possible level that his talent would allow and then he squeezed out even more by working hard.
Dave Krieg for Ring of Honor! He's made it! Thanks to all of you who sent letters to petition the Seahawks for Dave's rightful place in the Ring of Honor!
Dave's World Tour: Dave's been ... uh ... he's been ... well ... I'm not sure where all he's been but some of our super secret Seahawks fans have spotted him in some interesting places and we've got the film to prove it!!
Dave's Stats: He ranks seventh in the NFL all-time in attempts (5,309), completions (3,105) and passing touchdowns (261). His 38,147 passing yards rank eighth.
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Interview with Dave Krieg Previous | Page 3 | Next
You took over from Jim Zorn under Jack Patera and Chuck Knox, and we all know the feeling the fans had for Jim.
"My rookie year I just kinda did stuff. I threw it to the open guy, not necessarily the way the play was designed and good things seemed to happen."Many aspects of this change have been talked about for years, but the record is pretty light about how much the coaches prepared you for the change. Did you think it might be coming, or was it a surprise to you?
The quarterbacks attended quarterback school in the offseason, and in March, April and May they had to take tests. Jim Zorn, Sam Adkins, and Steve Myer all received high scores in the 90's. Dave struggled, with scores in the 50's. "I didn’t know what was going on," he said. Eventually he started getting higher scores on his tests. Jerry Rhome said the light bulb was starting to go on. Once Dave knew mentally what he was doing, it was easier to go in during practice. In 1981, Jim Zorn became injured and no one knew for sure who the starting quarterback would be. "We played against the New York Jets and they had the sack exchange defense. We went out for pre-game warm-ups and I didn’t know if it would be Sam Adkins or myself. Come to find out Jack Patera didn't tell me all week because he thought I’d get too dang nervous. We went out for pre-game warm-ups, then came back in and Jerry Rhome said, 'Hey, you know you’re starting, don’t you?', and I said, 'I guess I do now.' We ended up winning the game." The Seahawks went on to win 3 of the last 4 games. In 1982, Patera started Dave until he was injured in the second game. The strike hit, and Mike McCormick took over as head coach putting Zorn in as quarterback. In 1983, Chuck Knox showed up and again started Jim. Dave took over half way through the season and the Seahawks went to the AFC Championship game. The starting job was Dave's from that point on.
What was your relationship with Jim Zorn at that point? "At first I’m sure it was kind of testy – he was used to being there, division Rookie of the Year, darling of Seattle, him and Steve Largent. It was an awkward situation. I was too naïve to realize that it hurt his feelings, but at same time I just kept playing and it worked out OK. He was a good mentor, taught me how to study film. Taught me a few things about the game. Certainly didn’t like the idea of not being starter, nobody would, I suppose."
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