What People Say about Largent
Joe Nash:
"He's the best player I've ever seen. I feel very fortunate to be on the same team as him for as many years as we were (eight). I think there's a lot of pride in the Seahawks organization, seeing Steve going into the Hall of Fame. Steve Largent was a member of this community, a member of the Seahawks family, and he has now reached the pinnacle of the game. I think everybody is going to be beaming from ear to ear. I think it's fantastic. It's so well deserved. Is anybody surprised? Absolutely not."
Norm Evans
“I think that this team is characterized by quality of life that some of the players live. Like salt on your hamburger. It flavors the whole attitude of the team. I’m talking about Steve Largent, Jim Zorn, Ron Coder, Sherman Smith, Geoff Reece, Doug Long, and others."
Asst. Coach Howard Mudd:
"Professionalism. That's the only word I can think of. He is a guy who takes the talent that he has available to him and works at never wanting to be denied with that talent. He always came to work. He never took a play off. He never took a practice off. Everything he did was at the highest quality that he could give."
Eugene Robinson:
"A nice guy CAN finish first. You don't have to be all hate-your-mother, let-me-pull-your-throat-out-so-you-can-see-it, you don't have to be all that to play football. He's like the consummate performer where he sticks to detail, does his job and is not flamboyant about it. That's why people remember him. He lets his number speak for him - 8-0 with that Largent on the back. He didn't have to get up and go, 'That's right, boy, look what I did, you can't check me.' He didn't have to do that stuff. He gets up, gives the ball back, goes back and all you see is that 8-0 and you go, Steve Largent. I would love to be in the (Kingdome) Ring of Honor with him, and say, 'I'm up there in the ring of honor with Steve Largent, so I could be counted among the best.' "
Asst. Coach Tom Catlin:
"The first thing I think about when you mention Steve's name is class. It has nothing to do with football, just the quality of person that he is. I've been in this racket for 36 years coaching football and he's the only player that I have a picture hanging in my office. So I think that tells you what I think of him."
Clare Farnsworth, Seattle P-I:
The best player I ever saw perform in the Kingdome is the only Hall of Famer in franchise history. There was the Monday night when he set his first NFL record by catching a pass in his 128th consecutive game against the Chargers. There was the devastating pay-back hit he laid on Broncos cornerback Mike Harden. There was this catch, and that catch, and all the catches in between. Which were often followed by moments pondering how he could get so open so often.
But the moments that stick out are his final game on Dec. 23, 1989, and the weeks that proceeded it. The Seahawks lost the game, 29-0 to the Washington Redskins, but Largent still bowed out a winner.
Source: Seattle-PI
Denver cornerback Louis Wright:
"He's one of the best."
Quarterback Jim Zorn:
"He brings a lot of good information back to the huddle. He doesn't just think of himself. He's seeing how other receivers can get open.""He can make his legs go one way and his upper body go another way." -
Seattle offensive coach Jerry Rhome:
"I'd rather have a guy like Largent, who can change directions, than the fastest guy in the world."
The Pride of Z-eattle
By Jim Natal
Zorn also has a unique trio of favorite receivers, each with his own style of running a pass pattern. Coming out of the backfield, Don Testerman doesn't so much run a pass pattern as charge it. Sherman Smith, the other running back [who was a receiver in college], doesn't run either; he's so smooth he flows. As for Steve Largent, the Seahawks' leading wide receiver, Zorn has called him "a circus in himself." Zorn divided his passes almost equally between the three of them last year, Largent catching 33 passes, Testerman 31 and Smith 30.
Steve Largent
"You can't think about the Kingdome without thinking about the fans. They're the ones who gave this gray, drab building an atmosphere... I've got a lot of blood, sweat and tears invested in that building. The memories are indelibly etched in my mind. I still follow the team every day...It is a place where we worked - a stark, gray building that reflected the type of team we were: a no-frills, down-to-business-type franchise.""The thing that motivates me more than anything else is people telling me I can't do something."
What You Say about Steve Largent!
Source: YOU, the fans! Write to us and share your memories of Steve Largent! We'll post them right here!
From: Jeff, Chicago, IL
Date: July 2001
When I met Largent he was signing at a K-mart just before he
ran for office. He was to sign until 3pm and I got there 10 mins before he
ended however the promoters cut off the line because of the famous "he has to
catch a plane" excuse. When Largent found that there still were about 15 of
us left he said he can always get another flight. Can you believe that? So he
signed about 7 items I had without a problem. He signed until everyone had
there auto's. It took him about another hour. He said he loved meeting fans
outside of Seattle. I was so in awe I couldn't say much when I got up to meet
him.
From: Ken Dameron
Date: Wednesday, April 29, 1998 1:03 AM
I am a first year teacher in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Two weeks ago our school
had a "Literature awareness week" and had asked several local TV
personalities to come read to the students.Well, the representative for the district in which Tulsa falls in is...Steve Largent. Well, to make a long story short, he was invited to read to our students and he was going to be the very first person of the week to read. The evening before I went to Wal-Mart and bought a football just in case I was able to get his autograph. Well I got it!!
The football reads:
God Bless
Steve Largent #80
H.O.F. '95
Ken Dameron
Elementary School Teacher
GOOD THINGS COME IN SMALL PACKAGES / OLESEN IS AN ALL-AROUND DYNAMO FOR GIG HARBOR
The News Tribune
Nov 16, 1995
By Bart Ripp
Summary:Largent, the Seahawks' only Hall of Famer and now an Oklahoma congressman, has been Olesen's lone hero. Playing since the third grade in Peninsula Youth Football, Olesen ascended to Largent's No. 80 like a set of signals. Olesen wore 82, 53, 20, 21, 41 and 34, hike, before acquiring the precious 80 as a Gig Harbor sophomore.
Olesen sports chenille 80 patches on his letter jacket and on a blue Nike swoosh cap he rarely takes off. His mom sewed little No. 80 football patches on the seats of Olesen's Jeep Renegade. The vehicle is painted white with three hues of blue stripes. The Tidesmobile!
At home, Olesen's room is a shrine to Largent and the Seahawks. When Ole was a fifth grader at Discovery Elementary, Joyce Olesen painted her son's room gray with the Seahawks' blue, green and silver logo. The room is plastered with posters of Largent, Curt Warner, Jim Zorn, Dave Krieg, Brian Blades and one other legendary player - snapshots of Ole playing youth football, enlarged to posters.
Note: The article is printed below in its entirety.
Ole Olesen.
The Es in the last name are silent. Transfer those Es to the first name. It is pronounced "O-Leee."
When Ole Olesen touches the football for Gig Harbor High, Tides fans surge to their feet, unprompted, and whisper in whoops an emphatic "Ole!" Oh, their Ole is an electric little player.
Ole Olesen has galvanized the Tides to the Class AA state quarterfinals. Gig Harbor, unheralded and unranked, faces another steep task - unbeaten, top-ranked and defending champion O'Dea at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Lakewood Stadium.
For Olesen, the latest small dynamo to rouse the Tides, this will be his last game outdoors. Should the Tides advance, they'll play their last game or two - the AA semis and finals - in the Tacoma Dome.
It would be fitting that Ole Curtis Olesen conclude his football days in the Tacoma Dome. In the T-Dome, Olesen came a few feet from getting Steve Largent's autograph at a Seattle Seahawks scrimmage against Houston in 1985.
"I was down in the front row. All the kids were getting Largent's autograph," Olesen said, "but he stopped signing just before he got to me."
Largent, the Seahawks' only Hall of Famer and now an Oklahoma congressman, has been Olesen's lone hero. Playing since the third grade in Peninsula Youth Football, Olesen ascended to Largent's No. 80 like a set of signals. Olesen wore 82, 53, 20, 21, 41 and 34, hike, before acquiring the precious 80 as a Gig Harbor sophomore.
Olesen sports chenille 80 patches on his letter jacket and on a blue Nike swoosh cap he rarely takes off. His mom sewed little No. 80 football patches on the seats of Olesen's Jeep Renegade. The vehicle is painted white with three hues of blue stripes. The Tidesmobile!
At home, Olesen's room is a shrine to Largent and the Seahawks. When Ole was a fifth grader at Discovery Elementary, Joyce Olesen painted her son's room gray with the Seahawks' blue, green and silver logo. The room is plastered with posters of Largent, Curt Warner, Jim Zorn, Dave Krieg, Brian Blades and one other legendary player - snapshots of Ole playing youth football, enlarged to posters.
Ole was named for his father's boyhood nickname. As a star halfback for Class B-8 Clallam Bay, Todd Olesen answered to "Ole." Todd and Joyce Olesen are firefighters at Tacoma Fire Department's Station 10.
Their son is a barnburner of a player. A wide receiver and cornerback, Ole led the Pierce County League with seven interceptions, in kickoffs with 25 yards a return, in all-purpose running with 167 yards a game. Olesen's 47-yard interception for a fourth-quarter touchdown beat White River, 14-13, in a September game in which Gig Harbor accumulated 19 yards of offense.
Last Friday night at Edmonds Stadium, all Olesen did was intercept two passes, recover two fumbles, make 12 tackles and score the game's final touchdown, sliding on his back across a rain-soaked end zone to snare a Sam Baurichter pass and beat Lake Stevens, 20-10.
On KRKO-AM in Everett, announcers Tom Lafferty and Mark Aucutt joined Olesen's legions on the somber Lake Stevens postgame show.
"It's time to salute our offensive and defensive players of the game," Lafferty said. "I don't know about you, Mark, but it can only be one guy for both awards."
"Absolutely," Aucutt said. "We've seen some great players this season, but we haven't seen anybody like Ole Olesen."
Rogers High coach Steve Gervais, who coached Olesen's sophomore and junior seasons at Gig Harbor, said, "Ole has the great acceleration, plus lateral quickness. He is very bright and determined. He's a factor every time he touches the ball."
Gervais' successor at Gig Harbor, Mike McKinney said: "Ole is an outstanding athlete and a great young man. We've got a lot of those this year. Ole's desire makes him great."
Olesen stands 5-foot-8 and weighs 142 pounds wearing that Tides letter jacket with his track awards and championship patches.
Before a game, he always eats a pepperoni pizza at Round Table in Gig Harbor before boarding the team bus. He always wears Nike Field General turf shoes, dark blue jeans and a brown dress shirt over a Seahawks No. 80 jersey. He always prays for every player's health and sings "The Star-Spangled Banner" before kickoff.
This star-spangled player is involved in most every play. Olesen takes himself out only on punt coverage and if he's bone-tired. If Olesen misses a play, he might not make the movies. When Olesen sees films of himself making a swirling run, a diving catch, an acrobatic interception, he says his heart starts thumping.
Olesen's mind and heart produce gallant flicks on the night before this prince of Tides plays football. Lying awake in his singular room, contemplating the next night of nights, Olesen sees fantasy films.
"It's awesome," Olesen said. "I get this rush from spectacular plays. There's no sounds, but I see the game. I can see the field. I'm down there.
"I score the winning touchdown. I love when the ref raises his hands. That's what I see all the time. All the time."
Steve Largent: Movin' On Up
Football Stars 1985
by Kevin Lamb
Largent knows he'll never run a 4.3 forty, so he has worked on becoming the best move maker in football. He has honed his concentration so it will cut through rain, sleet, and helmets to the ribs. He is a poet among panzers. If his greatness goes largely unnoticed, it's for the same reason people don't seek out marching bands to hear the flutes.
Largent's teammates call him Yoda because he is a master at making cornerbacks commit themselves, at baiting their traps.
It's the quickness of his second move that sets him free. Or the third, if he needs it. What distinguishes Largent is the body control to make that second move while the cornerback is still reacting to his first move. "It happens all the time to everybody," Dave Brown says.
