10 Fun Facts About The Seattle Seahawks Greatest Player

As the Seahawks enter their 50th year in existence, 48th on the football field, I thought it would appropriate to look back at the greatest player in franchise history.  I know some may say this is subjective and that different eras of fans will have their own 'greatest' player.  I'm here to tell you that there is a great argument for the SECOND greatest player to don the blue and green, but there is ZERO argument against the guy in the top spot.

1.  He Wasn't Drafted By The Seahawks

Even though the Seahawks passed him over in the 1976 NFL Draft, the G.O.A.T. never officially played for another team.  he was acquired in a preseason trade after being drafted in the 4th round by the then Houston Oilers.

2.  Largent Led The Team In Almost Every Receiving Category As A Rookie

Largent showed flashes of greatness early in his Seattle career.  He started 13 of 14 games in 1976 and led the teams in receiving yards (705), receptions (54), receptions per game (3.9), yards per game (50.4), and touchdowns (tied for 1st with 4).

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3.  Largent Was The First Player in NFL History To Accomplish This Feat

On December 10th, 1989 Steve Largent became the first receiver in NFL history to catch 100 touchdown passes.  It came in the second quarter in Cincinnati against the Bengals on a 10 yard pass from QB Dave Kreig.  Number 80 tied Green Bay Packer legend Don Hutson with his 99th touchdown over Thanksgiving weekend against the Broncos in Denver.

4.  He Went An Entire Season Without Catching A TD Pass At Home

Largent's final season was 1989.  He caught three touchdown passes that year (the 98th 99th, and 100th of his career).  Unfortunately for the 12s, they had to watch all of them on TV as they took place in Philadelphia, Denver, and Cincinnati respectively.  His last TD in the Kingdome was November 28th, 1988 against the Los Angeles Raiders.

5.  He Retired With A Slew of NFL Records

He wasn't the fastest and he wasn't the biggest, but when Steve Largent retired he was the best.  Along with the aforementioned record for touchdown receptions (100), Largent also retired with five more NFL marks including the most receiving yards in history (13,089), the most receptions in history (819),and longest consecutive games streak with a reception (177).

6. His Hall of Fame Induction In 1995 Kicked Off More Firsts

Not only was #80 inducted to the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility, he became the first Seahawk to be enshrined in Canton.  Largent would also be the first Seahawk to have his number retired as well as becoming the first member of the Seahawks Ring of Honor.  His alma mater, Tulsa, would retire his number 83 in 2008 and he would be inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 2019.

7.  He Would Go On To Have A Successful Political Career

Largent won a special election in his home state of Oklahoma in 1993 to succeed the Congressman that resigned in his district.  Largent would be reelected to serve the 1st district in Oklahoma for three more terms, never winning with less than 62% of the vote. Largent would leave the U.S House in 2002 to mount an unsuccessful run for Governor of Oklahoma.

8.  He Shared a Nickname With A Star Wars Character

Largent earned the nickname 'Yoda from his teammates.  Former Seahawk teammates explain how Largent earned the comparision to the Jedi master.

9.  The Seahawks Would Un-retire His Number 80.

Yup, you read that right. The Seahawks signed WR Jerry Rice toward the very tail end of his legendary career.  Rice had always worn number 80 but knew it was retire by the Seahawks to honor Largent.  Fans were angry and confused when news broke that Rice would wear Number 80.  How did it happen?  Largent told NBC Sports in 2014 that then team President Bob Whitsitt bamboozled him and Jerry Rice.

“The Seahawks at the time had a President of the team who had come from the NBA and didn’t really know a lot about football but knew a lot about professional sports and he called me saying that Jerry wanted to wear number 80 but wanted to ask my permission... so I mean Jerry Rice is asking to wear my number, I’m not going to say no and so I said, ‘Sure, that’s fine with me.’ What [Whitsitt] did was he called Jerry Rice and said, ‘Hey, Steve Largent wants you to wear his jersey when you get to Seattle.’ So Jerry said, ‘Well that’s fine, I’ll wear number 80, I thought it was retired but if Steve wants me to wear it, I’ll wear it.’

Whitsitt would also market the #80 jersey with Rice's name on the back infuriating long time fans even further.  I had the chance to interview Largent around that time and he told me he's never defined himself by his number, but by who he is as a person.

10.  35 Years After Retiring He Is Still All Over The Seahawk Record Book

As a true testament to his greatness, Largent still holds ten team records even though he last played in 1989.  The G.O.A.T still holds record for most receptions (819), most touchdowns (100), most receiving yards (13,089), most 100 yard seasons (6), most 100 yard games (40), most catches in a game (15), most receiving yards in a game (267), highest average yards per reception (16.0), highest average yards per reception in a season (18.7), and most yards from scrimmage (13,172).

Honorable Mention

Largent will always be remembered for his receiving prowess, but diehards will also remember Largent for how he meted out his own brand of justice on former Broncos DB Mike Harden.