Steve Largent NFL Biography
Throughout Steve Largent's football career he shredded defenses with such efficiency that defenses often muttered that he should have to play with only one hand. It probably wouldn't have mattered because he could have beat most defenders with one arm tied behind his back.
In 1989, if he would have been allowed to, Steve Largent might have done just that. In the Seattle Seahawks's season opener, he went up for a ball and landed on his arm, breaking his right elbow. Teammates were shocked when he trotted back out on to the field just a few days later. Largent started running routes and catching passes one handed although he had to miss the next six starts. He still prepared for each game as if he was going to be playing every snap on offense!
Largent always refused to back down from a challenge. In a 1988 game against the Denver Broncos, the Broncos' Mike Harden hit Largent with a vicious forearm that chipped the receivers's teeth and knocked him unconscious. The next time the two teams met, Hardenintercepted a pass and was promptly slammed into the turf by Largent. Teammates say it was one of the Seahawks hardest hits of the year.
Steve Largent was always striving to improve his game. He would catch over 200 footballs a day, even throughout the offseason. He approached receiving like a science, analyzing defenses to capitalize on their weaknesses. On game day, he ran his pass routes with surgical like precision, exploiting gaps in the zone.
Hardworking and dedicated to his craft, Largent only missed 10 games due to injury during his 14 NFL seasons. When he retired he was regarded as one of the best receivers in the history of the NFL.
Steve Largent Biography Timeline
- Born : September 28, 1954 in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
- Age 6: Raised by his mother after parents divorced.
- Age 17 : Leads his high school baseball team in stolen bases and bats .333 on the way to winning the state title. Accepts football scholarship to Tulsa.
- Age 20 : Leads the NCAA with 14 touchdown catches.
- Age 22 : Drafted in the 10th round by the Houston Oilers, and was then traded to the Seattle Seahawks.
- 1976 : Catches 54 passes as a rookie
- 1979 : Leads NFL with 1,237 yards as a receiver
- 1988 : Breaks NFL record for most career receivving yards
- 1989 : Catches 100th touchdown pass in his final season
