Seahawks’ Largent Has Gone From Shadows to Brilliance in the NFL

Maybe the shame of it all for Seattle wide receiver Steve Largent is that his greatness is hidden on the other side of Mount Rainier, eons from neon.

The National Football League’s other receiving greats had it made: the Jets’ Don Maynard had Broadway, the Redskins’ Charley Taylor had the Nation’s Capital, the Colts’ graceful Ray Berry had the northeastern press all but typing in his pocket, and the Chargers’ Charlie Joiner, well, he has Dan Fouts.

As Largent arrives at RFK Stadium to play against the Redskins Sunday, his 11-year career has reached a monumental moment. When he catches his first pass Sunday, it will mark the 127th consecutive game in which Largent has nabbed at least one ball, tying Harold Carmichael’s league record.

Largent, who will turn 32 Sunday, said of his chance to break Carmichael’s record: “That’s becoming more exciting to me all the time. With all of the attention, it would almost be embarrassing for me not to do it now.”

Largent’s numbers are so staggering, it makes you understand why Los Aneles Raiders cornerback and long-time nemesis Lester Hayes refers to him only as The Great Steve Largent.

With 637 receptions, Largent trails only Taylor (649) and Joiner (722) on the league’s all-time list. He has had a record eight seasons of 50 or more catches. His seven 1,000-yard seasons is a league record he shares with Lance Alworth. In the land of Bigfoot, Largent is Big Catch.

Teammates call him Yoda, for the Star Wars’ Jedi master. Or, as Seahawks reserve quarterback Gale Gilbert said, “He’s like the Creature That Knew Everything.”

When Seattle acquired him in 1976 as a rookie from Houston in exchange for an eighth-round draft pick the following season, it represented football’s version of the Louisiana Purchase, with Houston playing the role of France, short-changed and out of luck in the end. The Oilers used the Largent pick to draft a receiver named Steven Davis from Georgia. Davis never played a regular season down for them.

Largent plays the game in a controlled, studied way. On the field, he is so clean, it’s said, he doesn’t run so much as squeak. Of course, he does an Ivory Soap television commercial, too.

Mike Allman, a former Redskins scout who became the Seahawks’ personnel director three seasons ago, becomes nearly breathless when talking about Largent: “He can take a defensive back and turn him like a corkscrew. . . . He has no wasted motion. . . . His body control, the way he adjusts with his feet off the ground or when he’s near the sideline. . . . I just appreciate him more and more every day. . . . “

During his rookie season of 1983, Redskins cornerback Darrell Green covered such noted receivers as Mike Quick, James Lofton, Carlos Carson, Tony Hill, Dwight Clark and Roy Green. In the end, though, Green told a reporter, “There’s no question-Steve Largent was the toughest to cover.” Then a raw rookie with world-class speed and gumption, Green was circle-spun by Largent, who caught eight passes for 130 yards and two touchdowns in a 27-17 Redskin victory.

Largent is noted as the classic Fred Biletnikoff-type possession receiver, which is a nice way of saying, “The guy has no speed.” One NFL scout noted, “A lot of scouts have been fired trying to find the next Steve Largent. When they think they have him, they end up with just another slow guy who doesn’t make it.”

That dreaded classification of “possession receiver” is enough to make Seattle General Manager Mike McCormack grit his teeth when he says, “Steve thrives on that talk about lack of speed. He’ll just burn your butt, that’s all. Go ahead and talk to Mike Haynes. Talk to Louis Wright.” They are the pre-eminent cornerbacks in the AFC West, which Seattle and Denver lead with 3-0 records.

Largent, spun tightly at 5-feet-11 and 190 pounds, is less offended by the label. He said, “It doesn’t bother me. People can call me anything they want. I’m just going to line up and play football.”

This begs a question: If Seattle scouts speak the truth -- that Largent possesses only 4.65-second speed (over 40 yards), about average for NFL receivers -- how has he managed to big-play his way to 79 touchdown receptions?

The answer, according to a consensus reached by scouts and defensive backs around the league, can be narrowed to two points: First, he makes sharp, well-concealed cuts on his pass routes, which enables him to separate himself from defenders. Second, he rarely drops a pass.

Indeed, such state-of-the-art speedsters as Miami’s Mark Duper and Mark Clayton strike defenses with the wake-up jolt of coffee; Largent smooth-moves them like a gentle after-dinner liqueur. Said McCormack, “He’s like a master craftsman.”

Largent has burned Kansas City with 67 catches for more than 1,000 yards over 16 games during his career.