Steve Largent was my childhood hero. My friends and I would argue over who got to be Largent when we played football in the yard (the loser was usually Daryl “Touchdown” Turner). I had both the “Blue Angel” and “Honorably Discharged” posters hanging on the walls of my room. I wore number 80 as a wide receiver in high school. And when I graduated, my mom got me an autographed picture of Steve Largent himself as a present.
And with that as context, I tell you this: Walter Jones is the greatest Seahawks player of all-time. Without question. Governor Christine Gregoire even proclaimed today “Walter Jones Day” in the state of Washington, after the announcement of his retirement yesterday. Name another offensive lineman that’s ever had an entire state celebrate his astounding career?
Since the Seahawks drafted him out of Florida State in 1997, “Big Walt” went about defining just what a prototype left tackle should be. And after being named to the All-Pro team four times and the Pro Bowl nine times (including eight straight from 2001-08), we can safely say he’s one of the best, if not the best, left tackles in NFL history. Heck, they even gave him props in the movie “The Blind Side.”
Jones is a guy who regularly held out or skipped training camp altogether, but kept in shape by pushing his SUV, which I believe was a Cadillac Escalade (Big Walt had to roll in style), up and down the street near his home in Alabama. Then he’d join the team for the regular season and dominate opposing defensive ends like a man playing amongst boys.
But since regular statistics aren’t kept on offensive lineman, it’s hard to compare the greatness of one to another. In the 1980s, Anthony Munoz set the standard for o-line play. In the 1990s, only Jonathan Ogden and Orlando Pace could be mentioned in the same breath as Jones. But for those of us that had the pleasure of seeing his body of work played out every Sunday, number 71 was definitely the best of his era.
Consider that after his rookie season in 1997 (when an aging Chris Warren ran for 847 yards), a Seahawks running back ran for at least 1,175 yards in eight straight seasons. During the three-year stretch from 2003-05, Big Walt helped Shaun Alexander run for over 5,000 yards, 57 touchdowns and win an NFL MVP award in 2005.
Need more evidence of his greatness? Try these jaw dropping statistics, provided by the Seahawks website: In twelve seasons, which included 180 starts, Jones was penalized for holding only nine times. And in 5,703 pass plays during his brilliant career, he only allowed 23 sacks – or less than two per season.
He was almost too good to be true.
That’s why it’s not at all surprising when former Seahawks head coach Mike Holmgren called Jones one of the greatest offensive players he ever coached. And remember, Holmgren coached the likes of Brett Favre, Jon Montana and Steve Young.
The Seahawks immediately and appropriately retired Jones’ number 71 jersey yesterday. He joins Largent as only the second Seahawk ever to receive that honor.
But while Jones and my childhood hero are now in a company all by themselves, I have no trouble saying Big Walt has Largent beat as the greatest player ever to wear a Seahawks jersey.
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