Steve Largent | Former NFL QB, Pro Football Hall of Famer

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Add life to cart. Terms apply. I saw over the weekend friends of mine who live in the great state had snow. Pretty jealous. But thinking that we're about to get into the month of December, what was it like to play in the elements in wintertime when you were in the league? Well, it was always a challenge. In Seattle, of course, we had the dome, so we didn't have to worry about it in any of our home games. But when we'd go to Kansas City or Denver in particular, we were always concerned about when we were playing those teams, whether they were going to be in the first half of the year or the last half of the year. And if they were in the last half, it was always a long day. But yeah, particularly as a receiver when you're running and making cuts and trying to catch a football, if the football is going to be wet or it's going to be snowy and it's going to be just a mess, you start eyeballing that schedule pretty closely as soon as it comes out.

Does it hurt when you catch it? Because I've heard kickers say that in the elements when it's super cold, the football can feel like a rock when they kick it. Yeah, I've heard him say that too.

I was a holder, but I've heard him say that. Yeah, it can have some effect on receivers as well. It just depends on your quarterback and how hard he throws the ball and the kind of route you're running and that kind of thing. But for the most part, I would say I played 14 years in the National Football League and I can only think of one game that we played in that I didn't want to be on that field. And that was actually in Kansas City. And it was like a late September, early October game. And it was rainy and it was cold.

It wasn't snowing, but it was rainy and cold and you were wet and you just wanted to get off that field as quickly as you could. Obviously now the month of December and then into January staring us in the face. And it's pretty incredible to me how everything is so packed in, especially in the AFC. What is it like to get late in the season and every snap, every game matters so much because you're running out of time in the season?

Absolutely. And players know that. Coaches know that. The front office knows that. And by the midpoint of the season, they're well past that, you know if you're going to make a run or not for the playoffs. And those teams that are going to make a run, they better get serious.

And for the most part, they are. And they focus in. You really can determine which teams are going to make it and which teams aren't going to make it by the halfway point of the season. So you find those guys that feel like they have a chance for the playoffs really amping up their game and playing really well. We're excited to have a few minutes with Hall of Fame wide receiver Steve Largent, who went on to a successful political career representing the state of Oklahoma. And now with us today, courtesy of the Gridiron Grades Assistance Fund, which we'll talk about.

It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. I'd love to get your insight about what it's like to change quarterbacks midseason. So this year we've seen 50 different quarterback start games, a lot of injuries, obviously a ton of rookies. So when you're a veteran receiver and you're changing quarterbacks once, maybe twice during a season, how do you adjust?

It is, it's difficult. You know, I would say that for most of my career, in most games, we had the quarterback, you know, our starting quarterback was playing and was not injured. We didn't have very many injuries in Seattle for whatever reason. And that was a huge plus for our offense to have the same guy call in plays and executing plays that you have the whole year. And that really makes a huge difference for a team. And when you have to substitute a quarterback in, you know, even halfway through the season, or now they're three quarters of the way through the season, it's really hard. It's hard to adjust to another quarterback snap count, to another, the way the quarterback calls the plays, the way the quarterback adjusts and makes alternative plays when he snapped the ball. That makes it really hard on a team. And, you know, some teams can do that and, you know, they accept that burden and they carry it very well. But there's, most teams don't. And so if, I mean, if I was a betting guy and I was saying, you got, you got a year round starter in this team and you got, you got a second team quarterback on this team, which one's going to win the game? And it's halfway through the season like we are right now or more.

I'd always take the guy, the starting quarterback and never the backup guy because the backup guy is a backup for a reason. We're definitely seeing the changes at quarterback affect a lot of the teams that we thought would be contenders. You miss very few games during your career. We see guys go down with injuries every week.

Some are non-contact, some are because of the contact. Any secrets? I think, number one, it was a real huge blessing to me to be able to play as many games as I did for that long a time. And I didn't really have a serious injury until like 19 or 84, 85. And I fractured my arm. So I was out on the, I was out of the game for six weeks that particular season. But so I was very fortunate, number one. Number two, I really worked out hard in the offseason. And I think that oftentimes your work in the offseason is reflected in the way, the amount of time you can play in the game when the regular season hits.

But the biggest part was just, I was, I was surely blessed. When you look around the NFL, it certainly does seem as though the rules have tilted the game in favor of the offense. We hear that from a lot of analysts who played previously. When you watch the game now, do you ever wonder what type of numbers you could have had if you had the current rules when you were in the NFL?

You know, I really don't. I know they changed the game up a little bit and made some things easier on receivers and quarterbacks with not getting late hits and things like that. But I think that actually is a good rule. I don't think anybody wants to go to a game and see their favorite receiver go down or quarterback go down on an illegal hit. You know, that's just not, that's not part of the game now and it shouldn't have been a part of the game in the past.

And so I'm glad that they made those rules to accommodate these players and really to keep the game on a fair basis. But I really don't compare what it was like when I played with what it's like today. It is a little bit different game. They throw the ball a heck of a lot more. The quarterbacks are really the key component of any offense now.

It's not the running back and, you know, different things like that. But, you know, all in all, it's still a great game. I love watching football today, maybe more today than when I played just because they throw it more.

But it's still a really great and fun game to watch. What was the best thing about playing the majority of your career? I guess all of your regular seasons in Seattle. That really was special because I got to play with the same group of guys and the coaches in the front office would alternate certain players at different times.

And that was their prerogative. But for the most part, I had a core group of guys that I played most of my career with and to get to have that relationship with them and with the fans. You know, the fans in Seattle are just fantastic. And I think they're the best fans in the league, although there's a lot of good fans in the league. But I think Seattle fans would rate number one in my book. And that made it so much fun just to have them cheering for you from the minute you drove up to the stadium to play a game. And then you come out of the stadium and they're still cheering.

It was just really a fun place to play. Hall of Fame wide receiver Steve Largent is with us here after hours on CBS Sports Radio. We've never had a receiver earn NFL MVP honors. We've never had a receiver go over 2,000 yards. Tyreek Hill is well within reach of that number, sitting on now 1,324 yards through 11 games. So Steve, someone who knows the position inside and out, should a wide receiver be considered for an MVP?

Oh, I think he could. Legitimately. But when I played, we just didn't throw the ball as much as they do now. And so that's what I was talking about earlier, that the receivers complete such a vital component in any team's offense now. And so I could see a tight end winning that award. I can see receivers winning that award because they're catching so many more balls for so many yards and touchdowns. So they've become a more vital component of every team's offense now. And every team doesn't just have one good receiver, they've got two or three good receivers. And then they've got a couple of tight ends. So I can see that being a receiver today is a much more important role to play than it ever has been in the NFL in the past. Yeah, through this point in the season, we already have five receivers that are over 1,000 yards.

Keenan Allen not that far behind Tyreek Hill. Steve, I'm sure you've gotten this question before, but I'm actually really intrigued to hear your answer. How did playing in the NFL prepare you for a career on Capitol Hill that spanned years? Well, the only thing I could see and I've often said was, you know, performing in front of a large crowd of people was something that I did in football and something that I had to do in Congress.

I had to get up and present my ideas or my thoughts or my vote in front of an audience of people, whether that was Congress itself or explaining my vote when I got back home. I think that there's a lot of differences. There's more differences than there are things in common with football. But, you know, football was great. It was very competitive and politics was a great, not a sport, but a great system to be involved with. I just try to do my best in both positions and give people what I promised when I ran for office or to perform in a game and give my team everything I had.

Maybe one similarity is that there's not a whole lot of job security. You really are going year to year or every two years. Yeah, that's for sure. Steve Largent is with us here after our CBS Sports Radio. And we partner with him courtesy of Southern Recipe Small Batch Pork Rinds and the Gridiron Grates Assistance Fund, which was started by Mike Ditka to help players of previous generations. Why is it important to you to be involved with Gridiron Grates, Steve? I really admire Mike Ditka for having put this together so many years ago and being behind it totally.

And I just thought, you know, he's right on point. There's so many players that I played with in Seattle that are really hurting. Guys that didn't make a lot of money.

I mean, I made $28,000 the first year I played in the NFL. And there's a lot of guys that didn't make that much. And so then they get hurt or have some kind of recurring injury or something like that. And then they're really hurting. And some guys, they need medical attention oftentimes.

They just need help. And so that's what the Gridiron Grates Assistance Fund is for, is for those players who didn't make all the money but really were the heart of the game. There's players from every single team that are walking through this life and they need help from us.

That's what really was the convincing thing for me to be involved with Mike and help raise money for these players that really haven't gotten help from anybody else. I had a conversation with Jerry Rice once in which he said that more people of today's generation knew him for his work on Dancing with the Stars than knew him for his football career, that he would run into more people who recognized him from that TV show. And so it makes me think about some of the players from previous generations that maybe are forgotten. Not so much the Hall of Famers. Your name and your bust obviously are enshrined in Canton. But there's a lot of rank and file players that did it for a few years and now it's a distant memory.

But as you point out, the impacts can last for a lifetime. You absolutely are correct. That's exactly the type of player that we're looking for and that we want to help, is guys that feel like they've been ignored or overlooked and really need help. Those are the guys that Mike is trying to help and just inform them about what's available to them.

A lot of times guys aren't aware of the assistance fund, but it's there. We want them to know that and to take advantage of it. Now 15th annual Pork Grind Appreciation Day. And it seems like I come across a lot of Hall of Famers who actually are really into pork rinds. How can fans get involved, Steve?

Well, they can do just what you said. They can look up the Pork Grind Appreciation Day or the Gridiron Grates. The Gridiron Grates is gridirongrates.org slash donate. And then the Pork Grind Appreciation Day, porkgrindappreciationday.com.

And they can find out what we're trying to do. And the fans really, this is a great thing for fans. They have an opportunity to win some great prizes, $5,000, 15 months worth of pork rinds. Nice. You know, pack the pigskin prize pack on gear and rinds and tailgating chef pack and all sorts of different things that they can be available to if they just go to that porkgrindappreciationday.com. And it's great, too, because the beneficiaries are so grateful. I run into a lot of former NFL players who say that this has really been a lifesaver when they have to determine should I buy groceries or should I pay for a doctor's visit?

Can I get a ride somewhere? So, yeah, it's a groundswell type of an effort. And yet here we are. It's 15 annual Pork Grind Appreciation Days. So we're so excited to talk to Steve Largent from the 1995 Hall of Fame class enshrined in Canton. Played a lot of years in Seattle.

So our Seahawks fan base will enjoy this. Steve, thank you so much for a couple of minutes. It's great to catch up with you. Amy, thanks for any time.

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