October 17, 2023 • 34 mins
Former quarterback Sam Adkins joined the show to swap stories with two of his longtime teammates, Jim Zorn and Steve Raible. Adkins played for the Seahawks from 1977-1981 and bears the distinction of being the only player to wear No. 12 before it was retired in honor of the 12s. Today’s show: driving into the stadium with fans (03:20), winning a car (05:13), NFL salaries and food in the ‘70s (06:20), $1,500 hot dog (07:44), crowd noise penalties in the Kingdome (08:21), Howard Mudd’s influence on the game (11:38), Adkins memories of being a Seahawk (17:53), only Seahawk to ever wear the No. 12 jersey (19:39), life after football (24:20), success in 1978 and 1979 seasons (27:11), and fondest memories with the Seahawks (32:41).
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're listening to Seahawks stories taking you behind the scenes
with your favorite Seahawks setbacks. Behind Zorn, who's back to
pass as time looks for the left sideline, throws.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
A bomb down there. He's got a man in front.
Speaker 3 (00:12):
He makes to draft a travel It's a thirty down
of the twenty.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Don't ever get him. He scores touched.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
Out Seahawks powered by Seahawks dot Com.
Speaker 3 (00:19):
And Zorn laid it in perfectly a Rabel who goes
in to score on an eighty yard pass and run play.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
Now, here's your host, the voice of the Seahawks, Steve
Raebol and Seahawks legend Jim Zorn.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
I get Old Tingley every time I hear that, Raeves.
It is nice when you have one or two that
you remember. You obviously haven't had enough, as I mentioned that.
And on the line with us now is our good
buddy who actually wasn't there that first year in seventy six,
but he came on in seventy seven became your backup.
And for those who don't know, we put this out
(00:55):
there right now because I know we're going to talk
about it. The only player in the history of the
Seahawks franchise to wear the number twelve before it was retired,
representing the twelve fans. And that's my roommate, Sam Adkins. Sammy,
how you doing, Bud.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
I'm a little nervous. You are shown the phone.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
All right, Well, it's good talking to you, Sam. Take care,
We'll talk to you next time.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
How many years How many years did you and Sam
room together in training camp?
Speaker 2 (01:31):
Well, it must have been the five right that I
was there with you, Sam, and I was there total
of six, so it was five years.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
And then on there you can tell that story, Steve. No,
I can't as to why we became roommates.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
Well, yes, okay, that one I can tell. Well, there
were a couple of things, but the biggest one was,
you know, I roomed with Largent on the road my
rookie season, and he snored so loudly, truly, I couldn't sleep.
And so when it came time for that next year.
And besides that, you know, you guys had sort of
(02:02):
developed a little bit of a connection there. I don't
know it was exclusive. You could have come in well,
but no, it was. It was it was kind of
the two the two stars. And then there was Sam
and me and and uh, so, yes, that was that
was Wasn't that one of the big reasons.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
That was the reason. Yeah, you said, yeah, you stayed
in Miami and couldn't hear the seven forty sevens take
off from the airport, and so it was a large
and snoring.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
Yeah, it sounded you know, you'd hear this, huh and
it sounded like a goose hitting the door. I mean,
you just made so much. That's exactly what it was.
And so so yes, and then Sam and I and
and you know, Steve was a little messy. You know,
Sam and I were a little more fastidious.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
I was going to ask, how were your how was
your room? Did you guys have rules in.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
Your I don't know rooms. Did we have rules?
Speaker 3 (02:51):
No, it was just a given, and so it was
we didn't know. We just kind of existed, you know,
we're not high maintenance, and so it was. We had
lots of fun.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
Though you conjured things up. I know that you guys
conjured well, mostly it was conjuring, like how do you
feel this morning? You're ready to play the game. Wow,
I wish I hadn't had that third beer last night.
Those are the things that I had to conjure up,
I guess. But you know what was funny. We talked
about it on our first show, Sam, and I know
(03:24):
you remember this. So we'd all stay at that the
motel or hotel in Issaquah that we had as are
kind of our headquarters. I think it was I don't remember.
It was holiday inn.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
I think it was in Bellevue right there, but even.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
Before that our first year. Maybe Sam was there at
the time.
Speaker 3 (03:41):
Oh, I wasn't there because I only stayed at the
Bellevue one.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
It was the Isaqua play. But Jim and I talked
about it our first time Sam, and that was that
on Sunday morning driving we would leave the hotel and
so you and I would drive in together and then
Sam and Steve would drive. Jim and Steve would drive
into other And one of the funny things was for
those early years, we just park in the parking lot
(04:05):
and we'd walk in with the fans to the Kingdome
and that was really kind of cool.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
Oh, it was great. And the really fun part that
people don't know is that as we would be driving
to the stadium, see because I would ride with Steve
and then Steve would go into his play by play voice,
and we'd go kind of go through the game plan
and he would visualize a play and he'd be going
in and was practicing his play by play or pass.
(04:32):
It's larger and on this area, I did, he said
the found Yes you did. I had to listen to it.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
Yes, so he did change voices.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
Oh, guy asked him that last week. Sam, I'll never
forget I actually drove to Cheenie, Washington with you several times,
but I'll never forget the one time I drove with you.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
You had a jeep.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
And I'll bet right, I'll bet I don't know what
kind of engine you had in your jeep, but I'll
bet we stopped four times for gas. I think you
know your tank was either a five gallon a five
gallon job or your engine was huge and massive gas intake.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
Well, I had won that jeep at a NFLPA golf
tournament and so and so I said, I said, well,
I'd like to order it. So I ordered it with
a big V eight and everything, and so yeah. I mean,
at the time in the off season, I worked. I worked,
I had a job in Federal Way, and then if
(05:34):
I made any sales calls. I had to fill up
every day, and if I made any sales calls that day,
instead of just going to the office and back, I'd
have to stop and fill up again to get home.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
It was it was a long It was a long drive.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
I guarantee you. I remember driving over it too, And
I had that little red sports car that Jenson Healy.
I love that back and forth So that's the only
place I really put miles on it was driving back
and forth across the mountains. You mentioned something that was
really interesting that you had a job. Many of us
had jobs in the off season, because you know, it's
not like we made a ton of dough. I mean,
(06:10):
we made better than what a lot of kids coming
out of college would make at that time, well seventy six,
seventy seven, but many of us had had jobs in
the off season.
Speaker 3 (06:20):
Well. Our minimum in that the year I was drafted
was twenty thousand bucks. I could have made more money
in banking with my business degree than I did with
my first year contract in the NFL. And you kind
of sit there and say, okay, so how am I
going to make this stretch? Here?
Speaker 2 (06:40):
There was a lot of helper helper as I remember
that we all used to eat at that time. Oh yeah, yeah,
Tuna helper and hamburger helper and all those things. Because
now you walk in the building with the vMac as
you know, when they have three meals a day, they
have a fabulous set up here. But back in the
old days, you know, Key's brought donuts.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
That was the only thing that we had donuts.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
Exactly when I stuff champion, when I was in Green
Bay for one one season, we we actually had half
of our games in Milwaukee, right, So we would practice
and then we would get on a bus and we
would bus two hours to Milwaukee to play the game.
But we had we had to eat lunch. So our
(07:22):
choices were, uh, two file of fish sandwiches or two
big macs or we could go one one file.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
A fish and one big mat.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
That was our lunch. And you'd get on the bus,
they'd hand hand you your sandwiches. Here you go, And
that's what we ate.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
That was. That was the NFL. It was it's a
far side different.
Speaker 3 (07:44):
Do you remember when we played in Milwaukee and the
the fifteen dollars hot dog Ezra Johnson.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
Yeah, yeah, I do remember that. The fine he.
Speaker 3 (07:55):
Got a fan to go up in the stands again.
All of a sudden, bar Star was head coach time
turned rout, looks and sees him eating the hot dog
and find it fifteen bucks and that was a lot
of money at that time.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
Absolutely, you know, during that game, and I think it's
that game. We have to fact check all this stuff.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
I'm sure because we're old and we don't really remember.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
But when when I got onto the field, they had
an NFL rule that when you walked up to the
line of scrimmage, you if the crowd was noisy, you
would put your hands up and turn around and look
at mister official and he would either point you back,
no it's not loud enough, make sure you get the playoff,
(08:39):
or he'll stop the play. Well, they stopped the play
for me, and I went to Jack Ptera and Howard
mud and they said, do not under any circumstance snap
the ball. And so I go up there, and you know,
when you stop a play, the crowd just loves it. Sure,
and they weren't going to give them a penalty, so
(09:02):
I just kept turning to mister official. We stopped the game,
And think about this, We stopped the game for twenty minutes. Yeah,
and we sat there and what what Jack and Howard
wanted to prove was you can't have that rule. That
rule is impossible for TV. So eventually mister official said,
(09:23):
would you please, would you please snap the ball?
Speaker 3 (09:26):
You know I think that I think you playing to catch.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
So finally I did. I just said, hey, guys, we're
in the huddle. I said, listen, I'm going to snap
the ball this time. We're going to get on with this.
And when I came to the sideline, I got ripped
by both Jack and Howard. And Howard would never forget it,
you know, I mean, he just always reminded me, remember,
you know you messed you messed things up in the
(09:52):
Green Bay games.
Speaker 3 (09:53):
And uh.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
But but they did away with that rule as quickly
as it came in.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
Sure I remember it. Oh yeah, as the broadcast asked
her when the Raiders came to town and Mark Wilson
I think was the quarterback, and he stepped under center
and it just got loud and he turned around. And
eventually the officials threatened to penalize the home team basically
because of the fans. That only made the fans and
they went in nuts at the Kingdom, it got even louder. So, Yeah,
(10:20):
that was a stupid rule that the NFL tried to
tried to put in there.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
And Howard Mud would say he was the kind of
the godfather, if you will, the grandfather of the silent
count He's the one that kind of created no no noise.
You either slapping, slapping your center or if you're in
the gun, maybe a guard is telling the center he's tappening,
somebody's letting him know that the quarterback's ready to get
(10:46):
the get the ball.
Speaker 3 (10:47):
In fact, Sports illustrated it a real nice piece on
Howard Mud and the beginning of the silent snap County.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
And we should let those who are listening know that
Howard Mud was are offensive line coach, but he was
so much more than that. Uh he and in years
past and years later after the after we all stopped playing, obviously,
uh he became a great, dear friend to all of
us and a terrific coach. I mean, he very much
sought after offensive line coach around the league. Unfortunately, he
(11:18):
passed away a couple of years ago, Sam Right, a
motorcycle accident. But he was just a gem and I
know he you guys you two especially were very very close.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
He's talking because ye, because he didn't know what we
did together.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
But yeah, he's talking.
Speaker 3 (11:36):
Well, we did because Howard, you know, had all the
success with Peyton Manning and things of that nature. And
as you said, he was highly coveted because of his
knowledge and his approach to the game. Instead of the
drop back, you know, the kickstep for the tackles, he
(11:59):
treated everything as play action and we would talk philosophy
and things of that nature. And so, I mean, he
didn't know what he wanted to do. You know how,
It's not just players that kind of flounder when you
don't have any direction after you've done something for forty
six years and then all of a sudden, now what
am I going to do? I don't have a clue.
(12:19):
And so I talked him into you know, at the time,
I was coaching youth football and they'd have coaching clinics
and things of that nature. I said, why don't you
do a coaching clinic? So I put a helped him
put a PowerPoint presentation together with video and everything, and
it was called the Mud Method. And so then he
(12:40):
started speaking and that kind of gave him a sense
of direction, and then he was helping out high schools.
He'd help any line coach out that he could because
of the fact that he was so passionate about his
technique of instead of passive aggressive passive as they as
through past blocking, his was aggressive, go get him and
(13:02):
set and then get him again, so that that buys
your quarterback more time as well.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
So yeah, visualize raves if you will. Most most o
line coaches described the pocket as a cup. Right, the
tackles dropped, they kick step at least two.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
Maybe three times before they engage.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
Well, his his theory in pass protection was to build
a dish. So he wanted to build the tackles a
little flatter and be a little tougher inside so that
the QB felt like he had room. And I got that.
I mean he he coached for me in a couple
of All Star Games. Sam, you were part of that too,
(13:43):
some college and Star games in Tampa.
Speaker 3 (13:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
Anyway, so he built the dish. So Sam's exactly right,
it was. And I spent hours with him discussing all
this stuff, writing all the notes down. I got all
the notes, and he would say pass protection aggressive, aggressive,
pass passive, and then in run the run game, he'd
say passive, passive, aggressive, aggressive because he was a big
(14:07):
zone blocker, and uh he so he would take steps
because it was area blocking more than man blocking in
the zone game. And uh you know, it was all
about double teaming and getting up towards towards a new
line of scrimmage. But before you would be knock somebody down,
(14:28):
you would be passive to see where they were going,
and you'd try to stay on that line.
Speaker 3 (14:32):
Could take him where they want to go?
Speaker 2 (14:34):
Yeah, yeah, I've heard that before. Yeah that could could he?
Could he turn uh any tackle into his kind of tackle?
In other words? Was it more about technique and teaching
and coaching as opposed to just flat out physical ability?
I mean, you know, nobody's going to doubt Walter Jones
had was one of the most physically gifted offensive tackles
(14:56):
to ever play the game. Here, could could Howard have met?
Speaker 3 (15:00):
That's what Howard said too.
Speaker 2 (15:01):
Yeah, exactly could Howard?
Speaker 3 (15:03):
Though?
Speaker 2 (15:03):
Could he teach even a middling sort of tackle to
be successful in his style? Well, yes, you go ahead.
Speaker 3 (15:13):
I was just going to say he could. He could
make an average tackle better, but he couldn't make an
average tackle great, so he could be a serviceable player,
not a liability to the offensive line as you saw
evidenced in the New York Giants game recently.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
And you had to be a part of You had
to be there every day with him because he would
be relentless. He would not let let it go that
you were trying your own technique. He was teaching you.
No I said a six inch step. No, I said
a six inch step. And it had to be it
had to be right. And so he was a technician,
you know, in all of his coaching that he did.
(15:53):
And he remember he wasn't just coaching tackles, although that
is super important. He was coaching guards and centers, and
you know, he just he made it evident that it
was going to be his way.
Speaker 3 (16:08):
And it's so funny you say that, see because of
the fact that nowadays the staff is they have one
coach per player. So I coached the right guards, and
you coach the left guards, and then Billy Bob coaches
the right tackle and so hey, Sam, I mean you
look at you look at our team pictures, and it's
so awesome because there were seven coaches that we had. Yeah,
(16:34):
and and so you go Okay, get three on offense,
three on defense, and then you have the head coach,
and now you have a row of players and a
roll of white shirts, and then a row of players
and other roll of white shirts, and then a role players,
And so you're going, who are all these people?
Speaker 2 (16:52):
Much more specialized?
Speaker 1 (16:54):
I was talking to somebody earlier in the office, and
see he had mentioned that there were originally about eight
two people inside the building, you know, with all the
different responsibilities. And I think he said, the Seahawks today
have over four hundred in the buildings doing different different
(17:14):
aspects of the game and marketing and things of that nature. So, Uh,
the NFL has grown, and the Seahawks are one of
the best best products that.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
Are in the in certainly one of the certainly one
of the best run, if not the best run organization. Sam,
you and I I've made jokes at banquets for the
last forty years that you and I were on the
sideline so much we were made honorary seagals. Uh, what
was what it was? Your experience? Like what you know,
you didn't get in as much as you would like
(17:46):
to have played. You had a great college career. None
of us well maybe, with the exception of Jim and
Steve played as much as they wanted to play. But
what do you remember about those days? How much how
much fun was it? How much work was it? Uh?
What do you what do you remember?
Speaker 3 (18:00):
Well, it's the fun is indescribable because of the camaraderie
and the friendships, and I think because of the Jack
Paterra era. Every time you have functions, the majority of
the people that show for the alumni functions are from
the Jack Buttera era. You're now starting to get a
few more people that are younger and younger, but it's
(18:23):
always dominated by the guys that bonded over in Genie Washington.
But as far as the work goes, it was a
lot of work because number one, Jerry was a great
teacher and you look at the people that have had
success that were under him because he taught you why
(18:43):
you did what you did. He just didn't tell you
what to do. He told you why you were doing
what you did, so you had a greater depth of
understanding and that helped you know in so many things
in life and in coaching and everything else that I did.
I always taught that way so that people knew it
wasn't just because I said so, it was here's why
we're doing that. What do you think is that is?
(19:05):
Do you have a better way? No, that's terrible, do
it my way. So but they would sit there and
with Jerry it was a lot of work, and we
would have our tests and stuff, and Jim and I
would be in the very high nineties and Mudbone, Dave
Craig would would I'd be in tears. Look, my paper
was bleeding in the fifties.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
By the way, Jerry Rome was our offensive coordinator in
our later years, but our quarterbacks receivers coach. So that's
that's what we're talking about.
Speaker 3 (19:36):
Jerry. Yep.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
Sam Steve mentioned that you were the only number twelve
in the history of the Seahawks. You want to tell
the story about.
Speaker 3 (19:47):
I would love to tell this story because we're playing
in San Diego and there was a poll that came out,
who is the most popular player in the NFL? Who
do people like to watch come to the stadium to watch?
What's your favorite opponent? And mister Zorn won that contest.
(20:09):
So good old number ten. Well, in those days, we
didn't have that. We had we had twenty. We didn't
have twenty jerseys in the storage tank or the trunk,
so we only had two jerseys. Well, with Jim being
so popular, someone had stolen his backup jersey. We're playing
the San Diego Charters and Jim Jersey gets ripped to shreds.
(20:33):
So the official goes, hey, Jim, you got to get
a new jersey. So he comes to sideline and Tim
Ryan was the equipment guy. He runs over the trunk
and there's no backup number ten. So they turned, they
look and they go, Sam, give him your jersey. So
I give him my jersey.
Speaker 1 (20:55):
Second half, they took his name jersey.
Speaker 3 (20:59):
Then they he plays the second half at number twelve.
The next week, we're playing the Houston Oilers. We're blowing
them out, so I get in the game and I'm
throwing the ball. In fact, I think I threw a
TD to Largent. And then the next week is the
first Monday night game in Seahawk history, and you and
(21:20):
I were talking on the field and Glandville comes over
and he says, hey, Ankins, are my coach me or not?
They said they got you on film throwing left hand,
and they got you on film throwing right handed, And
I said, yeah, I said, it depends on who your
best pass rusher is. I want to see the summer's coming.
He goes, no, heit Me, turns and walks away.
Speaker 2 (21:43):
You're taking his head.
Speaker 3 (21:44):
So Jim wore twelve for a half, so I.
Speaker 2 (21:48):
Did, okay, But officially, oh yeah, you were the only one.
He is number twelve. Yes, that's right.
Speaker 3 (21:54):
I was the only one issued number twelve.
Speaker 2 (21:56):
That's Jerry Lamble, by the way. Footnote, coach of the
Falcons coached at Houston, was the guy who recruited me
to go to Georgia Tech. He was a linebacker coach
at Georgia Tech at the time. And so I was
a high school senior in Louisville, Kentucky, at Trinity High School,
and he would come into town and he was recruiting
like five of us guys. All of us played at
(22:18):
the all boys Catholic high schools because that was the
best football in the city. And and he got four
of us out of that class to go to Georgia Tech.
And he used to take us to the best steakhouse
in the city when he'd come to town and came on, boys,
let's go get some groceries and we go, we go
eat a state about the size of the table that
Jim and I are sitting at right now, And it
(22:41):
was you know, it was just really cool. And then
you know, as soon as they signed you, as we
all know, when you sign a letter for intent, then
it's you know, what have you done for me lately?
Speaker 3 (22:50):
Maybe you look cricket.
Speaker 2 (22:52):
That's exactly right. They did their job. Now you got
to go out and do years. Oh maybe you look skinny.
What did you did you do nothing during the off season? Oh,
you look off? So that was that was he treated
you after the fact.
Speaker 1 (23:04):
Hey, Sam, did you play after the Seahawk stint? Did
you go somewhere else?
Speaker 3 (23:11):
No? Actually I went to the USFL and then said
I'm not doing this and then came home because Dale
was pregnant with our second child, Whitney, and I said, yeah,
I don't want her to be in Detroit, Michigan. So
that's where I But I didn't. I didn't go anywhere
(23:31):
else in the NFL.
Speaker 2 (23:32):
Didn't Jerry at one time? Jerry Rome once again, because
he was either in line to get a head coaching
job someplace. Didn't he talk to you Sam at one
time about coming.
Speaker 3 (23:40):
To Yeah, he wanted me to be his offensive coordinator. Yeah,
and I said, well I could. Yeah, I think about it.
You know, if you get the job, I'll do because
Tulsa was going to get a USFL franchise, and so
I said, yeah, I said, and then I come there
and then I come home. You off, No, No, you
don't understand. When you're coaching your full time, there is
(24:02):
no off season, so you'd have to move your family
and stuff there. And I remember Andy McDonald saying, son,
don't get into coaching. And if you do, and you
buy a wall to wall carpeting, don't tack it down
because you need to roll it up and take it
with you.
Speaker 2 (24:16):
Remember those words. And yeah, So you decided that after
the playing days that it was time to find a
real job, and you ended up being sam as successful
as anybody I can think of from our era. And
we've had a lot of guys, we've all done pretty well,
I think. But you started your own construction company, and
holy smokes, you've you've just done great, great guns over
(24:39):
the years.
Speaker 3 (24:41):
Well yeah, but I did a different job every off season.
Like you said, we had to work, and so I
worked in a restaurant trying to learn that and then
I sold cars for two weeks and absolutely hated that.
I mean, you sit there with a lot of people
all day, Yeah, and you just sit there and you
just try to fleece people. And I said, yeah, this
(25:01):
isn't for me. I can't do this. And so and
then I did travel agencies, and I had I had
owned a couple of travel agencies while we were playing.
And then I did insurance, and then did got recruited
for commercial finance. So then I was financing McDonald's restaurants,
(25:22):
covering half the US. But I was gone every other
week for a week at a time, and with four
kids at home, it just got to be a bit much.
And so that's when I said, Okay, I'm gonna start construction.
McDonald's was looking for a contractor, and so I said, yeah,
I'll do that. And so that's how how I got
(25:44):
into the construction. But I was third generation. My grandpa
was contractor in Virginia and my dad was contractor in
LA and I was trying to avoid it, but I didn't.
And now my son Ryan is a contractor, so he's
fourth generation.
Speaker 2 (25:58):
But you're still quite retired.
Speaker 3 (26:01):
Oh no, I'm fully retired. Yeah, Ryan, fired.
Speaker 2 (26:04):
Me that just as the business and and Jim, when
you stopped playing, you pretty much got right into coaching
after that, do you want right into college?
Speaker 1 (26:14):
I tried to figure out what I wanted to do next,
and so I took a year and did some searching
on you know, what would I what was I going
to be good at? And one of the issues I
always wanted to coach, and uh, I got you know,
I came in and I think I told you about
going into uh Chuck Knox and him saying, no, you
(26:37):
can't be on our staff. Get to the highest level.
And then I had the opportunity to go to Boise
State my very first coaching stint, if you will.
Speaker 2 (26:46):
I was there for three years.
Speaker 1 (26:48):
That was a skip, and uh, then I went to
Utah State University with Charlie Weatherby and then and then
I went to the Whack Attack Jim Whacker in Minnesota,
and then I started. I came here with Dennis Ericson
and Howard Mudd for one season, then went to Detroit
and then then came back here like Mike for seven
(27:09):
years and beyond.
Speaker 2 (27:10):
So Sam some of those recollections of those years, especially
in seventy eight seventy nine when we you know, really
started to knock at the door, and we have kind
of had a zoom now that us old guys have
figured out how to get zoom on our computers. Nick
be about one of our great offensive linemen from back
(27:32):
in the day, and others have put together these zoom
calls where we have ten or fifteen of us on
there talking about things. Those were some great personalities. But
aside from that, we played some pretty decent football during
those years.
Speaker 3 (27:46):
Well we were we had the back to back nine
and seven seasons and Jack Petera was a NFL Coach
of the Year, and you know, it was it was
really fun talking to Jack after you know, we were
all old and feeble and he had been out of
(28:08):
the league and go to his house for those picnics
and to hear the stories and then to hear the
real truth about what went on back in the day
and those sort of things. But yeah, it was But
at that point, you know, it was interesting because I
never forget one thing that he said that he had
mentioned that the piece of advice that Bud Grant gave him.
(28:28):
Because Jack came to Seattle as the head coach from
the Minnesota Vikings, and Jack is probably the greatest defensive
line coach in the history of the NFL, coaching the
Purple People, Eider and the Fearsome Forsome. But Bud's coaching
point to him was don't win too soon because you
(28:52):
can't look back. And so Jack was trying to slow
walk it. But we we didn't get the memo so well.
Speaker 1 (29:01):
They developed Jerry and Jerry Howard really they all developed
the sprint draw series, right, and that's that really became
innovative for us because I could throw on the run
left and right, and we had play action off of it.
We had Sherman Smith in the backfield and it. You know,
(29:25):
David Simms was a big part of that as well,
and his career was short short doing an injury. But
we were starting to really motor, we really were.
Speaker 2 (29:33):
And and Jack was a you know, even though he
was a defensive coach, and I think his thinking certainly
was when they were building this team. You know, our
first ever draft choice was Steve Kneehouse, defensive tackle, two
time All American out of Notre Dame, and it didn't
quite work out for him because of injuries. I mean,
he literally couldn't. To this day, he can't lift his
arm over his head because of the shoulder injury that
(29:54):
he sustained.
Speaker 3 (29:55):
And it was never That's why his hair always looks
like it did.
Speaker 2 (29:59):
That's exactly, that's exactly. Yeah, God bless him too. I
saw I haven't seen House for a while. In fact,
he's in Cincinnati. Maybe we'll maybe we'll give him a
call and see if you see what he's doing. But
he a few years ago. I saw him. He look
like nine miles of bad road then, so I can
imagine that. But he looks like now. But a wonderful
kid and a great guy. But you know, we started
(30:21):
to build that defense, so you build it around guys
like House, and I don't remember we had Sammy Green
as one of our outside backers, and then they get
Terry Beeson put him in the middle, and then some
of the other guys that John Harris is in the secondary,
and then when Kenny easily came on board. I just
remember us. Remember we used to get to camp as
the veterans. We'd come in a few days after the rookies, right,
(30:41):
so we'd all drive over and once you've been around
for a little while, you've been through a couple of camps.
Now you're kind of you got your chest puffed out
a little bit. You feel like I'm a veteran. And
so we're watching all the young guys out there, the
free agents and the rookies out on the practice field
in Cheeney, and I'll never forget we're standing there. I
think McCullum and I are standing there, maybe a couple others.
We're watching them, and they're they're doing like seven on
(31:03):
seven or something, and quarterback drops back. You did you
go in early? Jim by the way we always so,
I was just gonna say we had to go in. Yeah,
Happily for me, I didn't have to. But here here
is some whoever was one of the quarterbacks. One of
you guys throws a deep ball and or play fake
and easily starts to bite on the play fake, and
(31:25):
I thought, oh, you know, here's this high round, number
one draft choice and we're just gonna burn his butt
right here. And as soon as he planted his foot,
he turned and ran and made the interception deep down
the middle, and I thought, oh my god, this guy's
for real. And he really was until his body gave
out on him too, But what a what an amazing
player he was.
Speaker 1 (31:44):
He was an amazing player, and he was immediate. He
has his vision was great and he anticipated what what
was happening. He could see what was happening. Uh, I think, uh,
you know, there's a few players on that defense intoday's game,
on our team that can Wagner does the same thing,
and he can see it and he immediately works up
(32:05):
the up the field or back and he pauses when
he needs to because he doesn't buy it. Yeah, you know,
you have to be a good you have to be
good on that. On the other side, to fool those kinds.
Speaker 3 (32:16):
Of players, you have to sell it hard, you know. Yeah,
And you know, circling back to Howard Mudd and his
technique was it was also very difficult for linebackers because
everything looked like play action or everything looked like run
is what he was trying to sell all the time,
so that they, you know, it kept the linebackers just
(32:37):
that one step, because that's all you need in the
NFL is one step.
Speaker 2 (32:41):
Sam, we got about a minute or so left. Your
your your fondest memory and it doesn't have to be
playing either, but your fondest memory of being a part
of the Seahawks all the and all these years because
you have been You've been around ever since day.
Speaker 3 (32:54):
One, forty years. Yeah, yeah, I've been. I was associated
with him for forty years, and the hoest was just
the I mean, you can't pick out one. It's just
the association because of the class of the organization, you know,
because you can say with pride, you know that I
was part of the Seahawks, which is as you started
out earlier saying, one of the best franchises in the NFL.
(33:16):
And you know, Chuck Arnold has continued that tradition and
keeping everything very held in very high regard. So it's
just you know, and the friendships that we've developed and
to be able to stay in contact. Next week, I'm
going to see Peter Cronin and Tommy Lynch in New Hampshire,
(33:37):
So it's going to be lots and lots of fun,
lots of good stories. Mule.
Speaker 1 (33:42):
I think I think Steve asked you that question because
he was fishing for your best memory being roommate with you, Steve,
you know, and just doing all well.
Speaker 3 (33:52):
I could tell you a few stories, you know, like
the time that we had thanks everybody.
Speaker 2 (33:56):
I'm really glad that you all listened in here today. Sorry,
and we're seem to have some disconnect here on the again.
Yes are hey, thanks for being here a mule all.
Speaker 3 (34:09):
Right, thanks guys for having me rooms.
Speaker 2 (34:12):
Thanks and uh, you know if they if we get
a second life in doing this, we'll circle back and
tell some more stories.
Speaker 3 (34:19):
All right, that's great, Love you guys, I.
Speaker 2 (34:22):
Love you, bud ze Man. We've done it yet again.
We've fooled people for another half hour, forty minutes. It
was hilarious, well it was. It filled the time. So
thanks to all of you folks out there for listening in.
We appreciate it. If, if, and when you hear these,
send a little note along and say, hey, here's a
question I got for Jim or for Steve or whoever else.
(34:44):
We we're going to have coach homegren on in the
very near future. Matthew is going to join us one
of these days, and then we're gonna go back and
get some of those offensive linemen we talked about. So
great to have all of you with us on Seahawks stories.
We'll talk to you next time.
You're listening to Seahawks stories taking you behind the scenes
with your favorite Seahawks setbacks. Behind Zorn, who's back to
pass as time looks for the left sideline, throws.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
A bomb down there. He's got a man in front.
Speaker 3 (00:12):
He makes to draft a travel It's a thirty down
of the twenty.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Don't ever get him. He scores touched.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
Out Seahawks powered by Seahawks dot Com.
Speaker 3 (00:19):
And Zorn laid it in perfectly a Rabel who goes
in to score on an eighty yard pass and run play.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
Now, here's your host, the voice of the Seahawks, Steve
Raebol and Seahawks legend Jim Zorn.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
I get Old Tingley every time I hear that, Raeves.
It is nice when you have one or two that
you remember. You obviously haven't had enough, as I mentioned that.
And on the line with us now is our good
buddy who actually wasn't there that first year in seventy six,
but he came on in seventy seven became your backup.
And for those who don't know, we put this out
(00:55):
there right now because I know we're going to talk
about it. The only player in the history of the
Seahawks franchise to wear the number twelve before it was retired,
representing the twelve fans. And that's my roommate, Sam Adkins. Sammy,
how you doing, Bud.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
I'm a little nervous. You are shown the phone.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
All right, Well, it's good talking to you, Sam. Take care,
We'll talk to you next time.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
How many years How many years did you and Sam
room together in training camp?
Speaker 2 (01:31):
Well, it must have been the five right that I
was there with you, Sam, and I was there total
of six, so it was five years.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
And then on there you can tell that story, Steve. No,
I can't as to why we became roommates.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
Well, yes, okay, that one I can tell. Well, there
were a couple of things, but the biggest one was,
you know, I roomed with Largent on the road my
rookie season, and he snored so loudly, truly, I couldn't sleep.
And so when it came time for that next year.
And besides that, you know, you guys had sort of
(02:02):
developed a little bit of a connection there. I don't
know it was exclusive. You could have come in well,
but no, it was. It was it was kind of
the two the two stars. And then there was Sam
and me and and uh, so, yes, that was that
was Wasn't that one of the big reasons.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
That was the reason. Yeah, you said, yeah, you stayed
in Miami and couldn't hear the seven forty sevens take
off from the airport, and so it was a large
and snoring.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
Yeah, it sounded you know, you'd hear this, huh and
it sounded like a goose hitting the door. I mean,
you just made so much. That's exactly what it was.
And so so yes, and then Sam and I and
and you know, Steve was a little messy. You know,
Sam and I were a little more fastidious.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
I was going to ask, how were your how was
your room? Did you guys have rules in.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
Your I don't know rooms. Did we have rules?
Speaker 3 (02:51):
No, it was just a given, and so it was
we didn't know. We just kind of existed, you know,
we're not high maintenance, and so it was. We had
lots of fun.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
Though you conjured things up. I know that you guys
conjured well, mostly it was conjuring, like how do you
feel this morning? You're ready to play the game. Wow,
I wish I hadn't had that third beer last night.
Those are the things that I had to conjure up,
I guess. But you know what was funny. We talked
about it on our first show, Sam, and I know
(03:24):
you remember this. So we'd all stay at that the
motel or hotel in Issaquah that we had as are
kind of our headquarters. I think it was I don't remember.
It was holiday inn.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
I think it was in Bellevue right there, but even.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
Before that our first year. Maybe Sam was there at
the time.
Speaker 3 (03:41):
Oh, I wasn't there because I only stayed at the
Bellevue one.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
It was the Isaqua play. But Jim and I talked
about it our first time Sam, and that was that
on Sunday morning driving we would leave the hotel and
so you and I would drive in together and then
Sam and Steve would drive. Jim and Steve would drive
into other And one of the funny things was for
those early years, we just park in the parking lot
(04:05):
and we'd walk in with the fans to the Kingdome
and that was really kind of cool.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
Oh, it was great. And the really fun part that
people don't know is that as we would be driving
to the stadium, see because I would ride with Steve
and then Steve would go into his play by play voice,
and we'd go kind of go through the game plan
and he would visualize a play and he'd be going
in and was practicing his play by play or pass.
(04:32):
It's larger and on this area, I did, he said
the found Yes you did. I had to listen to it.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
Yes, so he did change voices.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
Oh, guy asked him that last week. Sam, I'll never
forget I actually drove to Cheenie, Washington with you several times,
but I'll never forget the one time I drove with you.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
You had a jeep.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
And I'll bet right, I'll bet I don't know what
kind of engine you had in your jeep, but I'll
bet we stopped four times for gas. I think you
know your tank was either a five gallon a five
gallon job or your engine was huge and massive gas intake.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
Well, I had won that jeep at a NFLPA golf
tournament and so and so I said, I said, well,
I'd like to order it. So I ordered it with
a big V eight and everything, and so yeah. I mean,
at the time in the off season, I worked. I worked,
I had a job in Federal Way, and then if
(05:34):
I made any sales calls. I had to fill up
every day, and if I made any sales calls that day,
instead of just going to the office and back, I'd
have to stop and fill up again to get home.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
It was it was a long It was a long drive.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
I guarantee you. I remember driving over it too, And
I had that little red sports car that Jenson Healy.
I love that back and forth So that's the only
place I really put miles on it was driving back
and forth across the mountains. You mentioned something that was
really interesting that you had a job. Many of us
had jobs in the off season, because you know, it's
not like we made a ton of dough. I mean,
(06:10):
we made better than what a lot of kids coming
out of college would make at that time, well seventy six,
seventy seven, but many of us had had jobs in
the off season.
Speaker 3 (06:20):
Well. Our minimum in that the year I was drafted
was twenty thousand bucks. I could have made more money
in banking with my business degree than I did with
my first year contract in the NFL. And you kind
of sit there and say, okay, so how am I
going to make this stretch? Here?
Speaker 2 (06:40):
There was a lot of helper helper as I remember
that we all used to eat at that time. Oh yeah, yeah,
Tuna helper and hamburger helper and all those things. Because
now you walk in the building with the vMac as
you know, when they have three meals a day, they
have a fabulous set up here. But back in the
old days, you know, Key's brought donuts.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
That was the only thing that we had donuts.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
Exactly when I stuff champion, when I was in Green
Bay for one one season, we we actually had half
of our games in Milwaukee, right, So we would practice
and then we would get on a bus and we
would bus two hours to Milwaukee to play the game.
But we had we had to eat lunch. So our
(07:22):
choices were, uh, two file of fish sandwiches or two
big macs or we could go one one file.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
A fish and one big mat.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
That was our lunch. And you'd get on the bus,
they'd hand hand you your sandwiches. Here you go, And
that's what we ate.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
That was. That was the NFL. It was it's a
far side different.
Speaker 3 (07:44):
Do you remember when we played in Milwaukee and the
the fifteen dollars hot dog Ezra Johnson.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
Yeah, yeah, I do remember that. The fine he.
Speaker 3 (07:55):
Got a fan to go up in the stands again.
All of a sudden, bar Star was head coach time
turned rout, looks and sees him eating the hot dog
and find it fifteen bucks and that was a lot
of money at that time.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
Absolutely, you know, during that game, and I think it's
that game. We have to fact check all this stuff.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
I'm sure because we're old and we don't really remember.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
But when when I got onto the field, they had
an NFL rule that when you walked up to the
line of scrimmage, you if the crowd was noisy, you
would put your hands up and turn around and look
at mister official and he would either point you back,
no it's not loud enough, make sure you get the playoff,
(08:39):
or he'll stop the play. Well, they stopped the play
for me, and I went to Jack Ptera and Howard
mud and they said, do not under any circumstance snap
the ball. And so I go up there, and you know,
when you stop a play, the crowd just loves it. Sure,
and they weren't going to give them a penalty, so
(09:02):
I just kept turning to mister official. We stopped the game,
And think about this, We stopped the game for twenty minutes. Yeah,
and we sat there and what what Jack and Howard
wanted to prove was you can't have that rule. That
rule is impossible for TV. So eventually mister official said,
(09:23):
would you please, would you please snap the ball?
Speaker 3 (09:26):
You know I think that I think you playing to catch.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
So finally I did. I just said, hey, guys, we're
in the huddle. I said, listen, I'm going to snap
the ball this time. We're going to get on with this.
And when I came to the sideline, I got ripped
by both Jack and Howard. And Howard would never forget it,
you know, I mean, he just always reminded me, remember,
you know you messed you messed things up in the
(09:52):
Green Bay games.
Speaker 3 (09:53):
And uh.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
But but they did away with that rule as quickly
as it came in.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
Sure I remember it. Oh yeah, as the broadcast asked
her when the Raiders came to town and Mark Wilson
I think was the quarterback, and he stepped under center
and it just got loud and he turned around. And
eventually the officials threatened to penalize the home team basically
because of the fans. That only made the fans and
they went in nuts at the Kingdom, it got even louder. So, Yeah,
(10:20):
that was a stupid rule that the NFL tried to
tried to put in there.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
And Howard Mud would say he was the kind of
the godfather, if you will, the grandfather of the silent
count He's the one that kind of created no no noise.
You either slapping, slapping your center or if you're in
the gun, maybe a guard is telling the center he's tappening,
somebody's letting him know that the quarterback's ready to get
(10:46):
the get the ball.
Speaker 3 (10:47):
In fact, Sports illustrated it a real nice piece on
Howard Mud and the beginning of the silent snap County.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
And we should let those who are listening know that
Howard Mud was are offensive line coach, but he was
so much more than that. Uh he and in years
past and years later after the after we all stopped playing, obviously,
uh he became a great, dear friend to all of
us and a terrific coach. I mean, he very much
sought after offensive line coach around the league. Unfortunately, he
(11:18):
passed away a couple of years ago, Sam Right, a
motorcycle accident. But he was just a gem and I
know he you guys you two especially were very very close.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
He's talking because ye, because he didn't know what we
did together.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
But yeah, he's talking.
Speaker 3 (11:36):
Well, we did because Howard, you know, had all the
success with Peyton Manning and things of that nature. And
as you said, he was highly coveted because of his
knowledge and his approach to the game. Instead of the
drop back, you know, the kickstep for the tackles, he
(11:59):
treated everything as play action and we would talk philosophy
and things of that nature. And so, I mean, he
didn't know what he wanted to do. You know how,
It's not just players that kind of flounder when you
don't have any direction after you've done something for forty
six years and then all of a sudden, now what
am I going to do? I don't have a clue.
(12:19):
And so I talked him into you know, at the time,
I was coaching youth football and they'd have coaching clinics
and things of that nature. I said, why don't you
do a coaching clinic? So I put a helped him
put a PowerPoint presentation together with video and everything, and
it was called the Mud Method. And so then he
(12:40):
started speaking and that kind of gave him a sense
of direction, and then he was helping out high schools.
He'd help any line coach out that he could because
of the fact that he was so passionate about his
technique of instead of passive aggressive passive as they as
through past blocking, his was aggressive, go get him and
(13:02):
set and then get him again, so that that buys
your quarterback more time as well.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
So yeah, visualize raves if you will. Most most o
line coaches described the pocket as a cup. Right, the
tackles dropped, they kick step at least two.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
Maybe three times before they engage.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
Well, his his theory in pass protection was to build
a dish. So he wanted to build the tackles a
little flatter and be a little tougher inside so that
the QB felt like he had room. And I got that.
I mean he he coached for me in a couple
of All Star Games. Sam, you were part of that too,
(13:43):
some college and Star games in Tampa.
Speaker 3 (13:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
Anyway, so he built the dish. So Sam's exactly right,
it was. And I spent hours with him discussing all
this stuff, writing all the notes down. I got all
the notes, and he would say pass protection aggressive, aggressive,
pass passive, and then in run the run game, he'd
say passive, passive, aggressive, aggressive because he was a big
(14:07):
zone blocker, and uh he so he would take steps
because it was area blocking more than man blocking in
the zone game. And uh you know, it was all
about double teaming and getting up towards towards a new
line of scrimmage. But before you would be knock somebody down,
(14:28):
you would be passive to see where they were going,
and you'd try to stay on that line.
Speaker 3 (14:32):
Could take him where they want to go?
Speaker 2 (14:34):
Yeah, yeah, I've heard that before. Yeah that could could he?
Could he turn uh any tackle into his kind of tackle?
In other words? Was it more about technique and teaching
and coaching as opposed to just flat out physical ability?
I mean, you know, nobody's going to doubt Walter Jones
had was one of the most physically gifted offensive tackles
(14:56):
to ever play the game. Here, could could Howard have met?
Speaker 3 (15:00):
That's what Howard said too.
Speaker 2 (15:01):
Yeah, exactly could Howard?
Speaker 3 (15:03):
Though?
Speaker 2 (15:03):
Could he teach even a middling sort of tackle to
be successful in his style? Well, yes, you go ahead.
Speaker 3 (15:13):
I was just going to say he could. He could
make an average tackle better, but he couldn't make an
average tackle great, so he could be a serviceable player,
not a liability to the offensive line as you saw
evidenced in the New York Giants game recently.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
And you had to be a part of You had
to be there every day with him because he would
be relentless. He would not let let it go that
you were trying your own technique. He was teaching you.
No I said a six inch step. No, I said
a six inch step. And it had to be it
had to be right. And so he was a technician,
you know, in all of his coaching that he did.
(15:53):
And he remember he wasn't just coaching tackles, although that
is super important. He was coaching guards and centers, and
you know, he just he made it evident that it
was going to be his way.
Speaker 3 (16:08):
And it's so funny you say that, see because of
the fact that nowadays the staff is they have one
coach per player. So I coached the right guards, and
you coach the left guards, and then Billy Bob coaches
the right tackle and so hey, Sam, I mean you
look at you look at our team pictures, and it's
so awesome because there were seven coaches that we had. Yeah,
(16:34):
and and so you go Okay, get three on offense,
three on defense, and then you have the head coach,
and now you have a row of players and a
roll of white shirts, and then a row of players
and other roll of white shirts, and then a role players,
And so you're going, who are all these people?
Speaker 2 (16:52):
Much more specialized?
Speaker 1 (16:54):
I was talking to somebody earlier in the office, and
see he had mentioned that there were originally about eight
two people inside the building, you know, with all the
different responsibilities. And I think he said, the Seahawks today
have over four hundred in the buildings doing different different
(17:14):
aspects of the game and marketing and things of that nature. So, Uh,
the NFL has grown, and the Seahawks are one of
the best best products that.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
Are in the in certainly one of the certainly one
of the best run, if not the best run organization. Sam,
you and I I've made jokes at banquets for the
last forty years that you and I were on the
sideline so much we were made honorary seagals. Uh, what
was what it was? Your experience? Like what you know,
you didn't get in as much as you would like
(17:46):
to have played. You had a great college career. None
of us well maybe, with the exception of Jim and
Steve played as much as they wanted to play. But
what do you remember about those days? How much how
much fun was it? How much work was it? Uh?
What do you what do you remember?
Speaker 3 (18:00):
Well, it's the fun is indescribable because of the camaraderie
and the friendships, and I think because of the Jack
Paterra era. Every time you have functions, the majority of
the people that show for the alumni functions are from
the Jack Buttera era. You're now starting to get a
few more people that are younger and younger, but it's
(18:23):
always dominated by the guys that bonded over in Genie Washington.
But as far as the work goes, it was a
lot of work because number one, Jerry was a great
teacher and you look at the people that have had
success that were under him because he taught you why
(18:43):
you did what you did. He just didn't tell you
what to do. He told you why you were doing
what you did, so you had a greater depth of
understanding and that helped you know in so many things
in life and in coaching and everything else that I did.
I always taught that way so that people knew it
wasn't just because I said so, it was here's why
we're doing that. What do you think is that is?
(19:05):
Do you have a better way? No, that's terrible, do
it my way. So but they would sit there and
with Jerry it was a lot of work, and we
would have our tests and stuff, and Jim and I
would be in the very high nineties and Mudbone, Dave
Craig would would I'd be in tears. Look, my paper
was bleeding in the fifties.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
By the way, Jerry Rome was our offensive coordinator in
our later years, but our quarterbacks receivers coach. So that's
that's what we're talking about.
Speaker 3 (19:36):
Jerry. Yep.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
Sam Steve mentioned that you were the only number twelve
in the history of the Seahawks. You want to tell
the story about.
Speaker 3 (19:47):
I would love to tell this story because we're playing
in San Diego and there was a poll that came out,
who is the most popular player in the NFL? Who
do people like to watch come to the stadium to watch?
What's your favorite opponent? And mister Zorn won that contest.
(20:09):
So good old number ten. Well, in those days, we
didn't have that. We had we had twenty. We didn't
have twenty jerseys in the storage tank or the trunk,
so we only had two jerseys. Well, with Jim being
so popular, someone had stolen his backup jersey. We're playing
the San Diego Charters and Jim Jersey gets ripped to shreds.
(20:33):
So the official goes, hey, Jim, you got to get
a new jersey. So he comes to sideline and Tim
Ryan was the equipment guy. He runs over the trunk
and there's no backup number ten. So they turned, they
look and they go, Sam, give him your jersey. So
I give him my jersey.
Speaker 1 (20:55):
Second half, they took his name jersey.
Speaker 3 (20:59):
Then they he plays the second half at number twelve.
The next week, we're playing the Houston Oilers. We're blowing
them out, so I get in the game and I'm
throwing the ball. In fact, I think I threw a
TD to Largent. And then the next week is the
first Monday night game in Seahawk history, and you and
(21:20):
I were talking on the field and Glandville comes over
and he says, hey, Ankins, are my coach me or not?
They said they got you on film throwing left hand,
and they got you on film throwing right handed, And
I said, yeah, I said, it depends on who your
best pass rusher is. I want to see the summer's coming.
He goes, no, heit Me, turns and walks away.
Speaker 2 (21:43):
You're taking his head.
Speaker 3 (21:44):
So Jim wore twelve for a half, so I.
Speaker 2 (21:48):
Did, okay, But officially, oh yeah, you were the only one.
He is number twelve. Yes, that's right.
Speaker 3 (21:54):
I was the only one issued number twelve.
Speaker 2 (21:56):
That's Jerry Lamble, by the way. Footnote, coach of the
Falcons coached at Houston, was the guy who recruited me
to go to Georgia Tech. He was a linebacker coach
at Georgia Tech at the time. And so I was
a high school senior in Louisville, Kentucky, at Trinity High School,
and he would come into town and he was recruiting
like five of us guys. All of us played at
(22:18):
the all boys Catholic high schools because that was the
best football in the city. And and he got four
of us out of that class to go to Georgia Tech.
And he used to take us to the best steakhouse
in the city when he'd come to town and came on, boys,
let's go get some groceries and we go, we go
eat a state about the size of the table that
Jim and I are sitting at right now, And it
(22:41):
was you know, it was just really cool. And then
you know, as soon as they signed you, as we
all know, when you sign a letter for intent, then
it's you know, what have you done for me lately?
Speaker 3 (22:50):
Maybe you look cricket.
Speaker 2 (22:52):
That's exactly right. They did their job. Now you got
to go out and do years. Oh maybe you look skinny.
What did you did you do nothing during the off season? Oh,
you look off? So that was that was he treated
you after the fact.
Speaker 1 (23:04):
Hey, Sam, did you play after the Seahawk stint? Did
you go somewhere else?
Speaker 3 (23:11):
No? Actually I went to the USFL and then said
I'm not doing this and then came home because Dale
was pregnant with our second child, Whitney, and I said, yeah,
I don't want her to be in Detroit, Michigan. So
that's where I But I didn't. I didn't go anywhere
(23:31):
else in the NFL.
Speaker 2 (23:32):
Didn't Jerry at one time? Jerry Rome once again, because
he was either in line to get a head coaching
job someplace. Didn't he talk to you Sam at one
time about coming.
Speaker 3 (23:40):
To Yeah, he wanted me to be his offensive coordinator. Yeah,
and I said, well I could. Yeah, I think about it.
You know, if you get the job, I'll do because
Tulsa was going to get a USFL franchise, and so
I said, yeah, I said, and then I come there
and then I come home. You off, No, No, you
don't understand. When you're coaching your full time, there is
(24:02):
no off season, so you'd have to move your family
and stuff there. And I remember Andy McDonald saying, son,
don't get into coaching. And if you do, and you
buy a wall to wall carpeting, don't tack it down
because you need to roll it up and take it
with you.
Speaker 2 (24:16):
Remember those words. And yeah, So you decided that after
the playing days that it was time to find a
real job, and you ended up being sam as successful
as anybody I can think of from our era. And
we've had a lot of guys, we've all done pretty well,
I think. But you started your own construction company, and
holy smokes, you've you've just done great, great guns over
(24:39):
the years.
Speaker 3 (24:41):
Well yeah, but I did a different job every off season.
Like you said, we had to work, and so I
worked in a restaurant trying to learn that and then
I sold cars for two weeks and absolutely hated that.
I mean, you sit there with a lot of people
all day, Yeah, and you just sit there and you
just try to fleece people. And I said, yeah, this
(25:01):
isn't for me. I can't do this. And so and
then I did travel agencies, and I had I had
owned a couple of travel agencies while we were playing.
And then I did insurance, and then did got recruited
for commercial finance. So then I was financing McDonald's restaurants,
(25:22):
covering half the US. But I was gone every other
week for a week at a time, and with four
kids at home, it just got to be a bit much.
And so that's when I said, Okay, I'm gonna start construction.
McDonald's was looking for a contractor, and so I said, yeah,
I'll do that. And so that's how how I got
(25:44):
into the construction. But I was third generation. My grandpa
was contractor in Virginia and my dad was contractor in
LA and I was trying to avoid it, but I didn't.
And now my son Ryan is a contractor, so he's
fourth generation.
Speaker 2 (25:58):
But you're still quite retired.
Speaker 3 (26:01):
Oh no, I'm fully retired. Yeah, Ryan, fired.
Speaker 2 (26:04):
Me that just as the business and and Jim, when
you stopped playing, you pretty much got right into coaching
after that, do you want right into college?
Speaker 1 (26:14):
I tried to figure out what I wanted to do next,
and so I took a year and did some searching
on you know, what would I what was I going
to be good at? And one of the issues I
always wanted to coach, and uh, I got you know,
I came in and I think I told you about
going into uh Chuck Knox and him saying, no, you
(26:37):
can't be on our staff. Get to the highest level.
And then I had the opportunity to go to Boise
State my very first coaching stint, if you will.
Speaker 2 (26:46):
I was there for three years.
Speaker 1 (26:48):
That was a skip, and uh, then I went to
Utah State University with Charlie Weatherby and then and then
I went to the Whack Attack Jim Whacker in Minnesota,
and then I started. I came here with Dennis Ericson
and Howard Mudd for one season, then went to Detroit
and then then came back here like Mike for seven
(27:09):
years and beyond.
Speaker 2 (27:10):
So Sam some of those recollections of those years, especially
in seventy eight seventy nine when we you know, really
started to knock at the door, and we have kind
of had a zoom now that us old guys have
figured out how to get zoom on our computers. Nick
be about one of our great offensive linemen from back
(27:32):
in the day, and others have put together these zoom
calls where we have ten or fifteen of us on
there talking about things. Those were some great personalities. But
aside from that, we played some pretty decent football during
those years.
Speaker 3 (27:46):
Well we were we had the back to back nine
and seven seasons and Jack Petera was a NFL Coach
of the Year, and you know, it was it was
really fun talking to Jack after you know, we were
all old and feeble and he had been out of
(28:08):
the league and go to his house for those picnics
and to hear the stories and then to hear the
real truth about what went on back in the day
and those sort of things. But yeah, it was But
at that point, you know, it was interesting because I
never forget one thing that he said that he had
mentioned that the piece of advice that Bud Grant gave him.
(28:28):
Because Jack came to Seattle as the head coach from
the Minnesota Vikings, and Jack is probably the greatest defensive
line coach in the history of the NFL, coaching the
Purple People, Eider and the Fearsome Forsome. But Bud's coaching
point to him was don't win too soon because you
(28:52):
can't look back. And so Jack was trying to slow
walk it. But we we didn't get the memo so well.
Speaker 1 (29:01):
They developed Jerry and Jerry Howard really they all developed
the sprint draw series, right, and that's that really became
innovative for us because I could throw on the run
left and right, and we had play action off of it.
We had Sherman Smith in the backfield and it. You know,
(29:25):
David Simms was a big part of that as well,
and his career was short short doing an injury. But
we were starting to really motor, we really were.
Speaker 2 (29:33):
And and Jack was a you know, even though he
was a defensive coach, and I think his thinking certainly
was when they were building this team. You know, our
first ever draft choice was Steve Kneehouse, defensive tackle, two
time All American out of Notre Dame, and it didn't
quite work out for him because of injuries. I mean,
he literally couldn't. To this day, he can't lift his
arm over his head because of the shoulder injury that
(29:54):
he sustained.
Speaker 3 (29:55):
And it was never That's why his hair always looks
like it did.
Speaker 2 (29:59):
That's exactly, that's exactly. Yeah, God bless him too. I
saw I haven't seen House for a while. In fact,
he's in Cincinnati. Maybe we'll maybe we'll give him a
call and see if you see what he's doing. But
he a few years ago. I saw him. He look
like nine miles of bad road then, so I can
imagine that. But he looks like now. But a wonderful
kid and a great guy. But you know, we started
(30:21):
to build that defense, so you build it around guys
like House, and I don't remember we had Sammy Green
as one of our outside backers, and then they get
Terry Beeson put him in the middle, and then some
of the other guys that John Harris is in the secondary,
and then when Kenny easily came on board. I just
remember us. Remember we used to get to camp as
the veterans. We'd come in a few days after the rookies, right,
(30:41):
so we'd all drive over and once you've been around
for a little while, you've been through a couple of camps.
Now you're kind of you got your chest puffed out
a little bit. You feel like I'm a veteran. And
so we're watching all the young guys out there, the
free agents and the rookies out on the practice field
in Cheeney, and I'll never forget we're standing there. I
think McCullum and I are standing there, maybe a couple others.
We're watching them, and they're they're doing like seven on
(31:03):
seven or something, and quarterback drops back. You did you
go in early? Jim by the way we always so,
I was just gonna say we had to go in. Yeah,
Happily for me, I didn't have to. But here here
is some whoever was one of the quarterbacks. One of
you guys throws a deep ball and or play fake
and easily starts to bite on the play fake, and
(31:25):
I thought, oh, you know, here's this high round, number
one draft choice and we're just gonna burn his butt
right here. And as soon as he planted his foot,
he turned and ran and made the interception deep down
the middle, and I thought, oh my god, this guy's
for real. And he really was until his body gave
out on him too, But what a what an amazing
player he was.
Speaker 1 (31:44):
He was an amazing player, and he was immediate. He
has his vision was great and he anticipated what what
was happening. He could see what was happening. Uh, I think, uh,
you know, there's a few players on that defense intoday's game,
on our team that can Wagner does the same thing,
and he can see it and he immediately works up
(32:05):
the up the field or back and he pauses when
he needs to because he doesn't buy it. Yeah, you know,
you have to be a good you have to be
good on that. On the other side, to fool those kinds.
Speaker 3 (32:16):
Of players, you have to sell it hard, you know. Yeah,
And you know, circling back to Howard Mudd and his
technique was it was also very difficult for linebackers because
everything looked like play action or everything looked like run
is what he was trying to sell all the time,
so that they, you know, it kept the linebackers just
(32:37):
that one step, because that's all you need in the
NFL is one step.
Speaker 2 (32:41):
Sam, we got about a minute or so left. Your
your your fondest memory and it doesn't have to be
playing either, but your fondest memory of being a part
of the Seahawks all the and all these years because
you have been You've been around ever since day.
Speaker 3 (32:54):
One, forty years. Yeah, yeah, I've been. I was associated
with him for forty years, and the hoest was just
the I mean, you can't pick out one. It's just
the association because of the class of the organization, you know,
because you can say with pride, you know that I
was part of the Seahawks, which is as you started
out earlier saying, one of the best franchises in the NFL.
(33:16):
And you know, Chuck Arnold has continued that tradition and
keeping everything very held in very high regard. So it's
just you know, and the friendships that we've developed and
to be able to stay in contact. Next week, I'm
going to see Peter Cronin and Tommy Lynch in New Hampshire,
(33:37):
So it's going to be lots and lots of fun,
lots of good stories. Mule.
Speaker 1 (33:42):
I think I think Steve asked you that question because
he was fishing for your best memory being roommate with you, Steve,
you know, and just doing all well.
Speaker 3 (33:52):
I could tell you a few stories, you know, like
the time that we had thanks everybody.
Speaker 2 (33:56):
I'm really glad that you all listened in here today. Sorry,
and we're seem to have some disconnect here on the again.
Yes are hey, thanks for being here a mule all.
Speaker 3 (34:09):
Right, thanks guys for having me rooms.
Speaker 2 (34:12):
Thanks and uh, you know if they if we get
a second life in doing this, we'll circle back and
tell some more stories.
Speaker 3 (34:19):
All right, that's great, Love you guys, I.
Speaker 2 (34:22):
Love you, bud ze Man. We've done it yet again.
We've fooled people for another half hour, forty minutes. It
was hilarious, well it was. It filled the time. So
thanks to all of you folks out there for listening in.
We appreciate it. If, if, and when you hear these,
send a little note along and say, hey, here's a
question I got for Jim or for Steve or whoever else.
(34:44):
We we're going to have coach homegren on in the
very near future. Matthew is going to join us one
of these days, and then we're gonna go back and
get some of those offensive linemen we talked about. So
great to have all of you with us on Seahawks stories.
We'll talk to you next time.
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