Sadly, Seahawks say goodbye to Strong

By Chris Cluff  |   Wednesday, October 10, 2007  |  Comments( 1 )

Seattle Seahawks
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The Seattle Seahawks' 21-0 loss in Pittsburgh was certainly a low point in franchise history - just the 10th time they had been embarrassed like that. But that sad result was eclipsed just a day later by a much more sobering circumstance: the forced retirement of longtime fullback Mack Strong because of a neck injury.

Strong suffered a herniated disk in his neck that was pressuring his spinal cord, leading to numbness in his arms and legs after a collision against a Steeler on Sunday.

That injury did what six players could not do -- knock Strong out of the lineup.

"The decision has been made for me," he told reporters Monday. "I think you're always kind of in flux about when should I hang 'em up? When should I call it quits? It's a no-brainer."

For most of this decade, Strong was the silent heartbeat of the Seahawks - a hard worker at a mostly ignored position who got little notice until he was finally voted to the Pro Bowl the past two seasons.

Strong, 36, played 201 games for the Seahawks, second in team history to Joe Nash (218). Excluding kickers, only five active players have been in the league longer than Strong.

Certainly no one saw this career coming. Strong was undrafted out of Georgia in 1993 and spent his first year on the practice squad. He didn't turn into the team's starting fullback until 1997. But then he helped pave the way for 1,000-yard rushers in eight straight seasons, including Shaun Alexander's league-leading 1,880 yards in 2005.

Strong should have been voted to the Pro Bowl as early as 2001 and certainly in both 2003 and 2004 - when Alexander tallied 3,131 yards and scored 30 touchdowns. But the fullback finally got his due in 2005 and 2006.

He had to hold off a number of challengers for his position to do it. Heck, the team has been trying to push him into retirement since 1996, when it drafted Reggie Brown to replace him. Then it was Heath Evans (2001), Chris Davis (2003), Tony Jackson (2005) and David Kirtman (2006). Now Strong will be replaced, appropriately, by a fellow undrafted free agent: Leonard Weaver.

Strong is sure his protege will succeed, telling reporters, "I have the utmost confidence in Leonard Weaver. I think he's going to make people forget about Mack Strong around here. He's going to have that type of impact. He has that type of ability and that type of talent."

It is a typical comment from the guy who has long been one of the Seahawks' leaders. A team captain, Strong also was a five-time recipient of the Steve Largent Award - given to the player who best exemplifies the spirit, dedication and integrity of the Seahawks. Since the award was created in 1989, no one else had won it more than once.

During the 2005 season, Mike Holmgren lauded the fullback for all of his wonderful traits: "Mack Strong is about my favorite player of all time. The Mack Strongs of the world make it worth my while to coach and teach. He is unselfish. He has played 13 years, longer than anybody we have. He does all the dirty work. He is the lead blocker most every play for our halfback. He is a great man in the community. He is a great father and a wonderful family guy. ... I can't say enough about him."

And for all of those reasons, it is a sad week as the Seahawks say goodbye to one of their all-time great players.
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About Chris Cluff

Chris Cluff spent 10 years as an editor and sportswriter for The Seattle Times. He was a key figure in the newspaper's coverage of the Seahawks, particularly during their Super Bowl run in 2005. He also has written two books on the Seahawks: "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Heart-Pounding, ...
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