As football fans, sometimes
we get so caught up in our teams and the players that we see everything from
a single point of view. For instance, when I hear the name Marcus Trufant, I
think of a young, talented Seahawks DB blanketing opposing players and making
plays for our defense. I see #23 making the crucial interception during the
must-win 49er game that ended our regular season in 2003. I see a helmet, pads,
and a numbered jersey, but a funny thing happened last weekend. I realized that
the jersey actually contains a person.
I was recently lucky enough
to be asked to contribute some of my time for a charity event put on by Marcus
Trufant and his family. The Trufant Family Foundation held a dinner celebration
at Marcus' alma mater, Wilson High School in Tacoma, on Saturday, April 17.
I realize now that my initial reaction was extremely selfish. I didn’t
say yes because of the charity, I said yes simply because I wanted to stand
close to that jersey, I wanted to brag to my friends that I hung out with the
same #23 that we all scream, cheer, and cry for every Sunday. After helping
set up some pre-event fixtures, I was introduced to Sandy, the Seahawk liaison
for the event. It was all I could do to try and contain my adrenaline rush as
she asked me to help the arriving players get parked in the VIP parking area,
and then stand at the autograph table and make sure the players and Seagals
had everything they needed. I was ecstatic.
But then something happened. The players began showing up and sitting down
at the autograph table prior to the event, and as I started talking with the
first two players to arrive, it began to dawn on me. These are not just a couple
of jerseys, in fact they weren’t wearing jerseys at all… these guys
were just normal people.
Needless to say, I was humbled. I spoke to Jerheme Urban about his off-season,
his hometown in Texas, and his thoughts on the coming season. I listened and
watched as Jerramy Stevens gave Marcus Trufant a hard time when a fan came through
the line wearing a Washington Huskies 2001 Rose bowl shirt. I talked to Chris Davis about his preseason last year, and the injury that cut such a promising
year short (he said he’s about 80% right now, but will be ready for training
camp BTW), I watched as Seneca Wallace gave a congratulatory handshake to a
12 year old boy that had won the football toss competition by throwing a football
through a tire 5 times in a row, and I watched as these larger-then-life players
clamored for the attention of a young cancer patient who’s eyes lit up
as the players stopped to pose for pictures and shake his hand.
Humbled? Hell yes. I felt small for volunteering for this event based on the
selfish reasons that had motivated me, but more than that, it was overwhelming
to see these players and Seagals, whom I had always thought were just pads,
jerseys, and helmets, now as people, unselfishly giving their time on a Saturday
night to a charity put on by one of their own.
We hear so much about the problems of the players off the field, and the banter
in the fan forums is filled with such topics, but it seems that we never hear
much about these types of events, or the people that put them on. Let this be
a shout out to those players and Seagals from one guy that feels like he gained
more from their efforts than even the organizations (The Local schools and the
Boys and Girls club) that we were there supporting. These players are good people
that happen to play a game that I love, and this is one fan that will now have
a different perspective on the people inside of those pads, helmets, and jerseys.
Props to Alex Bannister, Walter Bernard, Terreal Bierria, Chris Davis, Jerramy
Stevens, Jerheme Urban, Seneca Wallace, and Taco Wallace, as well as Seagals
Sarah, Kiara, Shelly & Kim, and of course the founder, Mr. Marcus Trufant
and his family.
Mark Olsen writes for
Seahawks.net. He’s also an admin (as "rockhawkx") for our Fan
Forums. Feel free to send Mark feedback at seahawk94@comcast.net.