MIKE HOLMGREN
By Marc Blau
Special to The Sports Paper
Former Seattle Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren and former Seahawks running back Curt Warner are among a class of eight voted into the State of Washington Sports Hall of Fame.
A second ex-Seahawks coach in this year’s class is Everett native Dennis Erickson, best-known nationally for his success at the college level that included two national championships at the University of Miami.
Other inductees are soccer goalkeeper Kasey Keller, Washington Husky running back Joe Steele, Olympic Gold Medal skier Debbie Armstrong, pro basketball star Byron Beck and sports publicist and administrator Gary Wright.
“This is a second consecutive class that is bigger than usual,” said Blau, executive director of the Hall of Fame. “The reason is simple – our statewide panel of voters felt that these inductees belong in the Hall and belong in it right now.”
Holmgren coached the Seahawks from 1999-2008 and won five division titles and the 2005 NFC championship that put Seattle in the Super Bowl for the first time. Holmgren earlier won the 1996 Super Bowl as coach of the Green Bay Packers.
Warner was an All-American at Penn State on the 1982 national championship team and then played seven years for the Seahawks. He was a three-time Pro Bowl selection. Warner had a 60-yard gain on his first play as a Seahawk and led the American Football Conference in rushing as a rookie. He is a member of the Seahawks Ring of Honor.
Erickson was born to coach. The Everett High School graduate won two national championships at the University of Miami (the second shared in 1991 with Washington) and was coach of the year at three Pac-12 schools – Washington State, Oregon State and Arizona State. In addition to coaching the Seahawks from 1995-1998, he later coached the San Francisco 49ers 2003-2004. Erickson spent the past four seasons as an assistant at Utah.
Kasey Keller is a graduate of North Thurston High School in Olympia and one of the most successful U.S. soccer players in history. He was on four World Cup teams and played in the English Premier League, the German Bundesliga, and in Spain’s La Liga. One German team made him its captain. Keller’s English teams were Millwall, Leicester City, Tottenham and Fulham. He finished his career with the Seattle Sounders. He has 102 caps for international-team competition. The goalkeeper played college soccer at the University of Portland.
Joe Steele is considered one the greatest Washington running backs of all-time. The graduate of Bishop Blanchet High School in Seattle set since-broken single season (1,111 yards) and career rushing (3,168 yards) records. He was a key member of the victorious 1978 Rose Bowl team that upset Michigan. Steele’s pro career was thwarted by knee injury suffered against UCLA.
Armstrong, who had been a multi-sport athlete at Garfield High School, was the upset winner in the giant slalom at the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo.
Beck is a 1963 graduate of tiny Kittitas High School outside Ellensburg. He played his college basketball for the University of Denver and was a Denver Nugget in the ABA and NBA for 10 seasons as a 6-foot-9 forward-center. The Nuggets retired his number after a career that saw him score 8,603 points and grab 5,261 rebounds.
Wright is so well-regarded that the press box at CenturyLink Field is named the Gary Wright Press Box. Wright was a key member of the Seahawks organization for 32 years before becoming a senior vice-president with the Seattle Sounders in 2008. He still serves as a consultant to the soccer team.
Keller and Gary Wright will be honored on August 20th at the Seattle Sounder FC game against Minnesota United FC, Dennis Erickson will be recognized at the Washington State Cougars home opener on Sept. 2 against Montana State, and Curt Warner, Mike Holmgren, Debbie Armstrong, Joe Steele and Bryon Beck will be inducted on July 25 at Safeco Field prior to the Boston Red Sox-Seattle Mariners game.
