Mack Strong in the headlines...

Mack Strong is a faithful member of the Seattle Church of Christ. It is a blessing to see how God is using his life to inspire many.

Read more about Mack Strong on the Seattle Seahawks' website's Strong Report. Mack discusses his family and community involvement.

Hawks' Strong great on field, even better off it

DAVE BOLING; THE NEWS TRIBUNE
Published: September 29th, 2005 12:01 AM

KIRKLAND - After the predictable comments about Mack Strong's toughness and durability, and a few jokes about his advanced age, Seattle Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren provided a depth of insight rarely heard in typical news-conference commentary.

"He's made my coaching life richer, I know that," Holmgren said of Strong. "He's a good man."

For context: This is a coach who has been in the whistle-and-clipboard business 34 years, and in 14 NFL seasons has guided Hall of Famers and Super Bowl winners.

Yet when asked about Strong's talents as a fullback, he informs the gathered media that his life has been enriched by knowing him.

That's the kind of tribute from a boss that spiffs up the annual performance evaluation.

NFL teams don't have the luxury of keeping good guys on the roster just for their community presence and charitable nature, so we are obliged to examine for at least a moment the on-field production of Strong.

His 13-season tenure with the same team is surpassed in the NFL only by Brett Favre (14 seasons) in Green Bay and Jason Hanson (14) in Detroit.

Strong is not exactly what you'd call a 1,000-yard back, considering he has totaled 663 yards - in his career. That's 176 carries in 167 games. What he does, instead, is clear the way for the tailbacks to gain yards, and protect the quarterback so he can pass it to others.

And just about every year, he has to fend off the notion that he can be replaced. Joining the team as a free agent in 1993, Strong has played for three coaches (Tom Flores, Dennis Erickson and Holmgren), and lined up behind nine quarterbacks. He became a Seahawk in the year Rick Mirer was drafted and the team traded for Keith Millard.

Strong came into the league just two years after Mosi Tatupu retired, and is now on a roster with Mosi's son, Lofa.

"He's invaluable; he is an unsung hero of this team," Holmgren said. "To do what he does, you have to be a team player and unselfish. I've teased him about it . he's old. And people have been saying this is his last year for the last three years, but he works so hard to get in the best shape and keeps playing and playing at a high level."

For as much as coaches might love tough fullbacks, the paychecks are relatively skimpy and the players are frequently threatened with obsolescence. The Seahawks, for instance, have drafted four players to replace him: Reggie Brown (third round, 1996), Heath Evans (third round, '01), Chris Davis (fifth round, '03) and Tony Jackson (sixth round, '05).

They're all gone, but Strong abides.

"If anybody thinks it's simple or trivializes the position, he has no idea what it takes," Strong said of the fullback-phobic league. "No, of course they don't recognize the value of the fullbacks, that's why we are the second-worst-paid players on the team (trailing kickers). That's the way it is, but it really chaps my behind."

He also has strong feelings about how big signing bonuses and contracts have dulled the competitiveness of some young players these days.

But to restrict Strong to discussions of football issues is to view only one dimension of a person with estimable depth. After all, as good as Strong is at blocking, he hasn't exactly enriched people's lives with it.

Through his church, Strong and his wife, Zoe, have been active in a project called "Hope World Wide," which has contributed to causes from third-world AIDS programs to cleaning up local schoolyards. They've further assisted in fund-raising for Childhaven, an assistance vehicle for abused or neglected children.

Even more personally, the Strongs initiated "Our Team Works," which started as a tutoring aid for disadvantaged children at the Seattle Indian Center.

"About 4 years ago, my wife Zoe, who is half-Native American, started a tutoring program for kids who are kind of high risk," Strong said. "I've found that very rewarding. Initially, we wanted to have volunteers come in and help them with reading and homework and math skills, and it turned out to be an opportunity to grow into more of being big brothers and big sisters to kids who really needed it. We've tried to develop that relationship and rapport with kids who need an older person's influence in their lives."

Camille Monzon, executive director of the Seattle Indian Center, was more expansive regarding the involvement of the Strongs, whose nature is not to trumpet their contributions.

"Mack and Zoe both have worked with a lot of underprivileged kids and been very generous with their time," Monzon said. "They spend a lot of time tutoring these kids themselves, and we're talking about some very disadvantaged or abused kids all across the color spectrum.

"They're also very generous during the holidays, helping so many of the families. They do it so quietly, there's never a big fanfare; both of them are so down-to-earth, which I find so remarkable. All the things they do are about the kids and not about themselves."

As low-profile as he has been with his charitable acts, Strong has been recognized by his franchise and teammates as the 2004 Man of the Year, and a three-time winner of the Steve Largent Award for personal character.

He contends that he's the one who is grateful for the opportunity to help and be a part of young people's lives.

"You can just see it in their eyes," he said. "There is such a tremendous change in them. We don't come in and save the world, but in a short period of time, it's amazing the impact you can have on young children when they see that people really care about them. That's not something they always get, and it makes a big difference."

Dave Boling: 253-597-8440