Tag: Steve Hutchinson

Steve Hutchinson helped convince Seahawks to pick Christian Haynes

Steve Hutchinson helped convince Seahawks to pick Christian Haynes

Here is story that is a pleasant little blast from the past, of sorts.

The Seattle Seahawks focused their draft almost exclusively on building up both their offensive and defensive fronts. Their first pick was defensive tackle Byron Murphy, and essentially their second round pick was Leonard Williams. When it came time for their third round pick, they decided to beef up their interior offensive line.

Seattle managed to get one of the best guards available in Christian Haynes, but it was a bit of a process. Having such a long wait between picks can be an eternity in the NFL. It takes patience and a little bit of luck, but it also takes some consulting.

When it came to Haynes, general manager John Schneider got some key advice from an old friend in the form of Steve Hutchinson, per John Boyle at Seahawks.com:

“The Cowboys take Kansas State’s Cooper Beebe with the 73rd pick, one of the two interior linemen still high on Seattle’s board, meaning it’s going to be a long, nervous wait to see if the Seahawks are going to get Christian Haynes. In the back of the room, Hall of Fame guard Steve Hutchinson, who works for the team as a football consultant, a role that consists largely of helping evaluate offensive linemen, quietly chats with Schneider. In particular, Schneider wants Hutch’s opinion on Haynes. I think he’s going to be a really good (expletive) player,” Hutchinson tells Schneider…”

Hutchinson was originally a first round draft choice by the Seahawks all the way back in 2001, and was a stalwart along their offensive line for years. Paired with Walter Jones, Hutchinson helped create the best offensive line Seattle has ever seen, and it paved the way for Shaun Alexander’s 2005 MVP campaign.

Hutchinson would go on to play with the Minnesota Vikings and the Tennessee Titans, before retiring in 2013 and eventually being elevated to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Now, he is back in the fold with the Seahawks.

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Three former Vikings named to 2024 College Football Hall of Fame class

Randy Moss, Toby Gerhart, and Steve Hutchinson were among the 22 players announced Monday to the 2024 College Football Hall of Fame class.

The National Football Foundation has announced their class for the 2024 College Football Hall of Fame, and the list includes three former Minnesota Vikings among the new enshrinees: Randy Moss, Steve Hutchinson and Toby Gerhart.

Those three will join 19 others to fill out the 2024 class of 24, who will officially be inducted on December 10th in a ceremony in Las Vegas. Moss, Hutchinson, and Gerhart are joined in the class by the likes of Justin Blackmon, Warrick Dunn, Larry Fitzgerald, and many more.

Moss, who started his college career at Florida State before transferring to Marshall, put up over 3500 yards and 54 touchdowns receiving, with another touchdown rushing in his two seasons before being taken in the first round by Minnesota in the 1998 NFL draft.

Toby Gerhart amassed over 3500 yards on the ground and scored 44 touchdowns in his four seasons with the Stanford Cardinal before being taken in the second round of the 2010 NFL draft, and Steve Hutchinson won a National Championship with the Michigan Wolverines before a 6-year stint with the Vikings from 2006-2011.

76 days until Vikings season opener: Every player to wear No. 76

As we eye the start of the Minnesota Vikings season, we take a look at every player to wear No. 76 for the Vikings.

It’s the final countdown…

Well, sort of.

The Minnesota Vikings will kick off their 2023 regular season in 76 days at home against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sept. 10.

From now until then, we will take a trip down memory lane and count each day by revisiting the players that have worn that specific jersey number.

T.Y. McGill and Jaylen Twyman wore the number most recently, but the number is known for Steve Hutchinson and Tim Irwin, who both wore the number for an extended period.

With 76 days until kickoff, here’s a look at every player to wear No. 76 with the Vikings (via Pro Football Reference):

Chiefs RG Trey Smith had another Hall of Fame mentor at OL Masterminds

#Chiefs RG Trey Smith focused on a few things at this year’s OL Masterminds Summit and received help from Hall of Fame OG Steve Hutchinson. | from @EdEastonJr

The Kansas City Chiefs’ much improved offensive line starred rookies Creed Humphrey and Trey Smith last season. The latter of the two dropped to the sixth round of the 2021 NFL draft due to health concerns, but he quickly alleviated those concerns to become a core player on the team.

Smith earned PFWA All-Rookie Team honors for his exceptional performance last season, starting all 17 games on the revamped offensive line. The 6-6, 330-pound right guard seemed unfazed at the opportunity to start every week on a championship contending team. Part of that success seemed to come with working to perfect his craft by attending events such as the annual OL Masterminds Summit.

The former Tennessee Volunteers star again attended this year’s summit with a focus on improving some key areas of his game.

“Yeah, I would say my biggest focuses were eyes, hands,” Smith told reporters on Wednesday. “And then, pretty much just body positioning and body control.”

Smith was already spotted learning from Hall of Fame OT Willie Roaf, but he also revealed that he had another mentor while he was at this year’s event.

“One guy that I was leaning on a lot was Steve Hutchinson,” said Smith. “He’s a great jump setter and that’s something that I try to take to my game and apply it. I knew him a little bit before the draft process a little bit just talking to him. Just watching him in action, watching him take reps, what he thinks about his mental processing before the play. I thought it was pretty helpful to take to my game and apply it cause he’s one of the best to ever do it.”

Hutchinson was a seven-time Pro Bowl guard, spending 11 seasons in the NFL. He was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame back in 2020. Smith is only 23 years old, with plenty of potential for growth in his game. Fans should come to expect it as he continues to learn from all-time great players.

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Seahawks Legend Steve Hutchinson enshrined into Pro Football Hall of Fame

Former Seattle Seahawks guard, Steve Hutchinson, was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame with the Class of 2020 on Saturday night.

Seattle Seahawks Legend Steve Hutchinson was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio on Saturday night. Hutchinson joined the other members of the 2020 class, whose induction ceremony was canceled last season as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

Hutchinson, one of the greatest guards of his time, spent 12 years in the National Football League. He was originally selected by Seattle in the first round of the 2001 NFL draft out of Michigan. Hutchinson spent five seasons with the Seahawks before playing the next six for the Vikings. He retired in 2013 after just one year with the Titans.

Hutchinson was named to the Pro Bowl seven times, the AP’s First Team All-Pro five times and the Second Team All-Pro twice.

In March of 2020, Hutchinson joined the Seahawks front office staff as a football consultant.

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If Vikings beat Saints in 2009, Steve Hutchinson thinks Minnesota would have won it all

Former Vikings guard Steve Hutchinson thinks that if the Saints game went differently, Minnesota would have gone on to win the Super Bowl.

Former Vikings guard Steve Hutchinson had a Hall-of-Fame NFL career, but he never did win a Super Bowl.

Hutchinson and Minnesota came close in 2009, before the Saints defeated the Vikings in the NFC Championship. Hutchinson recently told Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press that if the Vikings had won that game, the team would have gone on to win it all.

“We felt strongly enough that if we were able to make it on to the Super Bowl there was no doubt that we would have won that game (over Indianapolis),” Hutchinson told Tomasson.

Instead, New Orleans won and went on to defeat Indianapolis. The Vikings fan base has seen plenty of heartbreak over the years, but that one still stings for quite a few people.

Will Steve Hutchinson be inducted into another Hall of Fame in 2021?

Former Seattle Seahawks guard Steve Hutchinson was a great college player, and deserves enshrinement into the College Football Hall of Fame.

It took longer than it probably should have, but former Seattle Seahawks guard Steve Hutchinson finally heard his name called for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in the class of 2020.

However, Hutch could make it two years in a row getting inducted into a Hall of Fame, as he is one of eight players with ties to the Seattle Seahawks who is on the 99-player ballot for the College Football Hall of Fame Class of 2021.

Hutchinson initially joined the Seahawks as the 17th overall pick in the 2001 NFL Draft out of the University of Michigan.

While there, Hutch earned a ton of accolades; which included being named a unanimous first team All-American in 2000, and being one of just seven players in conference history to be named first-team All-Big Ten four times.

Hutch also helped lead the Wolverines to four Bowl victories, including a National Championship win in the 1997 Rose Bowl – his freshman season.

Hutchinson finally earned his enshrinement into the Pro Hall of Fame, and now it is time for the College Football Hall of Fame to follow suit and acknowledge that one of the best guards to ever play the game in the NFL was just as elite, if not moreso, at the collegiate level.

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8 Seahawks among nominees for College Football Hall of Fame

Ken Norton, Jr. and a bevy of Seahawks, including Steve Hutchinson and Bobby Engram, are eligible for the College Football Hall of Fame.

The nominees for the College Football Hall of Fame Class of 2021 have been announced, with 99 Division 1 football players – including seven former Seattle Seahawks and one current coach – all on the ballot.

Defensive coordinator Ken Norton, Jr., who played his college ball at UCLA, is on the ballot, along with seven former Seattle players: receiver Bobby Engram, defensive end Dwight Freeney, guard Robert Gallery, receiver Mike Hass, guard Steve Hutchinson, kicker Sebastian Janikowski and running back C.J. Spiller.

Engram starred for the Seahawks from 2001-2008, hauling in 399 receptions for 4,859 yards and 18 touchdowns, making him among the most prolific receivers in franchise history. He played his college ball at Penn State and won the Biletnikoff Award as the nation’s best receiver in 1994.

Freeney was a seven time Pro Bowl defensive end who finished his prolific NFL career with 125.5 career sacks, good for 18th all time. He finished his career with the Seahawks in 2017, appearing in four games and totaling three sacks and a pass defended. He starred at Syracuse and remains the NCAA leader in sacks per game, at 1.61.

Gallery concluded his eight-year NFL career by starting 12 games at left guard for the Seahawks in 2011. While at Iowa, Gallery was a first team All-American and winner of the Outland Trophy in 2003, awarded to the nation’s best interior offensive lineman.

Despite winning the Biletnikoff Award in 2005 as a member of the Oregon State Beavers, Hass only appeared in two games in his NFL career. One of them was with the Seahawks in 2009.

Hutchinson is already a Pro Football Hall of Famer, having gained induction in 2020. He starred at left guard for the Seahawks from 2001-2005, making three Pro Bowls in that time. He was an excellent guard in college at Michigan as well, earning All-American honors in 2000.

Perhaps the only time a first round kicker has paid off, the Raiders selected Janikowski in 2000 and he went on to kick for them for nearly two decades, finishing his career with the Seahawks in 2018. He was a two-time All-American and the only ever two-time winner of the Lou Groza Award, given to the nation’s best kicker, while at Florida State.

Finally, Spiller appeared in two games for the Seahawks in 2016, carrying the ball three times and hauling in five receptions for a touchdown. Spiller was a star running back and kick returner at Clemson, and his 7,588 all-purpose yards is fourth in NCAA history.

In order to be eligible, a player must have been a first team All-American and have been done playing college football for 10 full seasons.

The ballot has been sent to the National Football Foundation (NFF) board, who will deliberate and eventually announce the new inductees in early 2021.

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Two Wolverines make ballot for 2021 College Football Hall of Fame

Two Wolverines made the ballot for the 2021 class according to the National Football Foundation.

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Michigan currently has 24 inductees in the College Football Hall of Fame, but it’s looking to add two more to the 2021 class.

The names were released on Tuesday morning with two prominent former Wolverines on the ballot: recent NFL Hall of Fame inductee Steve Hutchinson and Mark Messner.

With the ballot being available for those with a vote until July 7, here’s what the National Football Foundation had to say about Hutchinson, via a sent press release:

Steve Hutchinson, Michigan-Offensive Lineman-2000 unanimous First Team All-American who led the Wolverines to four bowl wins, including the 1997 National Championship at the Rose Bowl…One of only seven players in conference history to be named a four-time First Team All-Big Ten selection…Three-time Big Ten champion.

And Messner:

Mark Messner, Michigan-Defensive Tackle-1988 unanimous First Team All-American who was a Lombardi Award finalist…1988 Big Ten Player of the Year and four-time First Team All-Big Ten selection…Led Wolverines to four bowl berths and named MVP of 1985 Fiesta Bowl.

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Full list of Michigan College Football Hall of Fame inductees:

  • Albert Benbrook
  • Dave Brown
  • Anthony Carter
  • Bob Chappuis
  • Tom Curtis
  • Dan Dierdorf
  • Pete Elliott
  • Benny Friedman
  • Tom Harmon
  • Desmond Howard
  • Ron Johnson
  • Harry Kipke
  • Ron Kramer
  • Rob Lytle
  • Jim Mandich
  • Reggie McKenzie
  • Harry Newman
  • Bennie Oosterbaan
  • Merv Pregulman
  • Germany Schultz
  • Neil Snow
  • Ernie Vick
  • Bob Westfall
  • Albert Wistert
  • Francis Wistert
  • Charles Woodson