Steve Largent
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Steve Largent (born September 28, 1954 in Tulsa, Oklahoma) is a former football player who later entered politics, serving as a congressman from Oklahoma from 1994 until 2002.
After an All-American career at the University of Tulsa, Largent was selected in the fourth round of the 1976 NFL draft by the Houston Oilers. After four preseason games, he was initially slated to be cut, but instead he was traded to the expansion Seattle Seahawks for a 1977 eighth-round pick. Largent spent 14 years with the Seahawks, and was noted for his blinding speed. He was selected to the NFL Pro Bowl seven times. His #80 jersey was retired in 1990, and as of 2005 he is the only Seahawk to be so honored. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1995.
When he retired, he held most of the major career records for receivers, all of which have since been broken by Jerry Rice. Coincidentally, Ricewas picked up by the Seahawks during the 2004 season, and received Largent's blessing to wear #80 with the Seahawks 15 years after it had been retired in Largent's name. Rice had worn #80 throughout his professional career.
Largent returned to Tulsa in 1989 and soon became active in politics. However, he didn't make his first run for office until 1994. That year, 1st District Congressman Jim Inhofe ran in a special election to succeed Senator David Boren, Largent entered the Republican primary for the Tulsa-based district. He won the nomination and went on to win easily in November. He was reelected three times, never winning less than 60 percent of the vote in the heavily Republican district.
Like many of his colleagues in the Republican freshmen elected in 1994—when the Republicans took control of the House for the first time in 40 years—Largent's voting record was strongly conservative. However, Largent was one of the few "true believers" in that freshman class. He devoted most of his time to issues important to the religious right. One of his first bills was a "parental rights" bill that died in committee after it attracted opposition even from other Christian conservatives. Another one of his early bills would have abolished the federal tax code at the end of 2001, a measure that only made Republicans appear fiscally irresponsible in the press. He opposed ending the 1996 federal government shutdown, and when it ended was one of the major players in an attempted coup against House Speaker Newt Gingrich. After the Republicans suffered heavy losses in the 1998 midterm elections, Largent was one of a group of Republican congressmen who drove Gingrich into retirement. Largent himself tried to take advantage of discontent with Majority Leader Dick Armey by challenging Armey for the post. However, he lost because he wasn't seen as a team player.
Despite this, Largent decided to run for Governor of Oklahoma in 2002. He easily won the Republican nomination, and resigned his House seat to devote all his energy to the race. Initially seen as an overwhelming favorite against Democratic state senator Brad Henry, his campaign lost ground since most Oklahomans outside of the Tulsa area didn't know where he stood on issues. It didn't help matters that an independent conservative was also in the race and siphoned off much of Largent's base. Perhaps his biggest misstep occurred when he swore at an Oklahoma City television reporter who wanted to know where he was at the time of the September 11 attacks. Largent lost to Henry by just under 7,000 votes.