Q & A with Steve Largent

With Election Day looming, we ran down the 48-year-old football Hall of Fame receiver and former U.S. congressman who is the Republican nominee in the race to succeed Oklahoma governor Frank Keating.

"I can take Bush ..." Robert Beck

SI: President Bush was recently cited by Runners' World for being an exceptionally fit commander in chief, after he ran a three-mile race in 20:29. Think you can beat him in the 40?

Largent: Oh, I can take him in the 40, but maybe not in the longer distances.

SI: Ever tell voters on the campaign trail that you were twice ranked with the likes of Brad Pitt and Tom Selleck as one of People's Most Beautiful People?

Largent: It depends on which group of people I'm speaking to.

SI: Why should the people of Oklahoma vote for you?

Largent: Because I really love this state. I'm a competitor, and I believe Oklahoma doesn't have to be the seventh-poorest state in the country.

SI: Do you have a favorite of your 819 career catches?

Largent: Well, I have a favorite play. That was hitting [Broncos safety] Mike Harden [in 1988] after he'd knocked out two of my teeth in a previous game with an illegal hit.

SI: What was harder: getting a bill past President Clinton or getting by Raiders cornerbacks Lester Hayes and Mike Haynes?

Largent: That's tough. I'd say Haynes and Hayes were better at man-for-man than Bill Clinton was.

SI: Lester Hayes once called you the master of tomfoolery. Have any political opponents called you that?

Largent: No, they haven’t.

SI: How does President Largent sound?

Largent: Intimidating, to me.

SI: Which was the tougher press corps: NFL beat writers or the journalists covering Capitol Hill?

Largent: Let's put it this way: Working on Capitol Hill, I still needed a helmet.

SI: A lot of Oklahoma football types have run for statewide office but lost, from legendary Sooners coach Bud Wilkinson to Oklahoma running back Ron Shotts to Sooners quarterback Jack Mildren. Are you already jinxed?

Largent: Those were all OU guys. I'm a TU [University of Tulsa] guy.

SI: Do you share a dislike of traffic officers with your fellow wide receiver, Randy Moss?

Largent: No, I do not.

SI: Is Vice Chairman of The Energy and Air Quality Subcommittee a real job, or just something you have on your resume to bulk it up?

Largent: [Laughs.] No, it’s a real job.

SI: Few people know that you were also an All-State catcher and one of your pitchers was Bob Shirley. Could you have made the majors?

Largent: Well, you always think that but I think I made the right choice in college to play football.

SI: Are you still mad at the Houston Oilers for cutting you [in 1976]?

Largent: No, I’m definitely not still mad. It worked out for the best for both of us, I think.

SI: Do you know all the words to the Oklahoma state song?

Largent: Absolutely. What I’m trying to do is change the last line from "Oklahoma -- O.K." to "Oklahoma -- great!"

—Richard Deitsch

Issue date: Oct. 7, 2002

 

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