Seahawks players promote exercise with Valley youth

WASILLA — After a year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Mat-Su Seahawkers were able to go through with their Play 60 event at the Menard Center in Wasilla featuring a number of former Seattle Seahawks Players including Hall of Famer Walter Jones Jr.

Jones headlined a group of former Seahawks that included the team’s original quarterback Jim Zorn and a recent Seahawks kicker Stephen Hauschka. Tagging along with the former Seahawks was mascot ‘Blitz’ whose actions helping kids be active spoke volumes, despite his inability to speak .

“Blitz is always a key feature for us and especially here and at the hospitals for kids at children’s hospitals and at Alaska Native Medical Center, these kids love Blitz. They like seeing players and the former players but Blitz is always the one thing that makes a smile come out,” said Mat-Su Seahawkers President Thomas Spindler. “It’s just important to show them that you can have fun without being afraid of not scoring points or things like that. It’s just about playing.”

The Play 60 event is a National Football League campaign to encourage youth to get exercise for 60 minutes a day. On Wednesday, volunteers, members of the community and former professional football players joined in playing hockey, soccer, rugby, football, and Native Youth Olympics games on the turf at the Menard Center.

“I think the young people and even the older people who are helping these kids are doing a great job of bringing energy and they’re into it so the kids are into it and they are not bored and what’s awesome is all the different sports that are represented at each station, so I think that’s just a great deal,” said Zorn. “This program right here is pretty incredible and it doesn’t happen all over the nation. It should but I think it’s a privilege for these kids.”

Zorn played quarterback for the Seahawks for eight years from 1976 until 1984 and later worked as the head coach of the Washington Redskins in 2008. Last season, Zorn again worked as a head coach for the Seattle Dragons. On Wednesday, Zorn particularly enjoyed working with children who were learning how to throw a football, as a quarterback coaching specialist.

Pro football Hall of Famer Walter Jones Jr., was making his first trip to Alaska this week and was not disappointed.

“I’ve enjoyed it. I went fishing yesterday so I got a chance to do that. I think the coolest thing is seeing the late sunsets, so to be a part of that has been cool. It’s been fun. We’re with a great group with the Seahawkers,” said Jones.

Jones spent his entire 12-year career with the Seahawks and was a nine time Pro Bowler as an Offensive Tackle. Jones floated in and out of various drills, playing with children and helping young players learn the various games on the turf at the Play 60 event.

“You just want to have fun with them, talk to them and let them know that even though we are former players, we was in these same situations where somebody had to introduce us to the game or sport and introduce kids now to being back outside,” said Jones. “I think the coolest thing is the confidence of the kids. You kind of get up there and you start doing some of the drills and they get competitive too, so I think that’s the cool thing about being with some of the kids. You see some of the kids already have that competitive gene where they want to be out here playing so any time you get out here and move around with these kids it’s pretty amazing.”

Former Seahawks kicker Stephen Hauschka gravitated toward the hockey drills. Growing up playing pond hockey outside of Boston, Hauschka was a natural with a hockey stick and even deked Blitz out of the way for a goal. While Jones was making his first trip to Alaska, Hauschka was already excited about coming up with the Seahawkers from previous trips. Spindler thanked Alaska Airlines for donating the tickets to fly up the former Seahawks, as well as Subway for providing lunch for the young athletes. While 145 kids were registered, nearly 100 showed up on Wednesday to play for 60 minutes with former NFL legends at the Menard Center.

“That’s what we were meant to do as a community, rally around games and have a fun, competitive environment and learn how to do something different too. I mean this is exposing kids to things they haven’t seen before and you know there’s even some Native games over there which is fun and I think it’s great for all the kids here,” said Hauschka. “Connecting with the nature here in Alaska is always so special. It’s called the last frontier for a reason. There’s untouched beauty everywhere you look and when you’re coming from populated areas in the Lower 48, we live in southern California and there’s millions of people down there and within a 30 minute drive of where I live and you come up here and there is just wildlife everywhere and trees and mountains and glaciers and ocean and it’s really peaceful and relaxing to be around all that nature. So that’s what I love about it and I hope everyone can experience the beauty up here,” said Hauschka.

Among the local volunteers who helped organize the games for kids at the Play 60 event was Palmer Hockey standout Rhys Allen. Allen has grown from a participant to a helper at the event, but finds similar enjoyment out of attending the Play 60 event with professional football players.

“Especially being from a small town in Alaska like Palmer or Wasilla, them coming all the way out here to do this is so amazing and it’s just so cool for these Valley kids,” said Allen. “I grew up being a part of it and doing it every year and now I’m helping run it, it’s full circle. I’ve met so many awesome Seahawks players and staff and over the years because of it and it’s just a great time for these kids and it’s something that they look forward to every summer.”