To say Steve Largent has kept busy after an illustrious 14-year NFL career would be an understatement.
The former Seattle Seahawks star wide receiver, one of three players to have his number retired by the franchise, was elected into Congress just five years after retiring in 1989. He spent the next eight years in office before losing the governor race in Oklahoma. That’s when Largent left politics and went tech, becoming the president and CEO of CTIA, a trade association representing the U.S. wireless communications industry.
Now the 62-year-old is living the retired life in Oklahoma, spending time with his family and grandchildren. But he remains busy, sitting on multiple boards of public and private companies, including Nintex, the Bellevue-based 400-person workflow automation software company that will be exhibiting at the upcoming GeekWire Cloud Tech Summit on June 7.
Largent will be at the Cloud Tech Summit on behalf of Nintex, meeting attendees and signing autographs. He’ll be joined by fellow Seahawks legend Jim Zorn. You can check out the packed agenda and get your tickets to this inaugural event here or below:
Largent, who was inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame in 1995, got connected with Nintex after becoming friends with John Burton, the company’s CEO. He enjoys learning about the software side of technology after spending more than a decade heading up CTIA.
“I felt like I was on the cutting edge of what was taking place in the evolution of the wireless industry, and now I get a glimpse into what’s happening on the software side as well,” Largent told GeekWire. “It is just as exciting, and it’s growing just as fast as the wireless industry has over the last ten years.”
Largent is certainly a technology fan and said he’s still amazed at how the smartphone has evolved. He now wears hearing aids — “my hearing has been impaired from playing so many games in the crazy loud Kingdome,” Largent says — and his favorite app is one that lets him control the hearing aid volume.
“That was just unthinkable even four or five years ago,” he noted. “Technology changes everything.”
Largent is also a big fan of technology improving the game of football, and in particular how it can help reduce the amount of concussions that players endure on the field.
“New technology can literally change lives and probably change the game,” he added.
While he’s mostly removed from the political arena, Largent — who represented the Republican party — did share some thoughts on President Donald Trump.
“I think this has been the most unusual time in American history for this president and trying to govern the way he wants to govern,” Largent said. “I kind of feel sorry for him. I think he’s inherited a country at a time when the expectations were a lot different than he ever imagined. So in some ways, I feel like the media and people in general are not really giving him a chance to get his feet set before they are all over him.”
“But at the same time, I would say he’s got some faults and issues,” Largent continued. “People are pouncing on those, and rightfully so. But I think there’s a number of initiatives he’s suggested or pursued that have yet to play out, and I think you have to give a guy time. I felt the same way about Obama when he was elected. You can’t jump on him this quickly; he has to have time to get his cabinet in place and get set and start moving forward. That’s what [Obama] did and I think that’s what this president could do if he didn’t have all the subterfuge in his way.”
Largent is clearly passionate about football and politics, but which does he miss more?
“Football, for sure,” he said. “I love playing football. I love the competitive nature of it. I love preparing every week for the game.”
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