Gold Jacket Spotlight: Steve Hutchinson’s leadership, competitiveness produced excellence

In middle school, a young STEVE HUTCHINSON knew he would be playing in the National Football League. Whether it be his friends, family, teachers or opponents on the field, Steve told them he would make it and let his play do the rest of the talking. 

Steve’s physical education teacher asked him, “What are you going to do?” He replied, “I’m going to be a professional football player.”

“He said he was going to be in the NFL as an eighth-grader,” childhood friend Don Calloway recalled of Steve.

At every level of football, Steve recognized that the process for improving and advancing was the same, and he knew the formula: focus on his performance on the field and not other distractions. This allowed a kid from Coral Springs, Florida, to contribute without any trepidation and land in this week's Gold Jacket Spotlight. 

In four years at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Steve switched from a defensive lineman to an offensive guard and was named first-team All-Big 10 four times, All-America twice and the Big Ten Offensive Lineman of the Year in 2000. His success over four years placed him atop many teams’ draft rankings. 

The Seattle Seahawks were keen on adding a rookie who could add value from Day 1 with the 17th overall pick. Steve fit that mold. 

“We lost our starting left guard to free agency, so there’s going to be a competitive situation there,” Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Holmgren said after the 2001 NFL Draft. 

Before he made that remark, Holmgren already had an inkling Steve would be able to contribute immediately. At the Michigan’s Pro Day, Wolverines head coach Bo Schembechler ran into Holmgren and said, “You came here to see a lot of people; that’s the guy you should pick” as he pointed at Steve.

During his Draft Day news conference, Steve said, “There’s nobody who’s going to outwork me. I want to be the best.”

He continued, “You know, I want to come in and continue doing the things that worked for me at the collegiate level and step up my game and go in here and do what I do best: play guard. Hopefully, I can have a good career.”

Steve backed up his comments that he would not be outworked nor outhustled, earning the starting left guard spot on the depth chart. He started all 16 games in 2001 for Seattle. After missing the final 12 games of his second season with a broken leg, he returned in 2003 and embarked on a streak of 123 consecutive starts.

A “hopefully good career” turned into a Bronze Bust and Gold Jacket in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Steve became immortalized in football history with his enshrinement in the Centennial Class of 2020.

Steve’s willingness to do whatever it took to succeed propelled him to seven consecutive Pro Bowl appearances (2004-2010), six first-team All-Pro selections (2003, 2005-2009) and a spot on the NFL’s All-Decade Team of the 2000s.