https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gj3dUYAm1TI
Seahawks Ring of Honor members Steve Largent and Jim Zorn have a special friendship that covers 40 years, and while that friendship had plenty of memorable on-field moments in the 1970s and '80s, as well as quality time spent with each other's families, the two also know how to enjoy some lighter moments together.
That was the case earlier this summer when Zorn and Largent teamed up to film a commercial to promote Washington's Lottery's new "Seahawks Scratch" game that offers up prizes ranging from $50,000 to "a legendary evening with Largent and Zorn" to other Seahawks prize packages, including a pair of 2017 season tickets.
In the commercial, the two sport wigs, use their best late '70s lingo and drive an old Pontiac Firebird Trans Am to the Kingdome on "game day, September 30, 1979."
When Largent tells "Z-Man" that "This is the life," Zorn responds, "No doubt. Playing football, looking rad, and watching movies on my brand new VCR."
When the two arrive at the Kingdome, they park next to an old yellow Volkswagen Beetle, a nod to the car Zorn actually drove for 14 years, including when he and Largent carpooled together to games early in their careers. After exiting the car, Largent notes, "Ah the Kingdome, that'll be around forever.
"It was fun doing it with Jim, first of all, because he's my best friend," Largent said. "Harkening back to our early days with the Seahawks, that was a good time."
Added Zorn: "It was fun, it took us all day to do it, but it was fun and I really appreciated how extensive of a set they created with wigs and things of that nature. That just made it even more fun to be able to do it well."
What the two did not do in this commercial is sing, something they did in a Dairy Farmers of Washington commercial early in their playing careers.
"We wanted to do some (singing), but it wasn't for this moment," Zorn said. "You never know though, you never know."
Largent suggested that the solution might be to do another ad with the Washington Dairy Farmers.
"I'm kind of surprised we didn't (sing), but I'm throwing a pitch out to the Washington Dairy Farmers to have a reunion of that commercial," he said.
While this was far from a serious reunion for Zorn and Largent, it was just another example of a friendship that began because the two happened to be teammates on an expansion team, but has endured through numerous jobs, ranging from NFL head coach (Zorn) to Congressman (Largent), through multiple cities around the country, and through the various ups and downs that life provides over four decades.
"When I say he's my best friend, I mean that," Largent said. "We don't go a week or two without contacting each other, talking to each other. Jim and his wife just came to Tulsa to see Terry and myself. I went with Jim to a football camp in Dallas. We went to Luke Willson's camp in British Columbia, then went fishing together."
Added Zorn: "You can lose touch with guys who were your friends in your playing days, but what we've done is we've made a point of getting together whenever we can. We try to do things together, and this was certainly one of them."
Over the years, Largent and Zorn's friendship has only grown stronger. Unfortunately they can't say the same for their acting skills.
"We had zero skill in the first place, and they probably haven't improved," Zorn said. "The main thing is that we had a lot of fun doing a clever bit. I really enjoyed it."
