From small city to the NFL, trio beats long odds

By Gail Wood | The Olympian • Published October 19, 2008

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They grew up in the same hometown, played youth football on the same fields.

For Mike Sellers, Jerramy Stevens and Jonathan Stewart, the journey to the NFL began in Lacey.

"That's amazing. Three guys in the NFL. It sure puts our little city on the map," said Randy Oliveria, the offensive line coach at Timberline when Stewart played there. "It's a great story."

Sellers did it the hard way. The state's Class 3A player of the year as a senior at North Thurston High School in 1992, Sellers played football at Walla Walla Community College for one year, then bolted for the Canadian Football League for another three years. Now in his ninth NFL season, he's the Washington Redskins' starting fullback.

"I watch him whenever I can," said Rocky Patchin, Sellers' high school coach. "He has the reputation for being the hardest-hitting fullback in the league."

Stevens and Stewart were both first-round draft picks. Stevens, now a tight end with Tampa Bay, will play today against his former coach and team — Mike Holmgren and the Seattle Seahawks (5:15 p.m. on NBC-5).

Stewart, the 13th player chosen in the NFL draft six months ago, is a running back with the Carolina Panthers.

"For a tiny little burgh to have three players in the NFL is amazing," said Dan Clark, Stevens' coach at River Ridge. "It shows that there's really good coaching in the area. It starts with youth football and goes all the way to high school. This area has some of the best high school coaches in the state."

Of course, Clark said Lacey's NFL trio had something even good coaching can't instill — talent.

"All of them have the physical tools that don't come around every day," Clark said. "Especially in the same zip code."

NFL players by the numbers

Miami is the hometown for 32 current NFL players, tops among cities in the country. That's followed by Houston's 23, Detroit's 16 and Atlanta's 12.

Tacoma, which is five times bigger than Lacey, also has three NFL players — Jon Kitna (Lions), Marcus Trufant (Seahawks) and Lawyer Milloy (Falcons).