When the kids in 
“There were a lot of guys I appreciated when I watched the sport, but to me my dad was Superman,” the middle of three Burleson brothers said of Al, a safety for the University of Washington and later in the CFL for the Calgary Stampeders. “I’d put on his jersey and run around, and be quarterback, receiver, safety, defensive end. I was everything in my dad’s jersey.”
“Always,” Jones said. “I was Bo Jackson and my brother was Walter Payton. Always.”
This is not uncommon, even today. Kids still want to grow up to be their heroes, and they wile away many an hour playing the game with their friends while fantasizing about being Peyton Manning, or Brett Favre, or Tom Brady, or LaDainian Tomlinson, or Randy Moss.
But what about those players who Burleson and Jones couldn’t do their current jobs without – the offensive linemen? As kids, did they harbor dreams of being a road-grating run blocker like Larry Allen or having feet as nifty as those
Hardly. “Nobody ever wanted to be that guy hiking the ball or staying in to block,” Seahawks tackle
Locklear is not alone. Just check this sampling of the “I get to be (fill in the blank)” selections from the Wonder Years of other Seahawks linemen.
Left guard
“I always played quarterback, and Warren Moon was my favorite player,” Sims said. “I wanted to be a quarterback, but I got hungry.”
Sims didn’t just grow up, he outgrew any hope of playing the same position as his idol. Instead, he is a 312-pound chip off the old block – his father, the late Mickey Sims, was a tackle for the Cleveland Browns (1977-79).
But while he was still “little,” Moon was Sims’ man.
“When I was growing up he was just the guy,” Sims said. “Being an African American, it was cool to see Warren Moon out there doing his thing.”
Now, Sims frequently crosses paths with the player he grew up wanting to me.
“I was calling him Mr. Moon,” Sims said. That ended because he got tired of seeing Moon cringe every time Sims would give him a little too much respect.
“It was just one of those things,” Sims said. “He was just such a big figure – and imposing figure – especially in the African American community. It was just big to see him do his thing, especially for a little kid who wanted to play quarterback. It was cool.
“I guess my stomach had other plans.”
Center
“I was always the quarterback, because I could drop it off,” Spencer said. “I didn’t have a quarterback I always wanted to be, but I was always the quarterback – for both sides.”
The 312-pound Spencer then took an imaginary snap from center, dropped back and uncorked an air spiral. He even paused to admire the make-believe pass.
“You always want to be either carrying the ball or throwing the ball,” Spencer said. “Then, I became a lineman. Really fast.”
Spencer, who grew up in Mississippi, credits his girth spurt to a summer visit to stay with relatives in Detroit.
“They didn’t cook but one meal the whole summer,” he said. “We ate breakfast, lunch and dinner out. I came back and my mom didn’t recognize me when I got off the plane.”
Stretching his arms as far as they would reach and dropping his hands to his waist, he added, “I was like this. That’s pretty much when I became an offensive lineman.”
No longer a quarterback, at least he is the lineman who snaps the ball to the quarterback.
“I still get to touch the ball on every play,” he said.
Tackle
“I always liked Joe Montana,” he said. “But I wasn’t a quarterback, so it wasn’t really like I could do that.”
But that didn’t stop him from having grandiose plans.
“I wasn’t a lineman then, so I wanted to have the ball in my hands,” Frye said.
Frye’s father, Stan Rome, did have the ball in his hands. He was a receiver for the Kansas City Chiefs (1979-82).
“I was a little bit heavy for that,” Frye said with a laugh. “I outgrew that one fast.”
Locklear: Finally, a lineman who did not want to be a quarterback. But the now 308-pound still didn’t pick somebody his own size when he, his brother and their cousin threw the ball around. Locklear grew up a 49ers fan, so his favorite player was safety Ronnie Lott.
“I liked to play defense when I was young,” Locklear said. “My cousin, who was a lot older, he was always the quarterback and throwing to my older brother. So I was Ronnie Lott.
“My brother, we’re a year apart, was always trying to take advantage of me. So on the football field, I tried to get back at him. That’s why I was always Ronnie Lott.”
This fascination with getting your hands on the ball – or preventing others from doing it – isn’t reserved for the linemen. There’s also middle linebacker
Not quite. In fact, not even close.
“Thurman Thomas, baby,” Tatupu said. “I was a running back when I was real little. I didn’t start playing quarterback and linebacker until I got to high school. He was my favorite player of all-time. I loved him when he was at Oklahoma State.
“You don’t see too many people mention him as their favorite, but the man did everything well. Not just jack-of-all-trades, he did them all well. Running between the tackles. Running outside the tackles. Receiver out of the backfield. Picking up the blitz. He did it all. That’s why I loved him.”
Not that he didn’t love his father, too. Mosi Tatupu was a Pro Bowl special teams player and fullback for the New England Patriots from 1978-90.
But, as Tatupu explained it, “Obviously, I loved watching my father play. I remember one time when the Bills came to town, I fell in love with the Bills and especially the way Thurman played the game. From that point on, he was always my favorite player.”
While all these players eventually outgrew their childhood heros, they remain quarterbacks, running backs and even safeties at heart.
