KIRKLAND — The transformation of Jordan Kent began in the strangest of places. If the Seattle Seahawks have their way, it will reach its apex on one of the team’s practice fields.
Now in his fourth year as a wide receiver, and his second in the NFL, Kent is shedding the label of track star/basketball player with each passing week. He is, at long last, a football player.
“It’s a big difference from how he was last year,” Seattle Seahawks quarterback Seneca Wallace said. “When he first came in, he was doing things just off ability. But now he’s starting to understand the position.”
With the speed of a track phenom and the size of a basketball player, the 6-foot-4 Kent spent most of his life trying to perfect his skills in different arenas. Not until 2005, after a chance meeting with a University of Oregon assistant football coach, did Kent start turning his attention toward the gridiron.
Kent was, of all places, in a public restroom when U of O receivers coach Dan Ferrigno walked in.
“He was in the urinal next to me, and he was like, ‘What are you doing this summer?’” said Kent, who holds Oregon state records in the 200-meter dash and the long jump and also played for his father, Ernie, on the Ducks’ basketball team. “I was like, ‘Well, I don’t know, maybe coming out for football.’
“That was kind of my letter of intent right there.”
After a tryout that involved Kent catching passes from Oregon quarterback Kellen Clemens, he was added to the football roster. Kent was pretty raw from the start, but he caught 44 passes as a senior. Still, he was considered too much of a project to be a high NFL draft pick.
The Seahawks waited until the sixth round of the 2007 draft to take a chance on the lanky speedster, and 16 months later, the rewards are beginning to show.
Kent has pushed himself into the battle for the starting spot that opened up when Deion Branch and Bobby Engram went down with injuries. He made the most exciting play of the intrasquad scrimmage by catching a 52-yard pass from Charlie Frye, then added a touchdown reception in Friday night’s preseason opener.
“It’s a great confidence booster,” Kent said of the big plays he has made in recent weeks. “It shows that a lot of your hard work has paid off and that you can play at this level.
“Now, how well can you play at this level? That’s a matter of being consistent in how you practice and learning all the little things.”
While Kent still has a long way to go to become a legitimate NFL starter, he’s grown by leaps and bounds since first coming into the league.
“It’s been a big improvement for him from last year to this year,” said Wallace, who spent countless practices in 2007 throwing to Kent as part of the scout team.
The former track star said that the biggest adjustment has been in learning how to use his speed. For every Bob Hayes, there are three or four Renaldo Nehemiahs who couldn’t quite make the transition.
“It’s all about change of direction and how quickly you can transition in and out of your breaks,” Kent said when asked how his speed differs on the gridiron as opposed to the track. “It’s running across the field and not just straight down.
“It’s counterintuitive to everything I learned in track, where you’re upright, tall and taking long strides. Here, everything is short strides, staying low and getting in and out of those breaks. That was the biggest adjustment for me.”
Kent is trying to earn playing time on a team that is currently without two of its top receivers. Engram is likely to miss six to eight weeks because of a cracked shoulder bone, while Branch is still recovering from offseason knee surgery and might not be back for the Sept. 7 opener.
That leaves Nate Burleson and a group of untested receivers like Ben Obomanu, Courtney Taylor, Logan Payne and Kent fighting for playing time.
“Whether I come out on the practice squad or the active roster, I’m just going to try to take advantage of every opportunity I have,” Kent said. “It’s been great this (camp) because I’ve been able to get the reps and it’s helped me become a better football player.”
Instead of being known for his skills at track and basketball, Kent is finally starting to look like a player of a different kind.
A football player.
“You start making those plays, and it definitely helps,” Kent said of shedding past labels. “But I’m not trying to get caught up in that. I just want to keep improving, improving, improving.”
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