Jake Olson joins Pete Carroll to watch Seattle Seahawks defeat New Orleans Saints
Pete Carroll and the Seattle Seahawks had a special guest for the Seattle Seahawks-New Orleans Saints divisional playoff game Saturday – Jake Olson.
Olson, age 17, made national headlines as the blind, cancer surviving football player from California. He met Carroll back in 2009 through ESPN College GameDay which highlighted Olson’s love of USC.
Their relationship has strengthened over the years and Olson calls the coach a mentor. Carroll wrote the forward to Olson’s new book Open Your Eyes (LISTEN to his interview with The Dispatch HERE)
Very cool to have Jake Olson- good friend of @CollegeGameDay – next to Pete Carroll today. We’ve admired Jake’s spirit for yrs.—
Chris Fowler (@cbfowler) January 11, 2014
So great to see Jake Olson with Pete Carroll. Look up his story if you don’t know who he is. http://t.co/uRyU8b1ex8—
Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) January 11, 2014
“[Gresham] was the first one that showed me how to long snap,” Olson told Seahawks.com. “That was really fun.”
Olson wanted to play football again and it was Seahawks long snapper Clint Gresham to helped him.
Olson had never snapped before and admits he wasn’t very good at first — “I really kind of sucked at the beginning, but it was something that I wanted to do to get back on the field,” he said — but now he’s not only got the hang of it, but is the Orange Lutheran High School varsity football team’s starting long snapper.
“That was really cool to know that one, I made the team, and two, I earned my spot out there,” he said.
When Olson was just 10 months old, he lost his left eye to cancer. Enduring chemotherapy and radiation treatments before eventually losing his right eye in ’09 when he was 12.
Before completely losing his sight, Olson wanted to see one last USC football game. Carroll got in touch with the Olson family and invited him to meet the team, be in the locker room, break down huddles and just completely immerse himself in the program.
It was a dream come true and an incredibly touching piece everyone should watch.
Visit Jake Olson’s official website HERE
Order a copy of Open Your Eyes through Amazon HERE
Listen to the interview with Jake HERE
Photos courtesy of Jake Olson
Seeing Jake’s story on ESPN was the most inspiring piece I’ve ever seen. This kid is truly amazing. He never gave up on his dream of playing football and it just goes to show that when you put your heart and soul into something, anything is obtainable. For all of you Pete Carroll haters out there, I strongly encourage you to watch this! If this doesn’t change your mind about him, I don’t know what will. When I saw Jake on the sidelines next to Coach Carroll during the National Anthem at the Hawks/Saints game it made me smile from ear to ear. You’re the man, Jake. Go Hawks!