The Front Row with JASON ELLIOTT Feb. 8, 2012

Walking into Husky Stadium that November, I should have realized that I was about to watch something special.

First Seahawks game in person, playing the defending champion Denver Broncos, that in itself was something to see.

Some 11 years later, that game got a little more memorable.

ON SATURDAY afternoon, former Seattle Seahawks defensive tackle Cortez Kennedy was elected to the NFL Hall of Fame, joining five other players in the class of 2012.

While he never got the chance to play in the Super Bowl, he did something that is even more respectable. He played all 11 years of his career for the Seahawks, something that for as often as players leave for bigger pay and a chance to win, he never did.

Kennedy was such a competitor, that he once won the defensive player of the year award for a team that finished 2-14.

Simply amazing.

That first game I watched in person was one I'll never forget.

As the players came out and began to go through their pregame drills, I could tell who some, but not all, were.

But Kennedy was the exception. His presence on the team and defensive line, you always knew where he was on the field.

Seattle got down quickly and wound up trailing 38-14 in the third quarter. In the time it took to get from our seats to the exits of Husky Stadium, the team had rallied to a 38-31 deficit.

Kennedy retired shortly after and was inducted into the Seahawks Ring of Honor in 2006. Even better - he never quit on the team, or the city.

Something that makes him Hall of Fame worthy in my book.

WHO KNOWS, maybe this opens the doors for former Seattle Mariner Edgar Martinez to join baseball's Hall of Fame.

Martinez, like Kennedy, never played in a World Series, but won a few batting titles and had numbers that are good enough to get in.

But, much like Kennedy, Martinez played his entire career in one place — Seattle.

And for as good as his numbers were, he still hasn’t received that call to join the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., mainly because his position on the field was a designated hitter.

Whether playing late at night or lack of World Series rings have hurt Martinez, it really shouldn’t.

There will become a time when voting will change, and those people that vote on these ballots will begin to look at the designated hitter like any other position in the lineup.

Both players were special in the Northwest for a long time.

One will receive his honor this summer — the other should stick by the phone.

Jason Elliott is a sports writer for the Coeur d’Alene Press. He can be reached by telephone at 664-8176, Ext. 2020 or via email at [email protected].