RENTON — Terence Garvin has only been in Seattle for six months, but the Seahawks linebacker already likes his new city so much he’s trying to get his mother to move here.
Garvin and his mother, Pat, have always been close. But their bond has intensified ever since Garvin’s father, Terry, died unexpectedly in March 2014, right before Garvin’s second season with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
“He died in his sleep. I was sad. It was tough, but I feel like God has a plan, so he kinda got me through the tough times, and I feel like that’s another reason I play as hard as I play,” Garvin says. “My dad was really tough on me, but he was there for me all the time, so I feel like I gotta play hard for him.”
After Garvin’s father died, Garvin moved his mother from his hometown of Baltimore up to Pittsburgh so she would be closer to him.
Now, he working to convince her to move to Seattle, where he hopes he’ll make the 53-man roster with the Seahawks.
“I’m trying to keep her up here,” Garvin said, grinning. “She’s cool with it though she lives in Pittsburgh right now.”
So far, things are looking good for Garvin, who signed with the Seahawks as a free agent in March after three seasons in Pittsburgh and one in Washington.
As the Seahawks prepare to face Kansas City this Friday at home, Garvin is battling Michael Wilhoite for the starting spot at sam linebacker.
He earned a start in the Seahawks’ second preseason game against Minnesota last week and tallied two tackles before leaving the game with the rest of the starting defense. The week before, against the Chargers, Garvin hauled in a ball tipped by Wilhoite and ran it back for a 37-yard pick-six.
Four seasons into his NFL career, Garvin has developed a reputation as a dependable special teams player who can fill in at linebacker, but he hopes this is the year he’ll finally get to truly showcase his linebacking skills.
“This is my fifth year, and I’ve been growing up through the process,” Garvin said. “I’ve been on special teams and that’s something I’m real passionate about, but I’d definitely like to show my skillset on defense. I have a lot of things I’ve learned over the years and a lot of things I’ve worked on.”
Garvin has switched between sam linebacker in the Seahawks’ base defense, and will linebacker when they go to their nickel package. With K.J. Wright out last week due to a knee injury, Garvin earned the majority of first team reps at will linebacker in the nickel package.
The 6-foot-3, 235-pounder is exceptionally athletic for a linebacker because of his background as a defensive back. He played safety in college at West Virginia before former Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau made him switch to linebacker during his first tryout with Pittsburgh in 2013.
“At first, I was like,’ No, I’m a safety.’ But (LeBeau) put me at linebacker, and I made a lot of plays in the tryout and it became my position for a while. It worked out,” Garvin said.
Once Garvin got comfortable at linebacker, he realized, that was a better place for him and that his coverage skills from playing safety in college gave him an added skill to differentiate him from the pack.
“His background as a DB definitely shows in his movement,” said Seahawks linebackers coach Michael Barrow. “He’s smooth in transition, he’s a great, confident guy, and his athleticism is just outstanding. He wants to do well. He fits in right away and seems like he’s been part of our program for years.”
Garvin said the opportunity to work with Barrow also factored into his decision to sign with Seattle.
Garvin clicked with Barrow from their first meeting, in part because Barrow coached one of Garvin’s former Pittsburgh teammates in college – Sean Spence, who’s now with the Colts.
For two seasons in Pittsburgh, Spence and Larry Foote taught Garvin the basics of the linebacker position and helped to ease his transition from safety to linebacker.
Now, another linebacker is helping to ease Garvin’s transition from East Coast to West Coast.
Garvin considers UW linebacker Azeem Victor a close friend. He first met the Huskies’ All-American linebacker through Victor’s father, Michael, who’s in the same Omega Psi Phi fraternity that Garvin is active in.
“I call him my little brother. I talk to Azeem every day. We talk football, we talk life, we talk about everything,” Garvin says. “Azeem definitely tells me where to go and what to do.”
With Garvin’s “little brother” already in Seattle, and his mother toying with the idea of moving here, the city is starting to feel like home.
“I like the opportunity here and I like the culture,” Garvin said.
