Lakes High football coach Miller weighs in on Kearse’s retirement from NFL
When longtime Lakes High School football coach Dave Miller — who coached Jermaine Kearse when he played for the Lancers in the mid 2000s — saw Kearse’s Instagram post on Tuesday morning announcing his retirement from the NFL, he sent a text to his former star receiver, congratulating him on his career.
“I told him I appreciate how you always did things with class and integrity,” Miller said. “And I know God has great things ahead of you after football. He’s been an amazing role model for all the youth in our state, especially in Lakewood.”
Kearse was a late bloomer for Lakes, coming into high school around 5-foot-10, 135 pounds.
“He wasn’t a guy you’d think was going to be an NFL guy,” Miller said.
Kearse got bigger and stronger over the course of his high school career, of course. But it was his work ethic that stood out to Miller and allowed him to break out as a junior, in addition to the talent he had.
“The testament to Jermaine was his work ethic and the ability to get better every day,” Miller said. “I never had to talk to him about his grades. His sophomore year, you could see him getting better. Then in his junior year, he took off. You could see he was going to be a special athlete. … He had that desire to excel. That’s what sets people apart.”
He was recruited by a number of Pac-12 programs and as a senior, was one of the region’s top recruits, named to The News Tribune’s 2008 class of Northwest Nuggets. He ultimately chose to stay home and play for Tyrone Willingham’s (and later, Steve Sarkisian’s) UW program, despite the Huskies going through some lean years.
“He could’ve gone to Oregon,” Miller said. “They were very successful at that time and Washington was down a little bit. But he told me, ‘Coach, I want to go to Washington and be a part of getting them back on top.’ I think he took the hard road. He could’ve taken the easy road, but he’s a local guy and wanted to go to Washington. He was part of getting them back up to prominence. That always spoke to me.”
Not many professional athletes can say they’ve played in all three levels for their hometown teams, but Kearse was able to play high school, college and pro ball in his home state. Miller said he’ll remember all the great moments, with Kearse posting some of the most clutch plays in franchise history for Seattle, including the game-winning touchdown catch against the Packers in the 2014 NFC Championship game to send Seattle back to the Super Bowl.
“When the team needed him the most, he was always there for them,” Miller said. “He made some of the biggest catches in Seahawks history. He was part of a great era of Seahawk football. … He was an undrafted free agent, started on the practice squad. He just did whatever he could to scratch and claw his way onto the team. … It was so much fun. It was a blast to be able to watch the whole journey through UW, with the Seahawks, and then even with the Jets and Lions.”
Kearse has given back generously to the Lakewood community over his professional career, speaking to student-athletes and providing opportunities for local military youth in the area.
“He made a great impact in our community, with our youth football program, military families,” Miller said. “I think his heart will always be (with the military). He’s made as much of an impact as you can imagine. Mentally, emotionally, financially — whatever he could give, he was always really good about giving that.
“The example he set was just tremendous for kids. We have a lot of the opposite. When you have a local kid who’s very humble and does things with class, it was just so powerful for our kids to be able to thrive on that.”
This story was originally published September 29, 2020 at 12:49 PM.
