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Don Larkin
Seattle Ramblers
Fullback / Halfback
1953 - 1962
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US Army 1st Calvary Division
Fullback
1946 - 1948
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White Center Lions
Fullback
1948
A 1946 graduate of Highline High south of Seattle, Larkin
was a top fullback on the football team and track member
before enlisting in the Army. As a member of the 1st
Calvary, Larkin would be sent to Tokyo as part of the
occupation forces where he played on Division football team,
winning the All Far-East Championship during the "Rice
Bowl". The team would go to Hawai'i and lose the Hula
Bowl by one-point. After his discharge, Larkin
played with the 1948 White Center Lions before enrolling at Washington State College for the 1949 season.
While at Wazzu, Larkin lettered as a Freshman in 1949 then
led the 1950 team in rushing average as a Sophomore with 5.5
yards per carry from the right halfback spot even as he
battled knee and hip injuries during the season.
Larkin did not return to the Cougars re-enlisting in the
military in 1951 as the Korean War escalated.
Don Larkin re-started his semi-pro career following his
military duty when the 210-lb fullback brought his talents
to Don Sprinkle's Ramblers in 1953 blocking for legends like
Royal Dotson, Don Mann, Lowell Wardien and many others over
his 10-year career. Larkin had a brief flirt with the
semi-pro world in 1948 as a member of the 160lb League's
White Center Lions where he keyed a win over Enumclaw.
Against the Olympic College Rangers in 1959, Larkin scored
three touchdowns in a 51-0 rout that included a
hook-and-ladder play started by Len Randall who was hit hard
on a hook route only to lateral to Larkin who raced 51-yards
for the score.
Larkin retired from football in 1962, the same year Don
Sprinkle suddenly passed from a heart attack. He had
been a key member of a team that was the most dominant
semi-pro team in the region through the 1950's playing
schedules filled with collegiate and military teams that
included an undefeated 1960 season (9-0).
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