OLATHE, Kan. — They’ve always called him the gentle giant.
From the time Mason Richman was a child, his size stood out. His parents say he was bigger than most kids his age — and not just by a little.
“Man, he’s been special his whole life,” said his mother, Kathy Richman-Wallace. “I always say he’s been in the 120th percentile with his height and weight.”
At the time, his future wasn’t exactly clear.
“He really was just this big kid, and we didn’t know what he was going to do,” she said.
Now, that big kid, 6 feet 5 inches tall and just over 300 pounds, will be on football’s biggest stage.
Richman, an offensive lineman in his rookie season with the Seattle Seahawks, will play Sunday in Super Bowl LX when Seattle takes on the New England Patriots. The seventh-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft is just starting his professional football career.
“It’s pretty amazing,” said his father, John Richman. “I think every kid dreams of it. And as a parent, you watch games, but I never thought in a million years I’d have a kid playing in the Super Bowl.”
The journey has come fast.
After being drafted, Richman made Seattle’s 53-man roster — an accomplishment on its own — before the Seahawks’ postseason run carried him all the way to the Super Bowl.
“I get chills just hearing it,” Kathy Richman-Wallace said. “The whole process — getting drafted, making the 53-man roster, and now the Super Bowl — it’s overwhelming. He’s definitely on a high.”
Richman’s story resonates close to home.
The Kansas City-area native graduated from Blue Valley High School. He played in college at the University of Iowa, where he developed into an NFL prospect.
Now, despite the magnitude of the moment, Richman says the experience feels familiar.
“It’s kind of funny — someone asked me what it’s like as a rookie,” he said. “Honestly, it just feels like another bowl trip. It’s like college never really ended.”
That mindset has helped keep him grounded as the Super Bowl approaches.
“I’m really excited for Sunday — honestly, even more excited for practice on Wednesday,” Richman said. “It’s a big deal, but on the field or off the field, I’ve got to be the same person every day.”
His parents will be in attendance Sunday — their first Super Bowl, and their first with a son playing for the Lombardi Trophy.
For a family that once wondered what their “big kid” might grow into, the answer now includes the NFL’s biggest stage.
