The Seattle sports community had a lot to celebrate Friday evening. Since the 2025 Seattle Sports Star Awards, the Emerald City has seen a Super Bowl championship and the deepest playoff run in Mariners franchise history.
Yet the loudest applause during the 2026 Seattle Sports Star Awards came for a coach who hasn’t led a team in nearly two decades.
Mike Holmgren, the former Seahawk coach, and his wife Kathy Holmgren received two standing ovations as they were honored as recipients of the Paul G. Allen Humanitarian Award for their work with Medical Teams International, a humanitarian aid agency, and other philanthropic efforts. Kathy Holmgren, a nurse, has joined relief efforts in Eastern Europe, Africa and Mexico.
“After I retired, I was able to go on a couple of trips with her,” Mike Holmgren said. “It just hit home. … It’s important to understand that there are a lot of folks that really need your help. In some way. It doesn’t always have to be a big, flamboyant thing. But in some way, if you can help one kid, or other kids, then do it.”
Seahawk wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba was named the Seattle Sports Star men’s athlete of the year, UW pole vaulters Amanda Moll and Hannah Moll were selected as the women’s athletes of the year while the Seahawks’ victory in the 2026 Super Bowl against the New England Patriots was chosen as the sports story of the year at the 91st Seattle Sports Star Awards presented by the Seattle Sports Commission at the Seattle Convention Center.
Additionally, Kasey Keller, the Olympia native and former Sounder goalkeeper, and Michelle Akers, a Shoreline native and former United States women’s national soccer team star, were honored as Royal Brougham Sports Legend Award winners. Former Seahawks Joe Nash, Jeff Bryant and Paul Moyer joined Hugh Millen, a UW quarterback from 1983-85 and Michael Bumpus, who played wide receiver at WSU from 2004-07, as Pacific Northwest Football Hall of Fame Class of 2026 inductees.
Late broadcaster Tony Ventrella, who died in 2024, was selected for the Keith Jackson Media Excellence Award. Seahawk general manager and president of football operations John Schneider won the newly renamed Lenny Wilkins Sports Leadership Award. The nonprofit Bras for Girls foundation won the Sports Equity and Inclusion Award, while the Sounders’ RAVE Foundation was selected for the Community Impact Award.
Finally, Justin and Jacob Rivera, brothers who founded Level the Field Sports, a nonprofit working to lower the financial barriers for youth sports, were named the winners of the Wayne and Anne Gittinger Inspirational Youth Award.
“One can make a pretty compelling case that this past year has been the most memorable in the history of Seattle sports,” Gov. Bob Ferguson said. “That is thanks to each of you, and all our nominees for helping make that happen. Sports provide wonderful memories, but they also do something else that I think is just as important. They bind us together as a community in a unique way, as we share our passions for our favorite teams.”
Smith-Njigba was selected for the men’s award after a superb season for the Seahawks. The former Ohio State wideout hauled in 119 catches for 1,793 yards receiving and 10 touchdowns on his way to the 2025 AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year, becoming the second player in franchise history to win the award after running back Shaun Alexander in 2005. Smith-Njigba added 199 yards receiving and two more touchdowns during the Seahawks’ march to their second Vince Lombardi Trophy.
“He’s more inspirational off the field than he is on the field if you can believe that,” Seahawk vice president of community engagement and legends Mario Bailey said while accepting the award for Smith-Njigba, who was unable to attend. “What defines (Smith-Njigba) the most is he’s the ultimate teammate. I know, if he were here, he’d want to thank his teammates first.
“He’s confident. He’s humble. But yet he’s always team first.”
The Moll twins, who hail from Olympia, enjoyed one of the most dominant pole vaulting campaigns in NCAA history as sophomores during the 2024-25 track and field seasons. Amanda Moll won the collegiate indoor title for women’s pole vaulting in March 2025, earning national indoor field athlete of the year from the United States Track and Field and Cross-country Coaches Association after becoming the first collegiate woman to clear the 16-foot mark.
Hana Moll picked up where her twin left off during the outdoor season, winning the NCAA title after clearing 15 feet and 8 1/2-inches. She also broke the outdoor record, previously held by her sister, and was selected USTFCCCA national outdoor field athlete of the year.
“This is amazing,” Amanda Moll, speaking for herself and her sister, said. Hana Moll is currently in Fayetteville, Ark., competing in the 2026 NCAA Indoor Championships. “I’m just so proud to be able to represent the Seattle community through my sport.”
Keller, an Olympia native who spent two decades playing top-flight soccer in the United States, England, Spain and Germany and starring for the U.S. men’s national team, previously won a Seattle Sports Star Award in 2012.
Akers, a women’s soccer pioneer, made 155 appearances for the USWNT, scoring 107 goals and helping the United States win the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 1991 and 1999 and an Olympic gold medal in 1996. She won a Seattle Sports Star Award in 1997.
Schneider, now in his 16th season as Seahawk general manager, rebuilt a roster that missed the playoffs in 2024 and returned to the pinnacle of the sport in 2025. He’d previously won the Allen Humanitarian Award. Schneider promised he was hard at work preparing for the 2026 NFL draft, and credited his staff for putting the team in position to try and repeat as Super Bowl champions.
“We have so many amazing people that I wish you all could get to know,” Schneider said. “They study all these players and they all get to know these people and how they fit into our organization. How they fit into Seattle, our culture and what we’re all about. They’re smart, tough, reliable and good people. It’s just a great group of people.”
Andy Yamashita: ayamashita@seattletimes.com. Andy Yamashita is a sports reporter at The Seattle Times, primarily covering Washington Huskies football.