'It's a beautiful thing': Seahawks' Fant grew up around kids with disabilities



SEATTLE – Given his history, it was almost a given that George Fant would be involved when the Special Olympics USA Games come to Seattle next month.

The Seattle Seahawks offensive lineman told Q13 News he has a heart for kids with disabilities, having grown up around dozens of them.

“My whole life I grew up with my mother doing foster care for kids with disabilities, and I’ve always wanted to give more back to them,” Fant said.



When the Opening Ceremonies kick off Sunday, Fant will escort the team from his native Kentucky into Husky Stadium.

“People think just because they have mental or physical disabilities they can’t play,” Fant said. “I know a lot that really can play.”

Fant's family took in more than 20 foster children when he was growing up, all of whom had physical or mental disabilities. He said his mother moved from Kentucky to Ohio at one point, and was forced to separate from one boy who had been with them for a long time.

"He felt like he was our family, and we felt like he was our family, so it kind of hurt him and it hurt us that we had to split ways at the time," Fant said. "At that moment I was like, this is why we do stuff like this, for this person to feel this heavily about us and for us to feel that heavily about them, it’s a beautiful thing."