The WL graduate remembered much more than just a sports star

Through his lifelong involvement in sports, primarily football, Eric Sievers became an influential figure in Arlington and beyond.

He continues to do so in death, and many remember the Arlington native in so many positive ways that extend far beyond his playing career.

Sievers, a 1976 graduate of Washington-Lee High School, died April 10 after a six-year battle with bladder cancer, a disease that family members said he struggled with the same type of aggressiveness as when he was a high school football star . in college at the University of Maryland as a tight end and the same in the National Football League for three teams, mainly the San Diego Chargers.

Sievers was 66 years old.

At Washington-Lee, Sievers was a multi-sport standout, where he helped the Generals achieve one of their best football seasons in 1975 (9-2 record and second place in the region) and won seven times the previous season. Since then, no WL football team has won 16 games in consecutive seasons.