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Posted in Unspecified
Former NFL Most Valuable Player Shaun Alexander was one of six Seattle Seahawks to undergo surgery on Thursday. Alexander
had surgery on his injured left wrist, which he broke in Week One.
There was no announcement on how long the injury will prevent him from
beginning offseason workouts. Seattle (11-7) saw its season
come to a streaking halt in a 42-20 loss to Green Bay in the NFC
divisional playoff on Saturday. The Packers spotted the Seahawks a 14-0
lead before scoring 42 of the next 48 points. Alexander
finished off his second straight sub-par season following his mammoth
2005 season in which he set a then-league record with 27 rushing
touchdowns. The 30-year-old Alexander ran for 716 yards on 207
carries - an average of 3.5 yards - and just four touchdowns in 13
games. In 2006, Alexander followed up his 1,880-yard 28-TD performance
of 2005 with 896 yards and seven touchdowns on 252 carries. Other
Seahawks who underwent surgery on Thursday were guard Floyd Womack
(biceps), linebacker Will Herring (knee), defensive end Baraka Atkins
(wrist), running back Josh Scobey (leg) and tackle Ray Willis (knee). Among
the other players scheduled for surgery are All-Pro defensive end
Patrick Kerney (shoulder), All-Pro tackle Walter Jones (shoulder),
former Super Bowl MVP Deion Branch (knee) and center Chris Spencer
(thumb).
11:19 AM - 1/25/2008
Posted in Unspecified
More than eight months from its season
opener, a Seattle Seahawks team that won a fourth straight division
title and reached the playoffs for the fifth straight year scored
Tuesday.
Michael George Holmgren, the
Seahawks' all-time winningest coach, announced that he'll be back on
the sidelines for one last season. His red-faced frustrations with a
muffed pass, a missed block or a mangled play return for the final year
of his contract. One last hurrah.
Holmgren's
cooperative decision with his wife, Kathy, to postpone his retirement
one year couldn't have been better news for Seahawks fans. The game's
best playcaller will team up one last year with an offense constructed
to fit his West Coast offense.
That means no tweaking for quarterback for Matt Hasselbeck. No revamping a passing game that's been six years in the making.
If it's not broke, why fix it?
But
before he'd say yes, before he'd commit to his final year, Holmgren,
who turns 60 in June, wanted to make sure he could give what he's
always asked of his players - his best. He understood what "yes" meant.
"Their
coach, whoever the coach was of the football team, had to have the
engine running hard," Holmgren said. "So that's why we took the time."
What
better way to galvanize a team than for its coach to announce that this
is his final year? Don't be misled. This is a coach his players love.
This farewell tour is going to be fun.
"You
know what?" Holmgren said. "For the first time in my career, you're
going to see fake punts. You're going to see double reverse passes,
onside kicks. Don't be surprised."
But as Holmgren knows, boos are louder than cheers.
Over the years, his playcalling has drawn the ire of Seahawks fans. Not every coach is going to get it right.
Usually,
following a loss when a crucial third-and-1 failed, he'll shoulder the
blame for the Shaun Alexander run that was stopped a yard short. He's
taken the criticism for a Hasslebeck pass that fell incomplete.
"I wish I could have that one back," Holmgren would say. He wouldn't criticize Alexander. Or Hasselbeck. He wouldn't chastise the left guard who missed the block.
"That one was my fault," Holmgren would say.
In many ways, Holmgren is still that history teacher in 1971 with the
wispy mustache, that eight-round draft choice out of USC in 1970, and
the high school football coach who lost his first 22 games. He has that
same determination, that same commitment to squeeze the most out of
himself and his teams.
It's Holmgren's
determination and his familiarity with the Sea-hawks that make him the
perfect fit. The coach who has called for a pass on the first play of
almost every one of the 154 games he's coached for Seattle deserves
that one last fling.
But let's not
give Holmgren all the credit. He's not thrown one touchdown,
intercepted one pass or signed one paycheck. Paul Allen, the Seahawks'
deep-pocket owner who rescued the franchise from Ken Behring, deserves
a game ball, if not four straight division championships.
Like
quarterbacks, coaches often get too much credit for winning and too
much blame for losing. But Holmgren and Allen are a good team.
"We're
going to make it the best year ever," Holmgren said. "We're going to
finish the job that I hoped to do when I first came, in the initial
press conference. That's get to the Super Bowl and win one."
Ten
years ago, Holmgren resigned from the Green Bay Packers to accept an
eight-year head coach/general manager contract from the Seahawks. After
2002, Holmgren relinquished his duties as GM to focus on coaching, and
the Seahawks started to win.
So, while
his GM record isn't perfect, his coaching record is Hall of Fame
worthy. He leads all active NFL coaches with 170 wins. Because he's
returning for one last season, he's got a shot at 19 more.
11:15 AM - 1/25/2008
Posted in Unspecified
One year later, the tone remains the same.
When Tim Ruskell became president of the Seahawks in February of 2005, he promised the makeup of the roster would have aggressive, talented players with character traits any mother would love.
Fourteen months, one trip to the Super Bowl and two NFL Drafts later, Ruskell has been true to his word as we consider what he and his staff accomplished the day after they completed the 2006 NFL Draft. Not only did the Seahawks draft six players, they agreed to terms with nine free agents on Sunday.
“I feel pretty good about taking care of needs identified prior to the draft,” Ruskell said. “We didn’t get everything done, and anything we lacked in terms of numbers at positions, we did take care of that in free agency. So in terms of the right numbers going into camp, to be able to do what we need to do, we have that done. I think we addressed most of our needs in the actual draft, people that have a chance to become starters or contributors.”
By drafting Miami Hurricanes’ cornerback Kelly Jennings in the first round and using their second round pick to grab defensive end Darryl Tapp from Virginia Tech, he filled two significant needs of the defense and added two exceedingly high quality guys. Jennings replaces Andre Dyson at corner and Tapp provides energy and pass rushing ability.
Free agent wide receiver Nate Burleson represents the third round pick since that was compensation for taking him from Minnesota, a 24-year-old Seattle native who already has a 1,000-yard season under his belt and is thrilled to be coming home.
You want piece of mind out of the fourth round, that would be Ohio State’s All-Big Ten left guard Rob Sims. Oh, he may not be quite ready to replace departed Steve Hutchinson as a starter as a rookie, but they were pleasantly shocked he was still available. He was in church of all places when he received the call from coach Mike Holmgren.
“We set that up,” Ruskell said, tongue-in-cheek. “He’s a great guy. His mom’s a teacher, his dad’s a policeman. He’s a good guy that everybody is excited about. To get a guard that could potentially be a starter, you feel good about that in the fourth round.”
Southern Cal’s rugged blocking back David Kirtman was their fifth round pick, and he probably still doesn’t believe his hometown team picked him either. As if being the lead blocker from the record-setting duo of Reggie Bush and LenDale White isn’t enough, he happens to be Holmgren’s next door neighbor on Mercer Island and the son of a retired divisional president of Levi Strauss who played football against Holmgren in high school while the two were growing up in San Francisco.
More importantly, he exhibits virtually all of the qualities they would like to develop behind Pro Bowl fullback Mack Strong, who will be 35 in September.
“It was a very small list in terms of fullbacks this year,” Ruskell said. “(Kirtman) was the one we targeted for doing all of the things that we are asking that guy to do. He is a good position blocker. He can run with the ball, he has real good hands, and a very good special teams player. So because of all his traits, we felt like he had a real shot at being a guy who could contribute for us.”
The Seahawks traded their sixth round pick for safety Mike Green from the Chicago Bears, and he adds depth and experience, having been a starter.
The trade-off was just right.
“I think we did a decent job this offseason of dealing with some of the losses we have had in the offseason,” Holmgren said. “Mike Green, of course, I look at him like our sixth round pick, and in that respect, he is a steal.”
In the seventh round, they snared the leading punter in the country in first team All-American Ryan Plackemeier, then with their compensatory pick four-year wide receiver Ben Obomanu, who has good speed and good size.
With the first mandatory mini-camp beginning on Friday, it will be the first look at the chemistry of the 2006 group in comparison to the one that went to the Super Bowl just three months ago. And Ruskell believes having gone to the Super Bowl and coming away with a 21-10 loss to Pittsburgh it will drive the players to an even higher level.
When camp begins at the end of the week, neither wide receiver Darrell Jackson nor tight end Jerramy Stevens will participate with knees on the mend. The hope is that everybody else will be healthy and ready to participate.
It will also be the first look at not only Burleson at wide receiver and Green at safety, but linebacker Julian Peterson, one of the crown jewels of free agency, and offensive lineman Tom Ashworth, who has three Super Bowl rings from the New England Patriots.
All of this is part and parcel of the team’s drive to repeat as NFC Champions.
“Certainly, the players have taken it upon themselves to say that it is unfinished business,” Ruskell said. “I think you see that in the amount of participation in our offseason program. There is a bad taste in their mouth for us, our guys, and this process of free agency and the draft has been an all-year thing, and you keep moving on.
“I don’t know that it changed our approach. There was no sense of desperation or that we have to do more or better. It was better from an organizational standpoint because we have gone through a whole year with this one system, pro and college – so we talk the same language. In that way, it was more efficient and more smooth. Our cooperation and communication and everybody’s work in this draft was excellent. There was a good feeling in that room, coaches, and personnel. We all felt like we did it together. Last year, there were a lot of pieces coming together for the first time, so that was a little different, and we did a fine job. This just felt better.”
3:50 PM - 6/1/2006
Posted in Unspecified
Seattle Seahawks RB Shaun Alexander, QB Matt Hasselbeck, G Steve Hutchinson, T Walter Jones and FB Mack Strong were selected to represent the club in the 2006 Pro Bowl, it was announced by the NFL Wednesday.
This will be the third consecutive appearance for Alexander, who tied a Pro Bowl record with three total touchdowns in his first appearance in 2003.
Alexander is the NFL’s leading rusher with 1,668 yards and also leads the NFL in scoring with 24 touchdowns, three away from tying Priest Holmes’ 2003 NFL record. He is the only player in NFL history to score 15 or more touchdowns five straight seasons, and has moved into a tie with Holmes for 12th on the all-time rushing touchdown list with 86. He started the season in 28th place.
This will be Hasselbeck’s second trip in three seasons. He is the NFC’s top-rated passer on the NFL’s top-ranked offense with a 96.3 QB rating while ranking in the top five among NFC passers in 10 categories. He has completed 271 of 420 passes (64.5%) for 3,215 yards, 22 touchdowns and nine interceptions, and became the first quarterback in club history to pass for 3,000 yards four consecutive seasons.
For Jones, this will mark his fifth consecutive trip to the NFL’s annual all-star game, and his sixth overall (1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005). Jones was the first and only Seattle offensive lineman to have ever been selected to participate in the Pro Bowl until Steve Hutchinson joined him in Hawaii in 2003. His sixth selection is the third-most in team history behind Cortez Kennedy (8) and Steve Largent (7).
This will mark Hutchinson’s third consecutive trip to Hawaii.
Hutchinson and Jones have started all 14 games this season and have served as the foundation for the NFL’s top-ranked offense. They have helped Alexander become the franchise’s leading rusher with 7,605 yards in just his sixth season. He needs just 29 yards to break his own single-season club record of 1,696 yards which he set last season. The two have helped form a line that has allowed just 21 sacks thus far, on pace to allow just 24 at season’s end which would mark the lowest total since allowing 23 in 1979.
For 13-year veteran Mack Strong, who originally signed with the Seahawks as an undrafted free agent, it is his first trip to the NFL’s annual all-star game.
"It’s been 13 years of working hard," said Strong of his selection. "You’ve always wanted to be recognized as being one of the best at what you do. This year it’s finally happened. I’m very excited about that.”
Strong has blocked for eight consecutive 1,000 yard rushers and seven 1,200-yard rushers in the last eight seasons. Strong has also been Alexander’s escort to many of his 96 total touchdowns over the last six seasons.
“It’s a great honor," Strong said. "I don’t quite know how to even react. I’m still kind of numb from when I found out the news this morning. I’m very excited about having an opportunity."
Alexander was elated to learn that his best blocker had been tapped for the trip to Hawaii.
"I’m jumping up and screaming and pumping my fists," Alexander said. "I think I started the wave in there. I’m excited because Mack definitely deserves it.”
Seahawks K Josh Brown, LB Lofa Tatupu, and C Robbie Tobeck are alternates and will make the trip if a selected player is injured or chooses not to play.
4:00 PM - 12/27/2005
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