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Seattle's taming of a shrewd QB

By JOHN ROMANO
Published January 22, 2006

SEATTLE - They will have you believe he has been reformed. That he stays within the system and rarely scribbles outside the lines.

The word is, he has gone a touch conservative. That his reckless tendencies have receded just as surely as his hairline.

The image these days is of a corporate quarterback, all humility and conformity in a prewrapped package.

Don't you believe it.

In his heart, Matt Hasselbeck remains a gunslinger. And, you never know, the Seahawks just might need one today.

Come to think of it, the NFL might, too.

Oh, I'll grant you, Hasselbeck has done okay for himself as a button-down type. After all, the kid has a $48-million contract. Led the NFC in passer rating and is headed to a second Pro Bowl. Even has Seattle on the cusp of a Super Bowl after 21 years without so much as a playoff victory.

But there is something about a quarterback who plays on the edge. A guy willing to take a chance and capable of pulling it off.

You want to look inside the face mask and see a sparkle in his eye. You want to believe that hidden beneath an earnest facade is a renegade's soul.

You respect Brad Johnson.

But you want Brett Favre.

That is the quarterback Hasselbeck can be. Maybe not with quite the same arm as Favre, but with a similar hell-bent disposition.

It is not an indiscriminate comparison. Hasselbeck spent three years in Green Bay as an understudy to Favre. And Seattle coach Mike Holmgren has spent the better part of a career trying to corral both quarterbacks.

Did you know it was Holmgren's fifth season in Green Bay with Favre when they won a Super Bowl? And did you know this is the fifth season Hasselbeck and Holmgren have been together in Seattle?

"I knew Matt was going to be a fine player. I never doubted that," Holmgren said. "But there were moments, early on, that we battled a bit. I always thought, at that position, it takes a little time. It's different than other positions. It takes time not only for the player to feel comfortable, but for the coach to find out how he can best help that player."

In other words, it took that long to corral Hasselbeck.

To convince him that he wasn't on a playground. That he couldn't just fling a ball downfield and assume it was going to land safely.

It took that long for Holmgren to convince Hasselbeck that he was part of an offense and not the entire show.

"It hasn't always been easy," Hasselbeck, 30, said. "He's tough on his quarterbacks. But if you do it his way, it usually works out."

Go back to the 2003 season. Go back to Hasselbeck's first playoff game as a starting quarterback. It as instructive as any moment in his evolution.

As fate would have it, the Seahawks were in Green Bay. For 60 minutes, Hasselbeck matched Favre throw for throw, driving the Seahawks to a touchdown with 51 seconds remaining to force overtime.

At midfield for the OT coin flip, with the referee's microphone turned on and a national television audience listening, Hasselbeck blurted out:

"We want the ball. We're going to score."

Seattle got the kickoff, Hasselbeck threw a sideline pass, Al Harris picked it off and went 52 yards for the winning touchdown.

It was a perfect Hasselbeck moment. Cocky and reckless. Just as he had been since Seattle had acquired him in a trade in 2001.

"Like all of us," Holmgren said last week, "there is a period of becoming a little more humble."

Two years later, Hasselbeck is a different quarterback. Or, perhaps, a more refined quarterback. He has finally grasped the upbeat tempo Holmgren has been searching for with his offense. He has taken a backseat to running back, and league MVP, Shaun Alexander. He has learned when to call audibles and, perhaps even more important, when not to call audibles.

He has cut down on the freelancing and, by extension, has drastically reduced his mistakes. His touchdown-to-interception ratio of 24-9 is, by far, the best of his career.

But the fire has not been completely doused. You saw it last weekend when the Seahawks were down in the second quarter to the Redskins. Alexander was out of the game with a concussion. The Seahawks fumbled five times, losing three.

The entire offense was resting on the seventh-year player out of Boston College, and he was superb. He threw for one touchdown, ran for another and posted his fifth consecutive game with a quarterback rating of more than 100.

"I've very, very proud of the job he has done," Holmgren said. "He is stronger and better because of some of the tough things he had to go through. He and I kind of banged around a little bit, but we're in a good place now."

Perhaps, in the beginning, he was too cheeky. At times, maybe, too impetuous for his own good.

But if he didn't have that flair, if he didn't have that arrogance, he wouldn't be where he is today.

A step away from the Super Bowl.

[Last modified January 22, 2006, 01:02:19]