SEATTLE – While the national newspapers and local airwaves questioned everything from his toughness to his postseason disappearances, Shaun Alexander claimed to notice none of it.
But his teammates did.
Spurred on by the did-you-hear-what-they-said talk that circulated in the Seattle Seahawks’ locker room this week, Alexander went out Sunday and turned in another MVP-type performance. His 132 rushing yards and two touchdowns helped the Seahawks drub Carolina 34-14 in Sunday’s NFC Championship Game at Qwest Field.
“I think he played a very tough football game,” Seattle coach Mike Holmgren said. “Certain things were said after last week’s game that I thought were unfair. He’s just had a phenomenal year.”
Alexander took some criticism after coming out of last weekend’s 20-10 victory over the Washington Redskins because of a concussion. At least one local radio analyst questioned the severity of Alexander’s injury, comments that angered some of Alexander’s teammates.
“I never watch the TV news or read the paper, so anything I hear comes from the linemen or (fullback) Mack Strong,” Alexander said. “They were more upset with the Shaun-hasn’t-had-a-100-yard-game or he-got-knocked-out talk. But it’s football. You just hope that at the end of the game you have the lead, and we’ve done that in back-to-back weeks now.”
Alexander admitted that the concussion he suffered last weekend hampered him during the week, but he simply played through it on Sunday.
“It’s football,” he said. “No one’s ever 100 percent.”
Alexander came out of the locker room Sunday like a man on a mission, running onto the field during warmups and waving his arms toward the Qwest Field fans. His play was inspired as well, as he broke off a 14-yard run on his first carry and had 80 yards by halftime.
Afterward, he grabbed the NFC Championship trophy and ran toward the south end zone to celebrate in front of the fans.
“We’ve come a long way,” Alexander said. “It’s taken five years to put this group together, and we’re happy where we are.”
After rushing for 94 yards on 41 carries in the first three postseason games of his career, Alexander had a breakout performance in his most important playoff contest Sunday.
“He played like he played all year,” offensive coordinator Gil Haskell said.
And, considering that Alexander rushed for a franchise-record 1,880 yards and scored an NFL-record 28 touchdowns during the regular season, that was a good thing as far as the Seahawks were concerned.
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