Focusing on football

His back hurts, his frustration is building, and his opportunity for playing time is dwindling.

This is the kind of adversity Trent Dilfer can understand. He can deal with physical pain and the mental anguish of being a backup.

One year ago, Dilfer endured the kind of suffering that shouldn’t be wished on anyone. His young son, Trevin, passed away in April 2003. Trent Dilfer used football to help carry him through the grieving process.

“I love the game, and I enjoy being around the guys, so you indulge in it,” Dilfer said. “You invest so much into the process that you don’t really have the energy to do anything else.

“I still have some real dark moments of grieving. But at the same time, I guess they’re softened by the joy I get from the game.”

Following Trevin’s death, Dilfer considered not going to training camp last year. His wife, Cassandra, and starting quarterback Matt Hasselbeck convinced Dilfer to keep playing football.

In hindsight, Dilfer realizes how important that decision was, and this year he came back to training camp focusing mainly on football. He spent the offseason getting in the best shape of his life. He saw the possibility of a trip to the postseason and perhaps even another Super Bowl.

“I was really excited,” Dilfer said. “I was in really good shape, and felt really encouraged by the offseason of work. Unfortunately, I got this back thing, and it kind of slowed me down.”

Dilfer’s back injury has kept him out of both preseason games and has limited his practice opportunities.

He admits that he’s frustrated by the injury, which is not considered serious. But it’s nothing compared to what Dilfer was going through this time last year.

Dilfer even carries himself differently this camp. At one point last week, when Hasselbeck was answering media inquiries about his backup quarterback, Dilfer tiptoed up from behind delivered such a hard slap on the behind that Hasselbeck’s eyes watered up.

“The difference this year is his wife kicked him out of the house,” Hasselbeck said after regaining his composure. “She said, ‘No, you’re going to camp. I want my house back.’”

An eternal optimist, Dilfer refuses to let his latest injury get him down. But his string of bad luck has been incredible since leading the Baltimore Ravens to a Super Bowl en route to 15 consecutive wins as a starting quarterback.

His first season as Seahawks starter was derailed after six games due to a torn Achilles tendon in 2002. Hasselbeck finished that season so well that Dilfer was demoted to backup entering last year. He wasn’t necessarily happy with the decision, but he agreed to go along with it for the sake of the team.

But football became an afterthought that offseason when 5-year-old Trevin was hospitalized with a fatal virus in his heart.

The family went into a period of mourning, and Trent Dilfer recently revealed that he considered giving up football. But after conversations with Cassandra and Hasselbeck a few days before 2003 training camp, Dilfer decided to go back to the game he loved.

Hasselbeck played down his role in Dilfer’s decision to return to football.

“It’s just that I was hoping that that’s what he would do,” Hasselbeck said last week. “I wasn’t really stating a case or anything.”

In hindsight, Dilfer is glad he decided to go to Cheney last year.

“Obviously, because of the circumstances, I hadn’t worked out a lot from March until training camp. So I missed an offseason of rehabbing my Achilles,” Dilfer said. “I used camp as a physical rehabilitation time. It was also therapeutic, just to be with the guys and doing something I enjoy doing.”

No matter how bad his back hurts, he’s enjoying being around the game again. He believes this year’s Seahawks have something special in them, and Dilfer is happy to be along for the ride.

“I’ve really been encouraged by what I’ve seen,” Dilfer said. “We’re just really good. I can’t explain it any other way. We’re just a really good football team.”

A good team. And a good diversion.