Funnyman Wistrom ready to prove his worth to Hawks

  • By Scott M. Johnson / Herald Writer
  • Tuesday, August 31, 2004 9:00pm
  • Sports

KIRKLAND – The jokes were inevitable.

When Robbie Tobeck is your new teammate, and you get a $14 million signing bonus, you’re going to hear about it.

For Grant Wistrom, it happened the day that an internet site came out with its list of the 10 most overpaid players in the NFL. Wistrom, the Seattle Seahawks’ well-compensated defensive end, was No. 6 on the list after signing a six-year, $33 million contract that included the team-record bonus last March.

Tobeck was the first to bring the list to Wistrom’s attention.

“That’s crap, man,” Wistrom claims to have shot back, feigning anger. “I should at least be in the top three.”

While the Seahawks gave Wistrom a fat check because of what they expect him to do on the field, he’s turned out to be a pretty nice fit off of it as well.

“He’s blending in well,” said Tobeck, a 34-year-old offensive lineman who doubles as the Seahawks’ resident smart aleck. “The obvious jokes are the big money and all that, but he just kind of embraces it and rolls with it.”

Wistrom, 28, has only known one NFL team for his entire career. He spent his first six seasons with the St. Louis Rams. But according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Rams only offered Wistrom a five-year, $16.5 million contract that included a $5 million signing bonus. So he decided to explore the free agent market.

Wistrom’s first stop was Seattle, and the Seahawks never let him out of the building. Their offer blew Wistrom’s socks off, and

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