After feeling unappreciated for most of his four years as a Seattle Seahawk, cornerback Ken Lucas had 36 million reasons to feel welcomed by the Carolina Panthers.
And he’s given the Carolina Panthers 36 million reasons to appreciate him.
The ex-Seahawk will return to Seattle for this weekend’s NFC Championship game, 10 months after signing a six-year, $36 million contract with the Panthers.
“I said I’d probably never come out to Seattle again,” Lucas said during a conference call with Seattle reporters on Wednesday, “but I have no other choice now.”
While stopping short of saying that he was looking for revenge, Lucas admitted Wednesday that he’ll be a little more fired up to face his former team. He said that his career in Seattle never left him fulfilled.
“To be honest, no,” Lucas said when asked if he felt appreciated during his career as a Seahawk. “They knew I was a good player, but I’m just happier here now. I feel like I’m in a place I’m supposed to be. I have no regrets about Seattle. I’m glad they gave me an opportunity to play in the NFL, and I’m thankful for that.”
Lucas still has plenty of friends on the Seahawks, including former Cleveland East Side (Miss.) High School teammate Floyd Womack, who called him Monday morning and left two words on Lucas’s voicemail – “seven days” – before hanging up.
Lucas also appreciates the time he spent with Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, who started watching film with him before the 2003 season.
“I think the turning point in my career,” Lucas said, “was when Matt had the opportunity to play in his first Pro Bowl and told me: ‘You’re just as good as any corner in the Pro Bowl. The only difference is that they’re smart players.’ I took that to heart and learned from that, and I think my career has blossomed since then. I just thank him for that. I’ve learned a lot from him.”
As if Lucas didn’t have enough inside information on Seattle, he made a call to one of his former teammates this week seeking more. Washington Redskins cornerback Shawn Springs, who played three seasons with Lucas in Seattle, gave Lucas a few tips after facing the Seahawks offense last Saturday.
“We help each other out,” Lucas said. “When we’ve played a common opponent, he’ll call me and ask me how these guys play. And I do the same thing. He really didn’t have too much to tell me besides what we both knew already.”
The Seahawks took Lucas in the second round of the 2001 draft, but his career was littered with ups and downs. He got benched on two different occasions during his four years in Seattle when Springs and Marcus Trufant were also on the team.
When the 2004 season ended, Lucas had a feeling he might move on. Upon leaving the locker room for the final time on Jan. 9, 2005, Lucas told The Herald: “I don’t even know how (the Seahawks) feel about me.”
Two months later, he signed the lucrative deal with Carolina.
“They got the guys that they wanted to sign, and they also got two good corners in (Kelly) Herndon and Andre Dyson,” Lucas said Wednesday. “So everything worked out for both teams. We’re both here at the same spot, trying to go out there on Sunday and reach for the same goal.”
Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren said Wednesday that Lucas was in the Seahawks’ plans but that the size of Carolina’s offer made it too difficult to re-sign him.
“Carolina offered him just a phenomenal financial package, and he was gone,” Holmgren said. “Ken had developed his skills. We drafted him, we liked him, he had gotten better and better and better, and now he’s playing at a certain level. That was a good signing by Carolina.”
The Panthers are happy with their addition – he had six interceptions this season and probably should have gone to the Pro Bowl – and Lucas is happy to be in Carolina.
Now he’ll get a chance to show the Seahawks what they’re missing.
“Of course, it’s only natural when someone gets an opportunity to play against his former team that he’s going to be amped up for that game,” said Lucas, who had six interceptions in his debut season with the Panthers. “But it’s going to be about more than me. It’s not about me versus the Seahawks; it’s the Panthers versus the Seahawks.”
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