SEATTLE — Josh Scobey was sitting at home, casually watching a 2003 playoff game after his season with the Arizona Cardinals had come to a conclusion, when he sat up and took notice. He wasn’t sure he had heard what the quarterback had just said.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Scobey said Sunday.
That was the last time the Seattle Seahawks played a postseason game at Lambeau Field in Green Bay. Seattle’s young quarterback, a former Packer named Matt Hasselbeck, had made an unprecedented announcement that inadvertently got broadcast over the stadium speakers.
“We’ll take the ball, and we’re going to score,” Hasselbeck said during the overtime coin-toss.
As Seahawks fans probably remember, the Seahawks got the ball but did not score. After a three-and-out to open overtime, Hasselbeck threw an ill-advised interception on Seattle’s second drive. Green Bay’s Al Harris returned the interception for the game-winning touchdown, knocking the Seahawks out of their first postseason in four years.
This Saturday, just over four years since Hasselbeck made that pronouncement, the Seahawks will go back to Green Bay for a playoff game. With Saturday’s 35-14 win over Washington, Seattle advanced to the NFC divisional playoffs and a trip to Lambeau Field.
“They’re a good team,” Hasselbeck said. “At this point, I don’t know that I am hoping to play good teams at their place, (but) it’s just the nature of what we have to do. We’ll go out and play as hard as we can, and see what happens.”
Scobey, a special teamer who has since become one of Hasselbeck’s Seattle teammates, knows what to expect from the Packers this weekend. He compared Green Bay’s regular season to that of the 2005 Seahawks, who had a similar 13-3 record and first-round bye on the way to Super Bowl XL.
“They’re one of the best teams in the league,” Scobey said. “They feel good about themselves; they have a bye week. That’s what we felt (in 2005).
“It’s a new season now that the playoffs have started, but I’m pretty sure they’re going to be ready. They’ll prepare for us, and come Saturday, we’re going to collide.”
Scobey wasn’t the only Seahawks player wary of the buzzsaw that is the 2007 Packers.
“It’s going to be a challenge for the defense,” said Seattle defensive back Jordan Babineaux, who had an interception return for a touchdown in Saturday’s win over Washington. “If we continue to make the quarterback an uncomfortable day, and we continue to create turnovers, then we’ll have a chance for our offense to put points on the board.”
Green Bay’s quarterback would be one Brett Favre, who holds several NFL passing records and will one day be in the Hall of Fame. The 38-year-old quarterback is having one of his best NFL seasons, so the Seahawks know they’ll have to limit his success on Saturday.
“He’s a good player,” Seahawks defensive tackle Brandon Mebane said. “You’ve just got to put pressure on him. That’s basically what it is.”
Mebane, a 22-year-old rookie, has been on the same field as Favre only once. That was in an August preseason game, and Favre came out of the game before Mebane saw his first snap.
But Mebane sure knows one thing about the Packers’ quarterback.
“He’s old enough to be my dad,” Mebane said.
Mebane was one of several Seahawks who weren’t around for the infamous Hasselbeck proclamation at the start of the playoff overtime. Those who were there won’t soon forget it.
“At that point, I really didn’t realize what he had said,” offensive lineman Walter Jones said. “It was one of those things.
“I don’t think he regrets it at all. Hopefully, if we win the coin toss, he’ll say it again. I don’t think it will determine the outcome of the game.”
Offensive coordinator Gil Haskell is among those who don’t want to hear those words again.
“He was young at the time,” Haskell said Sunday, his eyes rolling as he spoke. “I just said, ‘Oh, no.’”
Apparently, Hasselbeck hasn’t matured as much as Haskell would like. He started his press conference after Sunday’s game by repeating his words, adding, “I said it, I mean it, thank you.”
That was followed by laughter.
But the Seahawks aren’t laughing about their next task. Playing on the historic turf of Lambeau Field, where the Packers are 14-2 in playoff games, is not easy.
“I feel like I’m trying to get a victory,” Seahawks safety Deon Grant said when asked about the trip to Green Bay. “I’m not going up there to party or to get all excited about the history. I’m just going up there trying to get a victory.”
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