KIRKLAND – Many parents might find it difficult to watch their children play football, but rarely will it be as challenging as what Don and Betsy Hasselbeck will go through this Sunday.
Two of their sons, Matt and Tim, are likely to become the second brother quarterback combination to ever start an NFL game on the same day. Matt will be the Seattle Seahawks’ starter against Cleveland, while Tim is expected to replace injured starter Patrick Ramsey in the Washington Redskins’ home game against New Orleans.
Now for the hard part.
Both games start at around 1 p.m. Pacific Time, or 4 p.m. in the Hasselbecks’ Massachusetts hometown. Rather than choose between their sons, Don purchased a 100-foot cable and will bring the upstairs television into the living room so the family can watch both games side-by-side via DirecTV.
“It gets a little confusing at times,” Don Hasselbeck said. “As long as the uniform colors aren’t too similar, we’ll be all right.”
The Hasselbecks had a similar hookup for a Sunday earlier this season when the Redskins played at Dallas in an early game, followed by the Seahawks and Steelers that afternoon. Don Hasselbeck anticipated that Tim might get to play in that Redskins game, and father knew best. Tim got into that game for three plays.
“It’s a little easier for me,” Don Hasselbeck said of watching games via side-by-side televisions. “My wife, Betsy, has a little tougher time with it. She’s always like, ‘Who’s on offense? Who are we cheering for?’”
Matt and Tim have been on the same NFL field twice, but Tim did not play in either game. Matt, who is three years older than Tim, is so interested in his brother’s career that he says he watched the three plays from the Washington-Dallas game 25 times during film session the following Monday.
Matt also got to see his brother play against the Miami Dolphins last Sunday night, when Tim came off the bench following Ramsey’s foot injury. Matt was flying back from Baltimore with the Seahawks, and the game was televised live on the team plane.
As for this week, Matt Hasselbeck obviously will have to wait to see how his brother’s first NFL start went.
“The challenge is, if you’re playing at the same time, to be focused on your game,” Matt Hasselbeck said. “During TV timeouts, guys always like to look up and see how other teams are doing. I think it’s something that distracts you, and I try not to do that.”
Don and Betsy Hasselbeck won’t be worried about distractions, as long as they get to see both their sons play.
“It’s very exciting,” said Don Hasselbeck, a former NFL tight end. “These guys really like playing football. They grew up around football and really enjoyed the game. And for them to get to play (professionally) is very satisfying.”
The only other brother quarterbacks to start an NFL game on the same day were former University of Washington stars Brock and Damon Huard. Brock started in a Seahawks loss to Denver, while Damon was the starter for Miami in a 17-14 win over Indianapolis on Nov. 26, 2000. Ty and Koy Detmer both served as starters for part of the 1999 season, but never on the same day.
No other brother combination has ever played quarterback in the same season, according to Elias Sports Bureau.
Getting over the bug: The Seahawks’ Hasselbeck and head coach Mike Holmgren are still recovering from a virus, but both feel much better than they did earlier in the week.
“I’m not 100 percent,” Holmgren said Friday, “but I’m getting there.”
Hasselbeck practiced all week despite his illness, even though he was so weak Wednesday that he had to take intravenous fluids.
“Right now I fine,” he said Friday. “It’s just that my energy level is a little below normal. I’m like 60 percent. But Wednesday, man, I was at like 15 percent. I just had nothing. Hopefully it will be completely out of my system by Sunday.”
Hobbled line: The Seahawks know that Chike Okeafor will start at one defensive end Sunday, but the other side is still up in the air.
Someone from the trio of Brandon Mitchell, Antonio Cochran and Lamar King will start, depending on the health of Mitchell. He hasn’t practiced all week due to a calf injury, leaving his availability for the game against Cleveland as a Sunday decision.
Cochran started the first seven games of the season before Mitchell stepped into the lineup against Pittsburgh four weeks ago.
Holmgren said that King could also assume Mitchell’s position, which would mark King’s first start in almost a year.
“Right now I feel good,” said King, who missed the first seven games of this season while recovering from knee surgery. “Each week I’m getting stronger and stronger, so I’m at the point now where I can just go out there, cut it loose and have fun.”
Game to be televised: Enough tickets were sold by Friday’s deadline for the NFL to lift its local television blackout for the Seahawks-Cleveland Browns game this Sunday.
Because the road team is from the AFC, the game will be televised on CBS instead of Fox. The game begins at 1:15 p.m. on Channel 7.
A limited number of tickets are still available for the game.
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