KIRKLAND – It’s the kind of football team a player would put off retirement to play for.
“No question in my mind,” said Mack Strong. “Not … one … doubt.”
“It has all the characteristics of a team that I would really want to be a part of,” said Trent Dilfer.
Not that either man was pondering retirement after the Seahawks ended the 2003 season with a first-round playoff loss to the Green Bay Packers.
So, this was strictly a hypothetical question: If you were thinking about retiring, would this Seahawk team with all its promise be enough to draw you back?
Without a moment’s hesitation, their answers were an unequivocal “yes.”
You can understand why Strong responded as he did. As the stalwart fullback for the Seahawks, he has played 11 years in the NFL and the nearest he’s gotten to a Super Bowl is watching it on TV.
Dilfer, the backup quarterback, can’t offer the same rationale. He led the Baltimore Ravens to a Super Bowl championship in 2001.
Both men, though, know that the 2004 Seahawks have the makings of a special season. A season unlike any Seahawks team has ever had. A season that could end in the Super Bowl on Feb.6 in Jacksonville, Fla.
Could. If they play well. If they get the breaks. If they avoid key injuries. If. If. If.
The world of sport is one gigantic “if.”
One “if” you don’t expect of a team that has made just three playoffs appearances in the past 16 years: “If it doesn’t get too cocky.” But that happens when the so-called experts tell you that you’re good and you should go a long way.
Which is where coaches come in. “We’ve made a conscious effort not to let them get too cocky about what people are saying about them,” Seahawks head coach Mike Holmgren said this week. “We have to keep our feet on the ground.”
A loss or a close game in the season opener at New Orleans on Sunday would certainly keep everyone well grounded.
“Starting fast is huge,” Holmgren said. “It usually means you’ve got a real good chance to get in the playoffs. The rule is if you start fast, it helps you.”
The Seahawks did that a year ago, winning five of the first six, then played .500 ball the rest of the way for a 10-6 record, only the third double-digit victory total in the 28-year history of the franchise.
Were they to come away from the “Big Easy” with a loss, fans shouldn’t distress too much. This doesn’t seem like the type of team that’ll get all sweaty-palmed after one game.
“I don’t think anything could really phase us early on,” said Dilfer, who sees things about as clearly as any athlete or non-athlete you could ever meet. “This team has a lot of mental toughness and the core group has been through enough together that they trust one another.”
And trust is big on a football team.
“It’s huge,” he said. “It’s not just trust in what they do on the field, it’s trust in how they’ll handle things, that they’re not going to point fingers or try to cover their own ass, that they’ll be men about it and take it on the chin. I think this team will do that. I know this team will do that.”
Strong is a member of that core group Dilfer referred to. More than just a member really, he’s the founding father of the group. Some think he founded the Seahawks. He’s old – he’ll be 33 on Saturday – but not that old.
Nor is he acting his age. He’s fended off all challenges to his starting position for the fifth year in a row, which means he’ll primarily be clearing paths for Shaun Alexander to run through as Alexander goes for his fourth consecutive 1,000-yard season.
Strong doesn’t change much from year to year. He quietly comes in, does his job and goes home to his wife and two children. He is not a spotlight-seeker, but neither is he averse to speaking to the media. In some ways, he’s like the Ancient Mariner, Edgar Martinez, who is retiring after 18 years with the M’s.
“Eighteen years? That’s a heckuva lot longer than 12,” Strong said with a smile the other day. “I’ve definitely followed his career and been amazed at his longevity. To me, though, the biggest thing that speaks so well about Edgar is the way people respect him in the community, for being a hard worker, an excellent player and just being a family man.
“Those are all the things I want to imitate. That’s what I want to be remembered for whenever I leave the game.”
Which may not happen anytime soon.
After that heartbreaking loss to the Packers in the playoffs, Strong’s mind quickly shifted to the 2004 season. “It was hard for me to sleep that night,” he said. “I was thinking about getting ready to play again.”
He has always taken care of his body, but in recent years, he’s found a new way to perhaps lengthen his career: yoga. “For a guy like me, it’s really good for increasing flexibility and strength, as well as just helping to keep me from getting injured.”
Whether it’s the yoga, his rigorous workouts or just the health he’s been “blessed” with, he says he’s felt better every year than he did the year before.
Would a Super Bowl championship this season be enough for him to walk away from the game? “I think it would just whet my appetite more,” he said. “I don’t want to throw a good thing away.”
He just might make 18 years in the NFL after all.
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