DEARBORN, Mich. – Super Bowl XL might be one of the most important games of Mike Holmgren’s career, but two of his biggest fans won’t be around to see it.
Kathy Holmgren, the wife of the Seattle Seahawks’ head coach, and their daughter Calla are heading to the Republic of the Congo on Thursday as part of a humanitarian mission that was planned last fall. They will be on a 17-day trip, meaning Kathy and Calla are unlikely to find out the score of the Seahawks’ game against the Pittsburgh Steelers until later this month.
“We didn’t know when we set this up four months ago that (the Seahawks) would be in the Super Bowl,” Mike Holmgren said. “In fact, we didn’t even think about the dates being a problem.”
Calla, a doctor and one of four Holmgren daughters, had originally scheduled to take the trip on her own. But Mike Holmgren encouraged his wife to go along after learning that Calla would be housed in the same place that Kathy stayed in a similar mission 35 years ago.
“I think it’s a lot more important than what I’m doing this week,” Mike Holmgren said of the trip to the African jungle.
While Holmgren would like to have his wife in Detroit for support, he’s giving her what football coaches like to call an excused absence.
“There are a lot of things that are a lot more important than winning a football game,” he said. “Her heart’s here (in Detroit), even though she’s going to be in Africa with my daughter.
“She gets nervous anyway. She doesn’t watch many of the games anyway, so she’ll just be farther away than walking around the stadium. I’ll let her know who wins when she gets back.”
Like a broken record: While Super Bowl week includes six days of media access before a quiet Saturday, the excess of available time doesn’t necessarily lead to many original questions.
In addition to the litany of well-told stories that the national media is hearing for the first time, there are always a few hot topics that dominate the week.
If Sunday night was any indication, Matt Hasselbeck can expect to hear a lot about his pre-overtime promise at Green Bay two years ago, and the subject of Shaun Alexander’s future will also get plenty of play.
Hasselbeck said Sunday that his playoff coin toss statement – “We want the ball, and we’re going to score,” he said in a clip that was unintentionally broadcast throughout Lambeau Field – was really just a way of needling his former Packers teammates.
“I wasn’t trying to be Joe Namath and guarantee anything,” he said. “I was playing against a bunch of friends, at Lambeau Field, where I didn’t get to see much playing time while I was with the Packers. More than anything, I was just having fun, talking trash, but at the same time trying to send a message to the (Seahawks) that, hey, we can get this done.”
Holmgren was asked about Alexander’s future and said that he hopes this Sunday’s game isn’t the running back’s final one in a Seattle uniform.
“I think he should finish his career as a Seahawk,” Holmgren said of the free-agent-to-be. “I hope that that gets done. It’s one of those big contracts, and it will be talked about a whole bunch. But I think he wants to stay, and I know we want him.”
Alexander said he’s not concerned with the lack of a long-term contract.
“All I think about is getting this team to a Super Bowl,” he said. “And now we’re here, playing the greatest game of our lives, which we’re going to have to do to win, and then try to build a dynasty.”
Waiting on Hamlin: Another Seahawk whose future is still in question is safety Ken Hamlin, who missed the final 10 games of the regular season because of head injuries suffered in a Pioneer Square incident last October and still hasn’t been officially cleared to play football again.
“It was a sad thing what happened to Ken,” Holmgren said Sunday. “The good part is that he has healed up. What his football future is, I can’t tell you right now.
“My hope and prayer is that he’ll be playing football next year.”
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