Last season was a slip of the Tongue

In his first year as a Seahawk, DB was a disappointment

By Scott M. Johnson

Herald Writer

CHENEY — Maybe he was being too aggressive in a defense that likes conservative safeties.

Maybe his style of play didn’t mesh with that of free safety Jay Bellamy.

Maybe he interpreted the defensive philosophy differently than the coaching staff.

Reggie Tongue still doesn’t fully understand what the problem was last season, but the bottom line is that it doesn’t matter anymore.

"Now I’m at peace with everything," Tongue said. "Hopefully this year, I can keep my job."

Guys who get $15 million contracts aren’t supposed to have to worry about job security — especially in their first year of active duty. But that was the case with Tongue last season, when he arrived in Seattle with high expectations and eventually found himself sitting on the bench.

Tongue was so shocked by the demotion that he openly expressed his opinion to the media, and even hinted that signing a five-year contract with the Seahawks may have been a mistake.

But Tongue showed restraint. He was much angrier than he ever let on.

"I really think I handled it pretty well," the soft-spoken strong safety said. "I didn’t explode, when I felt like inside of me that I was going to.

"I’m just trying to be me. I’m not trying to be more than just Reggie. I could have really exploded, but I didn’t. I really held back a lot last year. I didn’t tell everyone what was really going on inside of me, except my loved ones. But as I said, I’m at peace with it now."

Putting last season in the past wasn’t hard for Tongue. First of all, the Seahawks brought him back while not aggressively pursuing starters Bellamy and Kerry Joseph — both of whom have moved on. Then, the Seahawks informed Tongue that he was the front-runner to start at strong safety in the 2001 season.

As if that weren’t enough, coach Mike Holmgren sat down with the 28-year-old on the eve of training camp to get everything out in the open.

"That was huge of him," Tongue said. "He didn’t have to do that, and I didn’t expect him to do that."

Like Tongue, Holmgren was happy to put the whole issue behind him. He’s relying on Tongue to be one of five new starters on a defense that ranked last in the league last season.

"He’s a good player that was thrust into a situation last year that was difficult for him," Holmgren said. "I’m not sure we handled that properly. I think he probably could have done things a little bit better, but I’m sure we could too as a coaching staff. I wanted to eliminate all that indecision and questioning, if possible.

"I told him, ‘This is how we’re going to do it this year, and go do it.’ And he’s done it. I’ve been pleased with how he’s played."

During his first four seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs, Tongue developed a special bond with free safety Jerome Woods. They both came into the league together in 1996, and were nearly inseparable during their tenure there.

Tongue never created a similar on-field relationship with Bellamy, and after the sixth game of last season he was benched and replaced with Joseph.

There were reports that Tongue didn’t pick up the defense quickly enough, or that he didn’t fit the system. Tongue disputes both contentions, but admits that he still isn’t sure what the core of the issue was last season.

"Me and Dick (Roach) didn’t communicate well," Tongue said. "It wasn’t his fault, it wasn’t my fault. We just didn’t communicate well with each other. It’s not that I couldn’t learn (the defense). I guess we just weren’t communicating with each other."

Roach was let go at his request after the season, and linebackers coach Ken Flajole moved to the secondary.

Now Tongue, once viewed as a free agent bust, seems to be comfortable with the Seahawks’ defense. He has a year in this system under his belt, has a new running mate in veteran free safety Marcus Robertson, and seems to be a better fit than it originally appeared.

"He has to make some adjustments to his game, but I have faith in him," cornerback Shawn Springs said. "He’s doing a lot better. He has a lot better feel for how they want him to play defense, and he’s doing a lot better job."

Although he wants to leave last year in the past, Tongue is trying to use it in his favor.

"It’s definitely a motivator, no doubt," Tongue said. "I have a lot to prove to the league. Everyone saw what happened, and now I have to change everybody’s view of me again."