Long-distance runs lead to long distance phone call

  • Monday, November 12, 2001 9:00pm
  • Sports

Scott M. Johnson

KIRKLAND – Shaun Alexander spent the hours after the finest effort of his NFL career alone, talking into a telephone to friends and relatives on the other side of the country until after 3 a.m.

Later this week, the Seattle Seahawks running back will do his celebrating with teammates. And he’ll pick up the bill.

Alexander said Monday that he’s taking his offensive linemen out for dinner Thursday night, at his expense.

“I’m going to take them out to eat and let them know that we can do it again,” Alexander said, adding that he’ll include fullback Mack Strong in the event.

The Seahawks’ offensive line was a major factor in Alexander’s 266-yard rushing effort Sunday, which marked the fourth-best rushing performance in NFL history. The only other time Seahawks fans have seen a night like Sunday was in 1987, when the Raiders’ Bo Jackson ran for 221 yards and scored three touchdowns against Seattle on Monday Night Football in 1987.

Alexander, who was 10 years old at the time, remembers watching that game.

“I thought, man, that team’s horrible he’s playing against,” Alexander said Monday. “But I guess they’re all right now.”

What Alexander did on Sunday night overshadowed Jackson’s performance. He broke the team rushing record by 59 yards, while scoring all three of his touchdowns in the second half of a 34-27 victory over the Raiders.

The highlight was an 88-yard touchdown run, during which he watched himself on the Husky Stadium scoreboard video screen.

“I’ve never seen it before,” Alexander said. “I didn’t even know it was on. But when I started running, I was like, ‘Oh, there I am. This is great.’ I looked fast at the beginning of the run, and then I started to slow down. I saw it all the way to the end zone.”

Alexander goes into every game expecting a breakout performance, but his confidence prior to Sunday’s game was recorded on tape. The previous night, he called his church in Alabama and left a message on the answering machine.

” ‘Y’all make sure you watch this game, because I’m about to go off,’” he said Monday, recalling his message. “They called me back and replayed it on my answering machine. That was pretty funny.”

Despite a memorable rushing day that has only been surpassed by Corey Dillon, Walter Payton and O.J. Simpson, Alexander was back to being a regular guy on Monday.

“It probably won’t hit me for another six years,” he said. “It’s cool to be in a list with those three guys, but it still won’t hit me for a while.”

Alexander might return to his role as backup sometime in the next few weeks. Coach Mike Holmgren began wavering on the date of Ricky Watters’ return, saying Monday that it could be as late as the Dec. 2 home game against San Diego. Watters is out with a shoulder injury, but the emergence of Alexander means the Seahawks are in no hurry to get their original starter back in the lineup.

Kelly out six weeks: Free safety Maurice Kelly is expected to miss six weeks after dislocating three toes during Sunday’s win.

Kelly was starting in place of Marcus Robertson, who has missed three games due to a hamstring injury. Robertson has not practiced since Oct. 12, and his status for this week’s game is still up in the air.

“I’m trying to be smart about it,” Robertson said. “There are eight games left in the season, so I don’t want to go out this week and miss the final seven. If I’m out there, believe me, I’m OK.”

Holmgren said the team is exploring its options in regards to signing another safety. Starting strong safety Reggie Tongue and his backup, rookie Curtis Fuller, are the only healthy safeties on the roster, meaning the Seahawks could add another veteran to the mix.

Kerry Joseph, who started the final 10 games of last season at strong safety, is one of the free agents available. Some of the other available veterans include Mark Carrier, Marty Carter and Henry Jones.

Alex Van who? The Seahawks won’t have much game film on the opposing quarterback this week.

The Buffalo Bills will be without starter Rob Johnson, who broke his collarbone in Sunday’s loss to New England and should miss at least four weeks.

Van Pelt has just three NFL starts, all during the 1997 season, and has seen limited action this year.

His backup is Travis Brown, who was with the Seahawks last season and during the most recent training camp.

Climbing the charts: The Seahawks’ 497-yard offensive performance Sunday catapulted them from 27th in the league in total offense to 17th. Seattle’s rushing offense went from 13th to fifth after a game in which the Seahawks put up 319 yards on the ground.

The Seahawks’ offense hasn’t been ranked that high in either category since the beginning of the 1998 season.

Alexander, meanwhile, moved up three spots to fourth on the AFC rushing chart. He has 758 yards, which is almost 200 more than Watters had through eight games last season.

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