Well before he was handed the keys to the automobile known as the Seattle Seahawks, Tim Ruskell approached draft day kind of like a backseat driver.
“I’ve been in (draft) rooms where I might as well have a lab coat on because no one’s listening to me,” he said with a laugh last week.
Now in his fourth year as the Seahawks’ team president, Ruskell has no such worries about getting his voice drowned out in the so-called war room.
The 52-year-old Ruskell is the point man for Seahawks draft choices, often getting the last word on a weekend that is all about shaping the future of the franchise. While players and coaches make their living each Sunday in the fall, much of Ruskell’s success starts with what happens on draft weekend.
Asked last week whether this weekend is the most important of Ruskell’s year, he said: “Yes, it is. Obviously, what we do in free agency takes time. So for a concentrated week, in terms of making your team better for the future — yes, there is no question (draft week is the most important). It is intense. I love it.”
Of course, Ruskell is not alone when it comes to the Seahawks’ draft. The team has a scouting department that includes several employees who spend their entire year working on the annual draft. The coaching staff also provides valuable input.
But when it comes to success or failure on draft day, the buck stops at Ruskell.
In his first three drafts with Seattle, Ruskell has generally had success. He’s helped bring in players such as defensive tackle Brandon Mebane, center Chris Spencer, cornerback Kelly Jennings and his most prized additions: linebackers Lofa Tatupu and Leroy Hill. Ruskell’s drafts also have misfired on occasion, like when the Seahawks took Georgia quarterback David Greene (Round 3) and tight end/fullback Tony Jackson (Round 5) in the 2005 draft.
In his former life, back when he had less say in the war room, Ruskell was in on draft-day decisions that resulted in future Tampa Bay Buccaneers stars such as linebacker Derrick Brooks, safety John Lynch and cornerback Ronde Barber.
Barber was one of his most memorable picks because of how far the University of Virginia product has come. When the Buccaneers selected him in the third round of the 1997 draft, critics were quick to point out that Barber didn’t have the speed to play in the NFL. Ruskell and director of player personnel Jerry Angelo convinced the Buccaneers to take him.
“We kind of stood alone in wanting Ronde Barber because of the size and the speed,” Ruskell recalled last week. “It got worse because he went to camp, and he was the worst player I ever saw. Jerry and I played the whole: ‘Well ya know, Jerry really liked him.’ It was bad.”
Ruskell admitted that the Buccaneers were considering releasing Barber before his rookie season even began, “which is the ultimate embarrassment for a personnel guy.”
In the end, Barber made the team and went on to forge out quite an NFL career, while justifying Ruskell’s eye for talent in the process.
But the one draft-day decision that seems to stand out above all else, at least in Ruskell’s Seahawks tenure, is the 2005 selection of Tatupu. The Seahawks traded two draft picks to move up nine spots in the second round just to have a shot at the undersized middle linebacker from USC.
“There was criticism,” Ruskell recalled last week, “and everybody said: ‘You can’t take this guy until late because of his size.’ It really was a story about a guy that plays with heart.
“What those coaches said at USC was exactly what he was. (Trojans head coach Pete Carroll) said: ‘Guys, you are all going to ignore this guy (because) he is not going to run great. But I am telling you, there is something special there.’ I was writing it down, (and) I figured everybody was getting the same thing I was getting.”
Whether or not the Seahawks can find another Tatupu in the 2008 draft is still to be determined. All Ruskell knows is that he’s put in plenty of preparation, and he’s ready to take another step toward building the future of the Seahawks.
“We have great fun with it,” he said of the annual draft. “It is hard work, and it is grinding, and I have enjoyed every one of them.
“You can really help your football team, and that’s the way we take it.”
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
