KIRKLAND – If Walter Jones needs a little friendly advice this week, he can turn to people like Steve Trachsel, Eric Show and Kirk McLean.
Or if he wants to save a phone call, he could walk across the locker room and talk to some of his teammates.
The Seattle Seahawks’ left tackle could make history this week in that he is in position to be on the wrong end of a high-profile record. Washington Redskins defensive end Bruce Smith is 1.5 sacks behind Reggie White’s all-time career record of 198. Jones will be the man most responsible for containing Smith.
“He’s motivated; he wants to break it,” Jones said Wednesday. “But I don’t want him to break it this week. It’s great for him. I bet every tackle in the league doesn’t want him to break it on them. That’s my goal this week. I don’t want it to be me.”
Considering the fact that Smith, 40, has just 1.5 sacks all season, it might seem like a stretch to expect him to tie or set the record this Sunday. But the last time he had a multiple-sack game was against these same Seahawks. Smith beat Jones for two sacks in a 14-3 Redskins win last November.
“He got me,” said Jones, who has probably given up a half-dozen or so sacks over the past three years. “He knows how to do it. He’s a pro. He knows how to get the job done. I just have to go out there and stay focused. And try to block him.”
Trachsel, Show and McLean have all been at the unfortunate end of records, as have the Seahawks. Trachsel gave up Mark McGwire’s 62nd home run in 1998, Show threw the pitch that extended Pete Rose’s hit streak to 44 games, and McLean was the goaltender who allowed Wayne Gretzky’s record-breaking goal in 1996.
The Seahawks were on the field for history last October, when Emmitt Smith of the Dallas Cowboys broke Walter Payton’s career rushing record.
“The bad thing about was that it was against us, and we will always be known as the team he got it against,” Seahawks defensive tackle John Randle said. “We’ll always be the answer to a trivia question for years to come.
“But it’s also the kind of thing where you were able to be there and see him break it.”
For all the respect Randle holds for Bruce Smith, he doesn’t want to see the Seahawks on the wrong end of another high-profile record – the second in less than 13 months.
“I’d like to see him get it, but not against us,” said Randle, who currently trails Smith by 62.5 sacks on the career list. “I’ll be rooting for Walter. I hope that Walter – and I know he will – can bring his A game.”
Off the field, Jones is about as mild-mannered as they come. The next time he publicly talks trash about an opponent will be the first.
But he’s also a proud man, which Seahawks fans have learned by his recent habit of skipping training camps while awaiting a long-term contract. Jones doesn’t want to see himself on highlight reels for years to come, like many of the Seahawks defenders still do whenever the Emmitt Smith record-breaker is shown.
As much as Jones would like to pitch a sack shutout, he’s not going to let it affect him if he doesn’t.
“If (the record) happens, it happens,” Jones said. “I’ll still try to do what I can to help the team win.”
Smith’s last sack came Oct. 3 in a game at Philadelphia. Since then, he has a total of two tackles and has been so unproductive that Redskins coach Steve Spurrier took him out of the starting lineup last Sunday. Smith is not happy about the reduced role as a third-down pass rusher.
“I want to know what their intentions are,” Smith told Washington, D.C., reporters Monday. “I have goals that I would like to achieve myself – team goals and individual goals. And at some point in time in your career, you have to take a stand and be a little selfish.”
Spurrier said Wednesday that he is considering putting Smith back in the starting lineup because his replacement, Regan Upshaw, struggled in a loss to Dallas.
The possibility of a reduced role and the fact that Jones is a Pro Bowl player make for an unlikely record-breaking scenario. But Reggie White’s mark should fall at some point this season.
Just hope for Jones’s sake that it won’t happen this Sunday. He doesn’t want to be the next Steve Trachsel, Eric Show or Kirk McLean.
“Don’t let him get it on me, man,” he said.
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