‘Someday’ has arrived

NFL season rushing leaders

YearNo

Shaun Alexander, Seattle200527

Priest Holmes, Kansas City200327

Emmitt Smith, Dallas199525

John Riggins, Washington198324

Priest Holmes, Kansas City200221

Terrell Davis, Denver199821

Terry Allen, Washington199621

Emmitt Smith, Dallas199421

Joe Morris, New York Giants198521

YearGCarYards

Eric Dickerson, L.A. Rams1984153802,105

Jamal Lewis, Baltimore2003163872,066

Barry Sanders, Detroit1997163352,053

Terrell Davis, Denver1998163922,008

O.J. Simpson, Buffalo1973143322,003

Earl Campbell, Houston1980163731,934

Barry Sanders, Detroit1994163311,883

Ahman Green, Green Bay2003163551,883

Shaun Alexander, Seattle2005163701,880

Jim Brown, Cleveland1963142911,863

Tiki Barber, N.Y. Giants2005163571,860

Ricky Williams, Miami2002163831,853

Walter Payton, Chicago1977143391,852

Jamal Anderson, Atlanta1998164101,846

Eric Dickerson, L.A. Rams1986164041,821

O.J. Simpson, Buffalo1975143291,817

Eric Dickerson, L.A. Rams1983163901,808

By Rich Myhre

Herald Writer

They sat together in the stadium five years ago, watching the Baltimore Ravens defeat the New York Giants in Super Bowl XXXV.

They were two brothers, looking on with one dream.

The dream was for Shaun Alexander, then coming off his rookie season with the Seattle Seahawks and the younger of the two brothers, to play in the Super Bowl himself one day.

”He and I were in the stands, just watching the game with everybody else,” said Durran Alexander, the other brother, who is one year older than Shaun. ”We were just sitting there talking and I asked him, ‘Hey, man, what are you thinking?’ And he looked at me and said, ‘Someday we will be in this game.’ ”

Someday has arrived for Shaun Alexander, the NFL’s 2005 Most Valuable Player, the league’s rushing leader, and a primary reason the Seahawks have a ticket to Detroit this week. With Alexander totaling 1,880 rushing yards and an NFL single-season record of 28 touchdowns, Seattle posted a 13-3 record in the regular season before brushing past Washington and Carolina in the first two playoff games.

The last and largest test comes Sunday when the Seahawks face the Pittsburgh Steelers at Ford Field, site of Super Bowl XL.

For Alexander, who grew up in the Cincinnati suburb of Florence, Ky., and rooted for the Bengals in the 1989 Super Bowl against San Francisco, it is the chance to bring his long-held dream to fruition.

”This is an awesome feeling,” he said. ”I think every little kid thinks about playing in the Super Bowl.”

Alexander, who was 11 at the time, says he wept when his beloved Bengals lost to San Francisco, led by Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana. Despite his grief, Alexander still remembers ”how I just thought, ‘Man, I would love to be in that game.’ And now here we are. We’re finally here.”

Ironically, Sunday’s game is against Pittsburgh, one of Cincinnati’s longtime rivals. Lining up against the Steelers, he conceded, ”will be a little more exciting for me probably than some of the other guys.”

For Alexander, a Super Bowl victory would cap a season that is, without question, the best for a professional athlete in Seattle sports history. No one else – not Ken Griffey Jr. or Alex Rodriguez of the Mariners, not Gary Payton of the SuperSonics, nor anyone else – has ever combined such a bevy of personal accomplishments, records and accolades in one year while leading his team to a league championship game or series.

At age 28, Alexander is moving in among the NFL’s all-time rushing elite. Players he admired as a youngster like Emmitt Smith, Barry Sanders and Eric Dickerson, as well stars from earlier generations such as Jim Brown, Gale Sayers, Walter Payton, Herschel Walker and Tony Dorsett – this is the company he now keeps.

Add to that lineup Jerome Bettis, Alexander’s counterpart in Sunday’s game and another of the league’s all-time rushing leaders.

Given his youth, Alexander cannot yet match the career totals of these fellows. But a few more years like this one, along with continued good health, should do the trick.

”No one player will ever be the league’s clear-cut No. 1 back,” said Seattle running back coach Stump Mitchell, a former NFL running back himself. ”Fans, media and everybody else will always have their favorites for No. 1. But stat-wise, there will always be a No. 1 and that’s where Shaun wants to be. Shaun works hard because he wants to be No. 1.

”To play this game and to be great you have to be selfish – selfish in terms of wanting to play, in terms of wanting to get yards, in terms of wanting to get touchdowns – but you also have to be a team player as well. And that’s Shaun.”

A year ago, Alexander rushed for 1,696 yards. This year, Mitchell said, the goal was 2,000. And to be honest, he went on, both men feel like Alexander ”left yards on the field this year because of a bad read or being too anxious or something like that.”

Although Alexander is rarely the fastest guy on the field – the likely reason he slipped to Seattle at No. 19 in the 2000 NFL draft – ”he’s deceptively fast,” Mitchell said. ”I think Shaun is faster than most people think. And he can wiggle guys to death. He can turn them around in the open field. He gets the job done.”

”Sometimes people talk about what Shaun is not, but hopefully they’ll start talking about what he is,” said Seahawks fullback Mack Strong. ”And what he is is the best player in the league. He does everything well. That’s what’s so special about Shaun and what kind of sets him apart from other running backs. He plays at a high level in every area of his game.”

With Alexander’s contract expiring after this season, his status will be the team’s biggest question mark through the offseason. Assuming he returns, and with four Pro Bowl blockers back (linemen Walter Jones, Steve Hutchinson and Robbie Tobeck, plus Strong), the question then becomes how much better he can be in 2006 and beyond.

”He can definitely be 200 or 250 yards better than he was this year,” Mitchell said. ”All Shaun he needs is a crease. Give him a crease and he’ll make some things happen.”

Said Alexander: ”I just want to get better each year. And then we’ll see what happens.”

Come Sunday, though, ”I won’t worry about my own stats,” he said. ”This is the biggest game in the world and we know that, so I tell everybody that if I get 9 yards and we win, I’m going to be really happy. Because all we want to do is win.”