KIRKLAND – The public will finally get an opportunity to see the 2007 Seattle Seahawks tonight. But they’ll have to pay to do it.
The Seahawks are holding their annual intrasquad scrimmage at Seattle Center’s Memorial Stadium, beginning at 5 p.m. Tickets are $12 for adults and $5 for children 6 to 17, with proceeds going to help the Seattle School District.
The annual scrimmage is really just a glorified practice, with a public-address announcer guiding the fans through the events. While there are some scrimmage-like aspects, no score is kept.
“It’s a combination practice-scrimmage,” coach Mike Holmgren said Friday. “When we’ve held it in Portland and over in eastern Washington, the fans have liked it. And it’s also a great evaluation tool for us.”
Last year, the scrimmage was held at Eastern Washington University’s Woodward Field and free to the public. The previous year, the Seahawks held the scrimmage at Portland’s minor-league baseball stadium as part of a plan to build a bigger fan base in Oregon.
Because training camp practices in Kirkland are closed to the public, the first time fans can see the 2007 Seahawks without paying is on Wednesday, when the team will hold a free practice at Husky Stadium at 8:45 a.m.
As for tonight’s scrimmage, Holmgren admitted that it might carry more weight than a typical practice in terms of player evaluation.
“They are out there by themselves, and there are no coaches reminding them different things,” Holmgren said. “… Being on the field by yourself and playing, that’s probably the best tool we have to evaluate.”
Snohomish County guy: Mack Strong might as well build a second home in Snohomish County.
The Seahawks’ longtime fullback has been spending a lot of time in the North Sound in recent seasons, having done color commentary for Everett Hawks games last summer and run a leadership camp in Marysville last month.
From July 11 through 13, the Tulalip Reservation in Marysville hosted the Mack Strong Sports &Leadership Camp, which taught skills in several sports as well as lessons in life.
“It was a great three days for the kids,” Strong said.
Strong came up with the idea for the camp along with his wife, Zoe, who is very active in the Native American community. The Strongs held a weekly leadership clinic in Marysville last spring, and it was so popular that they decided to expand it into a camp.
“My wife is half Nez Pearce, so that’s the area of the community we decided to focus on,” Strong said.
Holmgren erupts again: For the third time in six practice days, Holmgren was visibly frustrated with his team on Friday.
Three penalties in a span of five plays – two false starts and an encroachment on the defense – led to a verbal tirade. Holmgren eventually cut the drill short and brought in his players for a lecture. During that lecture, the coach looked down at his play card and was so frustrated that he tossed it over his shoulder.
“Really today, the offense did not play very well,” Holmgren told reporters after the session.
A new Tru: Defensive coordinator John Marshall has seen a different side of cornerback Marcus Trufant this summer.
“The way I have seen Tru change is that he comes out here with a friggin’ rock in his shoe,” Marshall said, using a similar analogy to the chip-on-the-shoulder cliche. “He’s real, real serious, and he’s coming out with a little more of an ornery side. When he gets a ball caught on him, he wants to know why right away. ‘Is it my technique? My leverage?’
“He is very serious about getting better and works his tail off.”
Trufant suffered an ankle injury late last season that kept him out of the playoffs. Had the Seahawks made it to the NFC Championship game, he probably would have been healthy enough to play.
As far as this season goes, Marshall said that he’d like to see even more out of Trufant.
“He’s got to make more plays,” he said. “Tru’s made a lot of plays, but he’s got to make more.”
Quick slants: Veteran Walter Jones was given the day off. Holmgren said he will give several other veterans a day off here and there “because I’m trying to be nice.” … One day after Holmgren announced that he would be a bigger part of the Seahawks’ offense, backup fullback Leonard Weaver had a tough practice. He fumbled once and dropped a pass. … Defensive tackle Craig Terrill’s morning practice ended prematurely. By the end of the session, he had his upper left leg wrapped.
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