KIRKLAND — On Wednesday, the Seattle Seahawks found a younger fullback to fill Mack Strong’s roster spot.
Younger, but not by much.
Thirty-five-year-old Fred McCrary was signed on Wednesday, when the 36-year-old Strong was placed on injured reserve. Strong suffered a herniated disc in Sunday’s loss to Pittsburgh and announced his retirement the following day.
McCrary has played with Philadelphia, New Orleans, San Diego, New England and Atlanta during his 11-year NFL career. He was not re-signed by the Falcons after last season and has been out of football.
“I knew I was going to play. I have faith,” said McCrary, who owns a dump-truck company called Colonel McCrary Trucking in Atlanta, Ga. “It was burning inside still. I prayed and said, ‘Please, Lord, don’t take this away from me.’”
Coach Mike Holmgren said Wednesday that McCrary was signed to add depth, not because he was going to challenge for a starting spot. Leonard Weaver will take over the starting job in Strong’s absence.
Weaver is looking forward to the opportunity, although he’s not thrilled about the circumstances. Strong was one of his closest friends on the team, so Weaver was sad to hear that a herniated disc had ended his season prematurely.
“I was crushed when I heard about what was going on with Mack,” Weaver said on Wednesday. “I couldn’t really talk, didn’t really want to say much. My heart just kind of melted a little bit; it’s almost like (it was) just thrown in the fire.
“Now it’s time to step up. I had a talk with Mack, and he encouraged me to the fullest.”
Weaver’s new backup, McCrary, said that he’s already familiar with the offense, having played in a similar system under Atlanta offensive coordinator Greg Knapp. He also knows what it’s like to join a team during the course of the regular season after making his debut with the Falcons in the final month of the 2004 season.
As he said on Wednesday: “Super Sub Mac is back again.”
And Mack Strong won’t be back, although Holmgren said he hopes to keep him around to help the coaching staff this season.
Weaver is looking forward to seeing Strong this season, even if he’ll never play with him again.
“He is my father figure, a great mentor to me, and obviously a legend,” Weaver said of the 15-year veteran. “You can’t replace anybody like that, so my job is to go out and play the best I can in the honor of Mack Strong.”
Rackley released: For the second time in his career, long snapper Derek Rackley has lost his job to Boone Stutz.
It happened last year in Atlanta, and again Wednesday. The Seahawks released Rackley and signed Stutz to replace him.
Stutz, 24, snapped in all 16 of the Falcons’ 2006 games after beating out Rackley at training camp last season. But Stutz was released by Atlanta last week.
Stutz said that the Seahawks contacted him shortly after his release but opted instead to sign long snapper Jared Retkofsky to the practice squad. Retkofsky was released from the practice squad Wednesday to make room for linebacker Cameron Jensen.
Holmgren said that Stutz has more velocity than Rackley, so part of the tryout process was to have punter Ryan Plackemeier catch snaps.
Stutz is a Texas A&M product whose natural position is tight end. His given name was Jeffrey, but his adopted parents started calling him by his middle name. They came up with that name while driving past a sign for Boone, Okla., on their way to pick up Stutz for the adoption.
Engram the Saint? Seahawks receiver Bobby Engram knew he’d be playing at Qwest Field this Sunday night, but there was a time when it looked like he might be in a New Orleans Saints uniform.
Engram considered signing with the Saints as a free agent last March, but he eventually decided to come back to Seattle.
“Closer than I like to remember,” Engram said Wednesday when asked how close he was to signing with New Orleans. “It got a little dicey there for awhile.
“But I felt like this is where I was meant to be. I’m glad to be in the locker room with these guys. I’m having a lot of fun this year.”
Health update: Tight end Ben Joppru returned to practice Wednesday for the first time since Week 2, while cornerback Josh Wilson saw some limited action as he recovers from an ankle injury.
Among the players who did not participate in Wednesday’s practice were defensive tackle Rocky Bernard (groin), tight end Marcus Pollard (knee) and wide receiver D.J. Hackett (ankle). Their official status for the game against New Orleans won’t be unveiled until Friday afternoon.
Tackle Ray Willis (knee) and wide receiver Deion Branch (foot) have been ruled out for Sunday’s game.
New Orleans practiced without kicker Olindo Mare (groin) and former Washington State cornerback Jason David (forearm) on Wednesday.
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