KIRKLAND – On a gloomy, overcast day at the Seattle Seahawks’ practice facility, Grant Wistrom had trouble matching his disposition to the weather.
The Seahawks’ veteran defensive end is just too darned happy these days.
While many of his teammates groused at the thought of another practice in early May, Wistrom couldn’t think of anyplace else he’d want to be.
“Nobody really looks forward to practice,” Wistrom said after a Wednesday morning minicamp session, “but I’ve probably looked forward to these practices more than anything I’ve been a part of.”
After missing the final four games of last season, including the playoff loss to St. Louis, Wistrom is just happy to be back on the field. He said he’s fully recovered from a torn medial collateral ligament that sidelined him for the stretch run, and now Wistrom is looking forward to a pain-free season.
“Missing any game is tough. And when it’s a playoff game, and especially against St. Louis, it was difficult,” said Wistrom, who spent six seasons with the Rams before signing a six-year, $33 million contract with the Seahawks in March 2004. “But it’s just one of those things that happened, and hopefully it will never happen again.”
Wistrom’s injury problems actually started in August of last year, when a foot problem known as plantar fasciitis cost him most of training camp. He missed four more weeks in the middle of the season due to an unrelated knee injury, then suffered the torn MCL in his left knee in a Dec. 12 win over Minnesota.
Wistrom openly wept in the locker room after that game, but vowed that he would do everything in his power to return before the playoffs. His injury didn’t make any miraculous recoveries, and even some heavy pleading the week before the playoff game wasn’t enough to get Wistrom on the field.
“I was trying,” he said. “It just wasn’t there. Doing it probably would have set me back even further. When you’re going against a guy like Orlando Pace, you’ve got to be at the top of your game. (The knee) just wasn’t there yet.
“I have to believe that if we’d won that week, I’d have had a pretty good chance of getting in the next week.”
Of course, the Seahawks didn’t win that game, losing for the third consecutive time to Wistrom’s former team. So his season came to a sudden, and unceremonious, finish.
“I missed so much of the season that I almost didn’t feel like a part of the team,” Wistrom said. “I was on the sideline so much, just watching these guys go to work and play, so it was a different type of feeling for me. It was probably a little easier for me to distance myself than it would have been if I were out on the field every day with those guys. But it was still tough.
“There were a lot of expectations for us as a team, and I don’t feel like we lived up to any of them. So this year, it’s nice to go into a season with a chip on your shoulder and having something to prove.”
The Seahawks’ defense had a dual personality last year, depending on whether or not Wistrom was healthy. Seattle led the NFL in scoring defense through four weeks, allowing 16 points in that span. But with Wistrom’s first knee injury came an immediate decline that started with Seattle’s inability to rush the passer.
“When he was healthy, he brought a lot of energy to the team, and a lot of leadership that we were lacking,” defensive tackle Rocky Bernard said. “So it’s good to see him back.”
Wistrom is so happy to be back that his energy is immediately apparent on the practice field. As for his maturity … well, that’s sometimes easy to overlook.
After a rare triumph over Pro Bowl left tackle Walter Jones in a pass rush drill Wednesday, Wistrom bounced around, pumped his fist and howled like a teen-aged kid.
“I always feel like I’m 28 going on 16 or 17,” said Wistrom, who will turn 29 in July. “I never feel that old.”
Maybe not old, but Wistrom might have felt as if his body was gradually breaking down last season.
“I was snakebit last year,” he said. “Hopefully I got that all out in one year and never have to deal with that again the rest of my career.”
Notes: Wide receiver Koren Robinson missed practice on Wednesday due to a prior commitment. He is expected to practice today. … Bernard, the Seahawks’ lone remaining unsigned restricted free agent, said that he is planning to sign his contract tender before camp breaks today. … Hall of Fame wide receiver Steve Largent, who played for the Seahawks from 1976-89, attended Wednesday’s practice. Largent, who is the chief executive of the cellphone industry’s main lobbying group in Washington D.C., is in Seattle on business. … Former Seahawks safety Maurice Kelly was named the team’s director of player development. Kelly, 32, replaces Nesby Glasgow, who was let go last fall and eventually became president of the Everett Hawks of the National Indoor Football League.
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