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FBF Coach
Join Date: Mar 2004
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Hawks find pace slowed by referees
MIKE SANDO; The News Tribune
Published: September 21st, 2006
KIRKLAND - Seattle's Mike Holmgren has occasionally tested the elasticity of NFL rules sparing game officials from criticism.
Given a chance to unload Wednesday, the Seahawks eighth-year coach fell silent for eight full seconds.
Um, it had an effect on us, he finally said.
The Seahawks weren't happy when officials stopped them from snapping the ball before Arizona's defensive players could substitute Sunday.
"It had an effect on us, and I don't want it to bother the quarterback, certainly, Holmgren said. "So we're going to do what we do and play by the rules. You’re allowed to do what we do.”
Rules prevent offenses from rushing to snap the ball with the obvious attempt to cause a defensive foul such as too many men on the field.
The Seahawks get in and out of the huddle faster than most teams. Opposing defenses sometimes have trouble substituting to match Holmgren's ever-changing personnel combinations.
Officials never penalized the Seahawks on Sunday, but they did raise concerns.
"For some reason, the refs were trying to slow us down," quarterback Matt Hasselbeck said. "They kept holding us on the line of scrimmage."
Officials stopped one play when the 25-second play clock was down to 18 seconds (the NFLs usual 40-second clock becomes a 25-second clock following administrative stoppages and game delays). Holmgren said he sought clarification from officials.
"Our tempo is good, but it's nothing that (opponents) can't substitute or they can't do what they're supposed to do, too," Holmgren said. "I talked to the officials about it, yes."
Opposing coaches might not notice the Seahawks fast pace during preparations because the time between plays is edited out of the videos they watch. Word has gotten around as the Seahawks have become more successful in recent seasons.
"There has been some mention of that pace business in the last couple years, and until it was talked about or written about or something, I was never really even that aware that we were doing that," Holmgren said.
"I just know that I want the guys in and out of the huddle. I think it's a bad sign when you're watching a football game any football game and after the play the guys get up kind of slow, they kind of meander back to the huddle. I don't like that look.
"I try to get the play in as quickly as I can so Matt can do what he has to do, too, if he has to change it or whatever."
Brady on the line
New England quarterback Tom Brady called Hasselbeck recently to offer praise for new Seahawks receiver Deion Branch.
Seattle acquired Branch from the Patriots for a first-round draft choice in 2007.
"I talked to his former quarterback, who gave me a scouting report which is pretty good," Hasselbeck said. "He's explosive, he has some football smarts about him, he catches the ball well and he’s going to be a very, very good addition to our offense."
Brady initiated the call.
"He was clearly upset about losing him as a teammate," Hasselbeck said. "I just conveyed to him that I know what it's like to lose a great teammate. It's not always fair sometimes, but it happens."
The Seahawks lost Pro Bowl guard Steve Hutchinson after last season.
Extra points
Branch will make his debut Sunday, but Nate Burleson will remain the starter for now, Holmgren said. Hasselbecks wife, Sarah, plans to appear at Seattle's Northgate Mall on Friday morning to raise money for breast-cancer research and education. She is scheduled to appear from 10 a.m. to noon. The mall is selling gift cards and donating a portion of proceeds to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. The Seahawks offered tryouts this week to tight ends Calen Powell, Stephen Spach, Marcellus Rivers and Boo Williams. Quarterback Bradlee Van Pelt also tried out.
Highlights and interpretations from Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren's news conference Wednesday:
• Did the Seahawks send a first-round draft choice to New England for a backup? Of course not. But Holmgren wasn’t ready to hand a starting job to newly acquired receiver Deion Branch. Not yet, anyway. And so Nate Burleson will remain the starter opposite Darrell Jackson.
"Nate's going to start, and at some point, who knows?" Holmgren said.
The Seahawks regularly play with three or four receivers at a time. Jackson, Burleson and Bobby Engram started each of the first two games.
• Holmgren perked up when asked whether the Seahawks had ever piped artificial noise into Qwest Field.
Holmgren shot down the idea, but this clearly was a story the Seahawks wanted to ride.
The coach famous for scripting his first 15 offensive plays had an answer ready. He launched into a 487-word explanation featuring a history of his own experience with crowd noise.
Holmgren closed his remarks predictably: "If I'm a fan, I take that kind of personally."
• Holmgren shared a humorous story from his days coaching in Green Bay. Brett Favre doubled as backup holder and backup quarterback when Holmgren first became a head coach.
Don Majkowski was the Packers quarterback and holder, but injuries had forced Favre into the game.
Favre threw the tying touchdown pass as time expired.
"Well, Brett throws the touchdown pass and starts running around with his helmet in the air," Holmgren said. "He approached most things in those early years kind of like, This will never happen to me. I don't have to worry about it."
But now hes got to go out. So I push him back out there. He puts his helmet back on, goes out there, he holds the ball. He held the ball down and put his hand right over the ball.
Favre held the ball so tightly, Holmgren said, that the kickers foot was in danger of bouncing off the ball.
“Somehow, it went over,” Holmgren said.
Mike Sando
__________________
Pass it underneath? You know who the **** I am?!? Im Rex Grossman Biatch!!
-Rex Grossman
WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!!
- Me after the Sopranos series finale
I killed Harry Potter....
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seahawks find pace slowed by referees
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