Hasselbeck’s impact felt among former Seahawks teammates

By Liz Mathews

You read the earlier post where the 12th Man had a chance to react to the Seahawks not re-signing veteran quarterback Matt Hasselbeck. Here’s what a few of the players had to say as they were leaving the VMAC yesterday:

Former Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck was a mentor to many of his former teammates. (AP)

QB Charlie Whitehurst: “It looks like Tarvaris Jackson, and not Matt. It’s an opportunity for me obviously, and I’m excited about this season for the Seahawks. I hate to see. . . I know Matt’s been here a long time. I haven’t spoken with him yet, but I’ll probably call him later today. He was a good friend to me, and I’d love to quarterback this team this year, for sure.

“Matt’s passionate about the game for sure, and that was something he brought to the table for sure. He was cerebral about it, he was prepared, he was a true professional about the way he went about his business, and you definitely take that from him.

“I think it’s as good of an opportunity as I’m going to get and I’m looking forward to it.”

TE John Carlson: “We knew that was a possibility all along. I wish him the best, I wish he was here, because he’s a good friend of mine and he’s a leader for this team and this organization. He’s beloved in this city for what he does on the field but also what he does off the field, so he will be greatly missed. But this is football and there’s a business side to football, as we all saw in this lockout, and he’s going to be playing football somewhere else. I wish him luck. Wherever he ends up I wish him luck and wish him well except for when he’s playing against us.

“Matt’s a great guy and he’s such a tremendous asset in the locker room, but there’s been a lot of turnover over the last couple of years. I’m going into my fourth year here and I’ve had three head coaches and four offensive coordinators, and a lot of turnover in the locker room and the front office, so that’s just kind of the way football is, at least in my experience. That’s just how it works.”

WR Golden Tate: “Oh man. Wow, I don’t know where to start. I was hoping Matt was going to come back, because I learned a lot from him last year, and I could have learned more from him this year. Wow. It’s weird because you think of the Seattle Seahawks: Matt Hasselbeck, and now he’s not going to be a part of the team. I’m sure a lot of people are hurt like I am, especially the fans because they’ve been repping No. 8 for a long time now.

“He was a captain, so you knew he just knew the game. I don’t know what to expect now, because I’ve only had two quarterbacks in my life, and that was Jimmy and Matt, and both in my eyes were great quarterbacks.”

WR Deon Butler: “That’s a tough situation, but we all know the business of football. He’s been a great leader for this organization. Everybody wishes him the best. We wish it would have worked out here, but he’ll do good wherever he goes. It’s just time to move on and look to another leader. Younger guys have to step up now.

“You just lean so much. He taught me everything about every position as far as the NFL goes, and how to be a professional about it, and the little nuances of the game. Coming in as a rookie trying to do everything by the book, Matt was the guy who said, ‘Look, you don’t have to be by the book, I just need you to get to where I need you to get to, and I’ll get it there.’ So just kind of learning the little things you don’t see in the Xs and Os in the book. That’ll be tough to replace, but every organization goes through that.”

All quotes courtesy of John Boyle at the Everett Herald.

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