Sit Matt Hasselbeck

Please note, folks, that I wrote “sit”, not “bench”, so don’t think I’m a Hasselbeck hater. In fact, the reason I want him off the field is because I think he’s the quarterback of Seattle’s future. Don’t let him get hurt in these meaningless games…especially when you’re down by 45 points!!!

Another thing that got to me yesterday – in addition to watching Matt Hasselbeck play while down by 5+ touchdowns – was seeing Peyton Manning on the sidelines at the same point in the game. The Colts had a shot at a perfect season, and they still chose to sit their pro-bowl quarterback. So why in the world is Matt Hasselbeck playing the situation they were in yesterday?!

Coach Mora gave his reasoning for keeping Matt in after the game yesterday, stating, “We feel like he’s the best quarterback on our roster, and I don’t want to send the wrong message to our players at this point in our development.”

I don’t buy it coach. A 48-10 loss is message enough. I want our quarterback safe on the sidelines so we can keep him healthy.

Peyton Manning at least had something to play for, with the Colts’ pursuit of perfection underway. Never having played the position, I called up Damon Huard, (brother of our own Brock Huard AND former NFL quarterback) to see what he thought of the situation.

“I was absolutely sickened by it,” Damon put it.

The fans in Indianapolis felt quite the same, according to Bob Kravitz of the Indianapolis Star. When I talked to him today, he said “I haven’t seen this kind of rage in Indianapolis since Bob Knight was fired.” He also said the sentiment among fans has pretty much been, “What are they doing and how dare they?”

Bob agreed with Indy for the most part, saying, “It felt so wrong to spit in history’s eye like that. They owed it to the veteran players to give them an opportunity to be remembered forever.”

The fans, though, took it to another level today. According to profootballtalk.com, Bill Polian had to end his one-hour radio show ten minutes early due to abuse he was taking from callers. That’s some serious reaction to a 14-1 football team that’s secured a bye and home-field advantage in the playoffs.

What about the player reaction? “It was an angry locker-room, at least among the guys who stuck around – a lot of the players who usually hold court after games were outta – very, very fast. For good reason – they wanted to make sure they didn’t say anything they would regret later.” Though Kravitz added, “I think they’ll get over it – they’re grown-ups. This will linger much longer in the minds of the fans than the players.”

Would Hasselbeck feel the same way if he were benched? Either way, I’d like to see him healthy for next year. He’s a much better quarterback than any of the rest on the team right now – so don’t kid yourself. Let’s keep our main man healthy.

What do you think – sit Matt Hasselbeck in meaningless games – or let him play? Wouldn’t you love to have Indy’s problem right now? Your thoughts welcome below!