Matt Hasselbeck
Matt Hasselbeck
Matthew Michael Hasselbeck is a former American football quarterback and current analyst for ESPN's Sunday NFL Countdown. He was drafted in the sixth round of the 1998 NFL Draft by the Green Bay Packers. After a season on the practice squad and two seasons backing up Brett Favre, he was traded to the Seattle Seahawks in 2001. Hasselbeck led Seattle to six playoff appearances and a Super Bowl. He was selected to three Pro Bowls and was an All-Pro in...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionFootball Player
Date of Birth25 September 1975
CityBoulder, CO
CountryUnited States of America
We weren't a very good team and I wasn't a very good quarterback. I thought I knew all the plays inside and out. But Trent knew the plays better than anybody, and in meetings I'd watch him sit and take notes like he'd never seen them before. It rubbed off.
We can't make the mistakes that we made and expect to win.
We climbed to just about the top of the mountain. We were like 10 feet away and had to turn around and go back. It was a great journey and a lot of good came from it, but at the same time, we didn't finish what we set out to do.
We have been in the newspaper for playing football and not other stuff. That wasn't always the case last year.
We raise that flag before the game, and some people might not understand it. It's something I didn't understand at first. But it means something to people. It means something to our team, it means something to our coaches, it means something to the people in the city. I mean, the thing's hanging from the top of the Space Needle right now.
We got introduced to a lot of people in the country today who didn't know what we were really about.
It's a humbling experience to get to be the quarterback of this team who gets to play in the Super Bowl, with an opportunity to bring the Lombardi Trophy back to Seattle.
It's not something we're hung up on. I'm sure some of the coaches are aware of it. But a lot of our guys are young. They don't remember, and they don't really care.
It's not my job (to call plays). I just do what I'm told.
For Darrell, the next step will be taking on a real leadership role with the younger guys, ... He's playing about as good as anyone can play.
It's unfortunate. I know they're doing the best they can. I certainly don't blame them. But the film doesn't lie, I guess.
That sounds like a question that a bunch of sports writers sitting around a desk should discuss. I don't really have the answer to that question. I don't know. What I do know is that the more I focus on playing football the better I play. The better I play, the better I'll do in those kind of discussions down the road.
It wasn't always easy here. It's been a ride . . . a bit of a roller-coaster ride.
It was like an away game for us, there's no question about that. But if there were 90 percent Steelers fans and 10 percent Seahawks fans, I thought at least the Seahawks fans were just as loud, if not louder at times. I give those Seahawks fans a lot of credit. They did a great job.