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 just had opportunities to score touchdowns, but we didn't score touchdowns. We were moving the ball fine, rhythm, time of possession, first downs, yards...we just couldn't score touchdowns.
Sometimes the ball bounces your way. We seemed to get all of those bounces. Everything seemed to be going our way.
We played really, really well at times, ... It's just that we turned the ball over too many times.
That's unfortunate because, in the biggest game of your life, you want to play with the balls you've been playing with all season.
It was one of those deals where he shouldn't be able to run by a corner like that, ... It wasn't necessarily a throwaway ... I really didn't expect him to get it, but as I saw how hard he was running and the ball in the air, I thought, 'Maybe he will get there.'
It makes it easier for everybody. Coach Holmgren can just look at his call sheet and call plays he likes, get guys going, spread the ball around.
It's ironic because protecting the ball was my No. 1 priority going into the game. (That) interception, I had in my mind to throw it away.
We're been practicing with the new balls and it kind of made my arm sore because they're a little different.
The bottom line is we stalled out in the red zone. We moved the ball fine. We had rhythm. We just didn't score touchdowns. The penalties hurt us. We haven't been penalized much this year, especially in the red zone. It was bizarre. It wasn't us.
Some people are into ball control. We're into yards and points. Tempo is our thing.
We want the ball, and we’re going to score
We were really focused on the task at hand rather than, 'Oh, my gosh, we're in this big game.
We went 8-0. We were the team that never punted. You can go back and see the trophy. It's printed on there.
It was tough. There was a lot of stuff I'd never been through. I'd never really been the guy. I'd never had to play through injury. I really had never played in the NFL.