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
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.
And we still haven't played good. That's the amazing part. That excites me about the offense, that we're all sort of disappointed with how we've played. We left points out there today.
We played really, really well at times, ... It's just that we turned the ball over too many times.
We just didn't play well enough. It's disappointing. It's hard. But what can you do? They played really hard on defense and we didn't execute to the best of our ability. We were close a couple times, but close doesn't cut it.
When I said that, whenever it was, two years ago, that's how it was, having fun with some good friends. It's just a sign of the friendship. There's a core group of guys when I played here. There was something special about that team.
When I first got here, people talked about the 12th Man at Husky Stadium, and I didn't believe it. When we moved into Qwest Field, it's been different, especially the last three years. I've played in a lot of stadiums, and this is the loudest. Dome or no dome, our fans, for whatever reason, know how to get loud.
I wouldn't say we didn't miss a beat, it's not the same with those guys out. But we all had confidence in those guys that they would play well ... and those guys played great.
I feel like I played a game yesterday, ... Thats what it feels like.
We thought that maybe we would struggle a little bit more than we did, ... But those guys played great.
We have played to earn respect, and the way you earn respect is by going out and winning the next game you play. That approach has helped us get here. I don't know too much about Pittsburgh and what their year has been like. Let's just go out and take care of business. It sounds like that is the sort of formula that has helped them get here, too.
There are definitely enough resources of people that have been there. Even guys on our team that have been there and played in this game, and I guess you just have to listen and try to learn what you can from those types of people.
Unfortunately, we didn't make the plays we needed to make. They played well on defense. We didn't execute to the best of our abilities today. Therefore they're the Super Bowl champs, and we're not.
Our focus was on this year and this team. The team in this locker room is better than the one that played last year.
They played really well on defense and executed well. We didn't execute to the best of our ability. That's why they're Super Bowl champs.