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 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.
Some people would rather be the favorite and walk in and play like the best. That hasn't been our thing this year. We have played to earn respect. And the way to earn respect is by going out and winning the next game you play. That approach has helped get us here.
He's been very successful early in his career, and his numbers are incredible. If I had a fantasy team, he'd probably be my first pick at quarterback. He's a huge guy, physically intimidating. He moves well and is fun to watch. I respect his game and love the way he plays.
He doesn't get the respect that he probably deserves. He's a great player for us and always has been since I've been here.
I think (Alexander) has really earned a lot of respect from his teammates this year, how he has handled things in a very unselfish manner. He came to camp on time (without a long-term contract) when a lot of people didn't expect him to, and I think that said a lot about the kind of commitment he was going to have to our team this year.
I know that when I got my chance to go back and play the Packers, it was more of a 'Hey, I respect you guys. I like you guys, but it'll be even that much sweeter to beat you guys,' ... I'm sure they feel the same way. We respect those guys. They went to another team to make more money, and we're not mad at them. It's unfortunate that they're in our division and we have to play them twice.
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.
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.
It was a one game deal here. We were talking about this game and this game only...I have learned this week that people dogged the Seahawks because they don't think there is history, but there is history here.
It was a chance I shouldn't have taken. They had a good plan and executed it well. They blitzed early on, but we did a pretty good job of picking it up. After that, they kept seven and eight back in coverage a lot of the time.
They are actually fun to watch. It's fun to watch film because they are so good. But at the same time you realize you have to play them this week.
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.