Super Bowl XL - SEATTLE SEAHAWKS HEAD COACH MIKE HOLMGREN PRESS CONFERENCE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Super Bowl XL -- Sunday, January 29, 2006
QUOTES FROM SEATTLE SEAHAWKS PRESS CONFERENCE
HEAD COACH MIKE HOLMGREN

(on the lack of respect espoused by both teams) "I think both teams are pretty good. I think both teams deserve to be here. We have tremendous respect for the Steelers and what they have accomplished. Players, coaches, and organizations have nothing to do with who is the favorite and who is not the favorite. I think there is mutual respect. What they have done to get to the Super Bowl is remarkable, going on the road and winning those games. And I'm proud of my guys, so it should be a great football game."

(on why Darrell Jackson has enjoyed more success as a pro than a number of other University of Florida receivers) "I think a couple of things. You can look at various college programs and you have players who have remarkable careers at that university. Most of it is because they are good football players, but some of it is because of the system they come out of. You can point to a couple of colleges that are known for certain things and for whatever reason their players have not really achieved in the NFL although they were great collegiate players. If you played at Florida you were going to catch a ton of passes, and you were going to win a lot of games and have fun playing. Darrell has great ability and I think he came in, not with a chip on his shoulder, but with something to prove. He came into the league wanting to gain more attention than he did in college and he worked very, very hard to do that. I think in his case, that's what has happened."

(on what he has told his players and the routine he will follow at the Super Bowl) "We are going to try and stay as close to our ‘at home’ schedule as possible. The practice schedule at home normally has us come in after a game and have a light workout before we send them home. We will do the same thing tomorrow. We will practice, but it will not be a full blown practice. The last time I was in one of these games I practiced them hard on Tuesday and I'm not sure that was the right thing to do looking back on it, so I’m going to give them Tuesday off on media day. Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and prior to the game Saturday will be just like at home with regular practices so we can try to keep them in somewhat of an even keel given the surroundings. We have a few fellows who have been in Super Bowls, but not many, so I have talked to them just trying to educate them that it is going to be different. Keeping their focus is usually important and it is not always easy in this environment. We’ll try to keep it business as usual the best we can."

(on philosophies that were developed through his experiences as a high school and college quarterback and what they are) "I had a pretty good high school career and not a very good college career, but I did play the quarterback position. I started out as a tight end but my high school coach moved me to quarterback and I was able to get my education paid for at Southern Cal because I was a football player, which was a great thing. What I have tried to do in my experience, not only as a player, but as an assistant coach, too, is learn from and observe from the coaches that I had and attempt to say, 'I don't like that so much as a player, or I really like that and if I ever get a chance to be a coach, I don't think I’ll do that or I’ll do that.'

Really I've done that and I’ve been very, very fortunate to be around some very, very special men in this business. Going back to playing for John McKay in college and then the guys I coached high school football with. I had a great mentor in Vic Rowan at San Francisco State. I think I was a good student and I think coaching the position of quarterback, although you will get different opinions on this, I think it has helped that I played the position. You get a little bit of a feel for a certain situation that I think at times can help whoever you are coaching handle that situation a little bit better, so that is what I have tried to do. I’ve always had great young people, too, coaching the quarterbacks for me, although I kind of dive in there when I feel like it. Andy Reid, Jon Gruden, Steve Mariucci, Marty Mornhinweg, and now Jim Zorn have done a marvelous job of coaching the guys I’ve had. But I think it helped playing the position."

(on the atmosphere on the plane flight to Detroit) "I slept most of the way, so I'm not sure. We do have it really rough when we travel. The owner bought us an airplane, which was nice, and he has all these electronic gadgets on it so you can get live TV, movies or whatever you want. Every seat is a first class seat and the flight crew is the crew we have had all the time so they know how to take care of the team, but the mood was kind of like the mood of this team all year. I make it a point to go down the aisle once or twice during every flight, as do the other coaches. The guys are watching TV or they are sleeping. Our season is not over yet and that is how they have approached every game this year and that’s hopefully how we are approaching this one."

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Super Bowl XL -- Sunday, January 29, 2006
QUOTES FROM SEATTLE SEAHAWKS PRESS CONFERENCE
MORE HEAD COACH MIKE HOLMGREN

(on whether Shaun Alexander being nice plays into a perception that he is not tough) "I think that might be part of it to be honest. He is a good fellow and he doesn’t curse and he is a nice man and you kind of wonder how a guy like that can be a real tough guy in a football game. But the other part of that may have been my fault because this is the first year I have used him all the time in short yardage running situations. Before, we had another back doing that. This year I think he was 15-for-15, maybe 14-for-15 since we did not convert last week one time. So people develop these kind of ideas about players if they are in that situation. He is an elusive runner. You don’t often see people get tremendous shots at him as opposed to more of a straight line guy who piles it up in there and there is a big explosion every time. I think people look at that and say, 'We know he gains 1,800 yards and we know he scored 28 touchdowns or whatever, but what is it about the way he runs that is a little different?' Then they take it to the next step. I really think that is unfair and I know it is not true."

(on how he developed this particular offense and if Matt Hasselbeck is the perfect fit for it) "He certainly had a great season and I think he is the perfect fit for what we ask the quarterback to do. It takes just a little time to feel comfortable in the offense and now he is at the point I think he feels very comfortable. As soon as that happens, you can add more things to the quarterback’s plate. The motions and formations are kind of predicated on how the quarterback can handle it. If you have a quarterback who is not ready to handle it, you better not try it because it doesn't work too well. When I got to San Francisco Joe Montana was the master of it already. When I got to Green Bay, Brett (Favre) had to learn that and he learned it to the point that you could do anything your imagination could conjure up. Matt is now at the place where you could get real carried away, but at the same time, you can never sacrifice execution for trying to be creative. That's where I come in with my staff. They have a million ideas and want to try to do everything under the sun and every once in a while I have to tone it down just a little bit, but at quarterback, we certainly have the right guy to handle it."

(on why the defense played so well in light of what happened with Ray Rhodes and the transition to John Marshall) "I think it is a real credit to the defensive staff, John Marshall in particular and Ray Rhodes. Ray got sick and John fortunately had been a coordinator so the idea of coordinating a defense was not a new thing for him. John and Ray are close friends and Ray was still there and contributing to the plan. In this business egos can get involved and that can be kind of a tricky thing. To their credit, they made it work. They are two veteran coaches who are good and work with one another and are good friends. I think that contributed to the success they had on defense."

(on the status of Ken Hamlin and if there is a sense of disappointment that he has not been a part of the run to the Super Bowl) "There is disappointment for me, and I think his teammates and anyone who knows him. He is disappointed, but at the same time, he was our biggest cheerleader on the sideline last week. It was a sad thing what happened to Kenny. The good part is that he has healed up. What his football future is, I can’t tell you right now. I am somewhat optimistic about it. He will be there with us on Sunday. He has had an emotional impact on this football team before he was hurt and certainly after the injury. My hope and prayer is that he will be able to continue playing football next year."

(on the impact of ceding the general responsibilities on him as a head coach and how he has survived in that scenario) "The situation happens in the league. People have opinions on the idea of being a coach/general manager and the ability of one person being able to do that. It is a lot of work and there are a lot of things to do. When they made the change and I was no longer the general manager, our team that year did not have a good season by our standards, but I thought there were reasons for it. As happens in many instances, patience at that particular time was not a virtue, so they did it. I had a choice to make at that time, whether I was going to ride off in the sunset and go sit on the beach and ride my motorcycle or accept the situation for what it was and keep coaching the football team. As long as they still wanted me to coach the football team, I wanted to do that. I am a coach. I think it's a little misunderstood sometimes when people have both jobs. It is very, very important that you have a good support staff that you can trust if you want to do what I want to do and that’s continue to be very active with the football team, and not shift my emphasis to personnel and let somebody else coach the football team. The coordinators, as an example. If you do it that way, then you have to trust your personnel people and have good people in there and I thought we did. I was disappointed that didn’t work out to their satisfaction. It was a challenge for me and a challenge I wanted to take and I’d be better at it the next time."

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Super Bowl XL -- Sunday, January 29, 2006
QUOTES FROM SEATTLE SEAHAWKS PRESS CONFERENCE
MORE HEAD COACH MIKE HOLMGREN

(on if he has given any thought to this being his last game with Shaun Alexander due to his contract situation) "I really haven’t. We are all aware of his contract situation. I believe Shaun wants to stay in Seattle. He and I talk about his future often. I know the club’s position is we would like him to stay in Seattle. It has been my experience if you get that type of situation, you can usually work it out if there is some reasonableness to everybody. I think he should finish his career as a Seahawk and my hope is that gets done and we’ll see where it goes. It is one of those big contracts and it will be talked about a whole bunch, but I think he wants to stay and I know we want him to stay."

(on Mack Strong’s contribution to the offense and his significance to the team) "Mack Strong is about my favorite player of all time. The Mack Strongs of the world make it worth my while to coach and teach. He is unselfish. He has played 13 years, longer than anybody we have. He does all the dirty work. He is the lead blocker most every play for our halfback. He is a great man in the community. He is a great father and a wonderful family guy. He is not a real talkative man, but when I have asked him to talk to the team he has been willing. I can’t say enough about him. We have drafted in the last few years a couple guys to kind of replace Mack because at some point everyone’s career ends, but I’ll be darn, we can’t do it. This year I think he was about as good as you can be at that position and he was rewarded with the Pro Bowl. Other than Mack, I think I was the happiest man on earth when he got that news. He is really a good guy and a pleasure to be around."

(on respect and how he has used the underdog role with his team) "Respect is a word players use a lot and people use a lot and it could have any number of meanings to whoever is using it and, in my opening remarks to my team this year, I wanted to make sure my team knew what I meant when I used the word 'respect' and what I think respect means in our business. I came to them from an idea of mutual respect, either player to player, coach to player, player to fan, player on one team to player on another team. To respect the guy who you are playing across from because he is working just as hard as you are working, and you know how hard you are working. But don’t use the term loosely or lightly. We hit the crossbar against Washington early on and then we lost the game to Green Bay at the end when it was a different type of football game I thought. Otherwise there was a chance we could have won 15 in a row or something and that is hard to do in this business. Yet, I think because of where Seattle is located and the television exposure that we get, I think that not a lot of people know what kind of a football team we have. As I've told the team, 'That's OK because ultimately you’ll be judged by what happens and where you are at the end of the season.' I understand why we are the underdogs and there’s really only one way to handle that and it’s not by talking, it’s by playing the game and seeing what happens. That’s kind of the point I've been making all season to the team. It's easy to talk about those things. Let's do it and let our record speak for itself and then when it’s all over, see where you line up."

(on the importance of what his wife and daughter are doing during Super Bowl week) "I think it's a lot more important probably than what I am doing this week. My wife Kathy and my daughter Calla, who is a doctor, and my wife is a nurse by trade, are leaving Thursday for the Congo on a humanitarian mission with Northwest Medical Teams. We didn't know when she signed up for this thing four months ago that we would be in the Super Bowl. In fact, we didn’t even think about the dates being a problem. She was a young missionary nurse out of college thirty-five years ago and went to the same place and when my daughter signed up for the trip with 10 people, I asked Kathy, 'Where’s she going?' She’s going to exactly the same place Kathy was, a little mission station right in the middle of the jungle. I said, 'Why don't you go with her?' It was the best present I could ever give her. Fast forward and here we are. I'm very proud of her and she works very hard at a lot of things that are a lot more important than coaching a football game. She has her life. Her heart is here even though she is going to be in Africa with our daughter and she gets nervous at the games anyway. She is just going to be farther away than walking around outside the stadium. It’s a 17--day trip and I’ll let her know who wins when she gets back."

(on how he would compare the image of the Packers who went to the Super Bowl to this team) "Certainly in the second year, Reggies (White) and those people were the best players at their positions in all of football. We had a much more veteran team than we have now. That team was a little bit more of a star team. We had more than a couple guys that were really pretty well known at their positions throughout the country and went to Pro Bowls. Our team now, even though we are fortunate to have a number of players go to the Pro Bowl, is really a team in the truest sense of the word in my opinion because the sum of the parts is greater than the individual parts. This team is fairly unknown to most of the country."