advertisement
News Local search    • Help  • Paid archives
Saves you time. Saves you money. Makes you smarter.The News Tribune, Tacoma, WA

Friday, May 16th, 2008

Posted by Frank Hughes @ 08:08:52 am

Did you think about retirement before you came back this year? “You always think about it. You just have to make sure you are ready to come back in and give it all the work and effort that goes into the whole season. It is not something you take lightly. You have to put in the work, and it is tough both mentally and physically.”

What was the thing that swayed you? “I just felt like I have a little bit left. I am not quite ready to hang it up.”

=> Read more!

Categories: Interviews 23 comments

Thursday, May 15th, 2008

Posted by Frank Hughes @ 07:40:49 am

I was talking last night to my neighbor, who happens to be an attorney, and the conversation ultimately led to Lofa Tatupu's arrest for DUI. He said he had been listening to KJR read some of the details of the police report, but he said he got to work and couldn't hear the rest of it. So I filled him in, and told him about the part where the arresting officer forgot to read Tatupu his Miranda Rights at the location where he was arrested (McDonald's). Once he realized it on the way to the police station, the officer pulled over to the side of the road and read him his rights. "I can almost guarantee you his arrest gets thrown out," my neighbor said. "We have a saying in the business, 'You can't admit fruit from a poisoned tree.' That is way more than a technicality."

Take that for what it's worth but it may make it easier for the Seahawks to skirt the issue if it never becomes an issue for procedural purposes.

Categories: Legal system 50 comments

Wednesday, May 14th, 2008

Posted by Darrin Beene @ 12:25:24 pm

Press release from the Seahawks:

Kirkland, Wash. – The Seattle Seahawks have released center Chris White and signed wide receiver Chas Gessner, the team announced this morning.

Gessner originally entered the league as an undrafted rookie free agent on May 2, 2003 with the New England Patriots and has spent time with the Berlin Thunder of NFL Europe (2004), the New York Jets (2004) and Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2006-07). He made his NFL debut last season with Tampa Bay vs. Arizona (11/4).

A two-time Walter Payton Award finalist as the nation’s top Division I-AA player, Gessner also was a standout performer on Brown’s lacrosse team.

White originally signed with Seattle as a free agent on January 15, 2008.

Posted by Frank Hughes @ 09:50:16 am

In an effort to get some insight into the depth behind Lofa Tatupu, Julian Peterson and Leroy Hill, I spoke with linebackers coach Zerick Rollins:

How are the players behind the main guys going to shape up? “I think it is still too early to tell. I think we have some guys who are looking good right now. Wesly Mallard has done some things, I think Will Herring is a good player. And Lance Laury, this is his third season, it is time for him to grow up and be a player for us. He has all the potential to be able to do that. We are counting on him as well.”

=> Read more!

Categories: Interviews 7 comments

Tuesday, May 13th, 2008

Posted by Frank Hughes @ 04:39:56 pm

"I want to apologize to my family, teammates, the Seahawks ownership and organization, and the fans for making a poor decision and putting myself in a bad situation. I take seriously my role as a leader on this team, and in the community, and because of that I'm disappointed and embarrassed by the level of poor judgment I used last weekend. Thankfully, nobody was hurt. This will never happen again, and I hope through hard work on and off the field to begin earning your respect and trust again."

Categories: Legal system 66 comments
Posted by Frank Hughes @ 04:29:26 pm

According to the NFL's drug policy, Lofa Tatupu faces a possible fine of one-half of one-seventeenth of his base salary, which is $520,000. So he could be fined about $15,000. The cap is $20,000 if his base salary was higher. He will only face a suspension if he has a second offense.

Categories: Legal system 5 comments
Posted by Frank Hughes @ 04:26:40 pm

Here is a link to the police report of Lofa Tatupu's DUI arrest on Saturday morning: http://media.thenewstribune.com/smedia/2008/05/13/16/tatupu.source.prod_affiliate.5.pdf

Categories: Legal system 2 comments
Posted by Frank Hughes @ 03:49:11 pm

From: Jon Scott Fox, Fox Bowman & Duarte

Dated: May 13, 2008

Re: Lofa Tatupu DUI Charge

Jon Scott Fox and Bill Bowman of Fox Bowman Duarte are representing Lofa Tatupu regarding the DUI arrest that occurred on May 10, 2008, in Kirkland, Washington. Jon Scott Fox stated: “Lofa intends to handle this situation in a manner consistent with his reputation for integrity and leadership. We understand that Lofa fully cooperated with the police investigation and conducted himself as a gentleman throughout the incident. We will issue a further statement once our investigation is complete.”

Categories: Legal system 8 comments
Posted by Frank Hughes @ 03:44:58 pm

The copies of the police report I was sent are images rather than text, so I am unable to post them on the blog. That being said, here are some details:

Lofa was driving a 2006 Hyundai Accent with three other passengers in Kirkland. He was going what the officer thought was at least 50 in a 35, and when the cruiser whirled around to chase him, the officer said he was going 60 and Lofa was pulling away. It sounded like Lofa was weaving in and out of traffic, and he eventually pulled into a McDonald's and into the drive-thru lane. The cop pulled up behind him and asked him why he was driving so fast. He said his friend had to go to the bathroom. The cop said his friend was not going to find a bathroom in the drive-thru lane. When he backed him out, he had him do three field sobriety tests.

=> Read more!

Categories: Legal system 17 comments
Posted by Frank Hughes @ 02:12:18 pm

Here is the link to the recently concluded online chat we had from 1-2. Thanks to Audible for suggesting posting the link.

Categories: Miscellaneous 3 comments
Posted by Darrin Beene @ 12:43:28 pm

Frank just called me with this. He said he's trying to get a police report, and he'll have more details later. Anyway:

According to a report on KJR 950-AM, Seahawks middle linebacker Lofa Tatupu was arrested late Friday – or one day after the team's minicamp ended – on a DUI charge.

The report when on to say Tatupu's blood alcohol level was .15.

Posted by Frank Hughes @ 11:12:25 am

I spoke with Bruce DeHaven about the kicking competition between Olindo Mare and Brandon Coutu. Here is the transcript of that interview:

All the really good kickers in the league have to have a sense of self-confidence, almost arrogance. So anybody that is good enough to win this job probably is petty confident they are better than the guy who was here before him.

One of the things I liked about Brandon was his confidence that he is mentally tough enough to kick them. Olindo is a very confident guy. He has a lot to base that on.

On whether other factors come into final decision besides just talent: I would really rather not address that. I really hope to evaluate them based on how they kick. At the end of camp, which one was the most accurate. Which had the strongest leg. Which performed better under pressure when we had them compete against each other. Now, at the end of that, if there is consideration for age money, experience, that is a decision somebody else would make. I am hoping to make the decision based on who is the better kicker.

=> Read more!

Categories: Interviews 3 comments
Posted by Frank Hughes @ 09:05:45 am

I am having an hour-long all-Seahawks chat this afternoon at 1. Again, to participate in the chat, the link is right here: http://wwwb.thenewstribune.com/discussions/discussion.php?id=98.

Categories: Programming Note 4 comments

Monday, May 12th, 2008

Posted by Frank Hughes @ 01:25:07 pm

With the Rams' mini-camp ongoing, here is a story about how Josh Brown is faring in St. Louis.

Also, I'll put a reminder up tomorrow morning, but I am doing a News Tribune chat from 1-2 tomorrow afternoon. There was some confusion when I did a chat from the Super Bowl, because the chat is a different site than the blog. If you want to participate, this is the link to the site: http://wwwb.thenewstribune.com/discussions/discussion.php?id=98.

Categories: Former Players 20 comments
Posted by Frank Hughes @ 11:31:09 am

Here is a post in a University of Hawaii fan blog that says the Seahawks are interested in defensive tackle Mike Lafaele, though it does admit the Seahawks don't have room at the spot right now. Here is the whole post.

Categories: Street free agents 4 comments
Posted by Frank Hughes @ 05:51:26 am

After a Mother's Day Weekend hiatus, the blog is back up and running. Here is an interview I did with kicker Olindo Mare last week. It is interesting because there is some kicking esoterica in there that I think most people don't realize and/or think about:

On Competition against Brandon Coutu: There is no reason for me to be a jerk to him off the field or even on the field. I am going to let what I do on the field speak for itself. I am not going to change anything.

Oh Josh Brown: He had a great career here. It is tough. No matter where you go it is the same. It was the same when I went to Miami and it was the same with Karney when I went to New Orleans. Karney was always a guy who I looked up to. Obviously not in his prime. It was hard for me to go there. But unfortunately I got hurt. I am not going to come in here and say it is my goal to come in here and be better than Josh Brown was or to reminisce on what he did or what I did five years ago. His time was over, my time was over there, it is time for me to make name for myself here.

=> Read more!

Categories: Interviews 10 comments

Thursday, May 8th, 2008

Posted by Frank Hughes @ 01:22:30 pm

Matt Hasselbeck met with the media on this final day of mini-camp. Here were some of his quotes:

Hasselbeck on Bobby Engram: "I feel like I can throw to Bobby with my eyes closed. When Bobby comes back, he'll be the same Bobby we know and love. We know he works hard when he's not here. He'll be a playmaker for us like he was last year.

Disappointed in Engram for taking a stand like this? "You know, in Bobby's case not really. He's one of those guys I almost put him in the same category as Walt, Chris Gray. They've been doing it so long they know exactly what it takes to get ready. A lot of the plays that we run are for them. If you watch the cut-up and we run that play 100 times, 97 of them have gone to Bobby -- that kind of thing. So it's an opportunity for the Logan Paynes and the Jordan Kents and the Ben Obomanus, it's a chance for them to run Bobby's plays.

=> Read more!

Posted by Frank Hughes @ 12:19:28 pm

It was a very short final session, only 70 minutes long. There were some drills for half the period, then the sides came together to run some plays. WR Logan Payne had some nice receptions from Seneca Wallace, otherwise there was nothing that really stood out. Mike Holmgren gathered together everybody who was still healthy afterward and gave a speech that was greeted by cheers.

I spoke with Payne for a little afterward, and he sounded excited about his opportunity, especially after coming out of Minnesota, which mostly ran the ball. He said he does not have a feel for who is ahead in the competition but thinks that the front office has done a good job of mixing and matching receivers with different attributes. He said he has been working in the slot some. I asked him if that was what he saw as his future. He said the coaches have all the WRs learning all the different positions, so he doesn't really know what his future spot will be.

Matt Hasselbeck also talked. I'll post some of that interview once it is transcribed.

Categories: Minicamps 3 comments

Wednesday, May 7th, 2008

Posted by Frank Hughes @ 07:51:23 pm

I forgot to mention this yesterday, and it doesn't really paint me in a good light, but it is a pretty humorous and telling exchange.

During Holmgren's meeting with the media yesterday, I asked him what Chris Gray's position was. He said Gray would play backup center and backup guard. Now before I tell you my next question, I have to say that I was trying to find out Holmgren's plans for Ray Willis, and if they planned on using him at right guard once he gets healthy. But what I asked was, "So you are not going to groom any young guys at right guard?" He looked at me like my brain had froze and quipped, "Groom somebody? In my last year? I'm done grooming. Let somebody else groom."

Touche.

Categories: Minicamps, Quotes 8 comments
Posted by Frank Hughes @ 02:57:18 pm

This was part of Mike Holmgren's session with the media on Tuesday. He was asked about the tight end position and the running backs:

“I am not sure. I don’t think it has been long enough. I really have to see more it and certainly we have it see them in pads. We drafted John Carlson but Will Heller is having a heck of a camp. I like Putzier, I like what he is doing. He is playing nicked up a little bit. Alcorn is good. The tight end position, we have some choices there. It will be an interesting battle in training camp.

The running back position, Julius and Mo (Morris) will both play. I have to kind of see how we are going to use Duckett. That is what I am looking at right now; Fullback, halfback. He has been a halfback but I would like him to move into fullback a little bit. Curran, I like Curran. He is kind of a bowling ball with legs. He is a tough guy, a smart guy. If he shows well on special teams, who knows? And then Leonard (Weaver), I expect to take the next step. He was pretty good for us down the stretch last year. I expect him to take the next step this year.

(Owen Schmitt) is eager and he is smart and he is tenacious. In a brief period of time you saw what you saw on film. I suspect if you put the pads on, that will be a better situation for him than at mini camp in shorts. When you have players like that, the short thing is okay, but when you really get a chance to bang into people, you really show what you can do.”



Seahawks Insider

Frank Hughes took over the Seahawks beat and Seahawks Insider blog in July. Hughes covered the Sonics for The News Tribune from 1997-2007. Frank also contributes to ESPN.com, KJR-AM radio and Pro Sports Exchange. In 2005, Frank co-authored "Slick Watts's Tales from the Seattle SuperSonics." Frank lives in Seattle with his wife, two sons and yellow lab.

News Tribune columnist Dave Boling and sports reporters Ryan Divish and Darrin Beene also contribute to the Seahawks Insider blog.

Calendar

May 2008
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
 << <   > >>
        1 2 3
4 5 6 7 8 9 10
11 12 13 14 15 16 17
18 19 20 21 22 23 24
25 26 27 28 29 30 31
Archives
XML Feeds
What is RSS?
Misc
Who's Online?
  • David Email
  • bmcintyre07 Email
  • tarp
  • Prophet372
  • S_Emerson Email
  • CustomScoop Email
  • Guest Users: 1074