Seattle's Shaun Alexander established as consistent threat

CHENEY, Wash. (AP) — Seattle Seahawks running back Shaun Alexander reached the Pro Bowl for the first time last season, scored 16 touchdowns and set a career high with 1,435 yards rushing.

He feels even better about his prospects this fall.

”I'm a little bit faster. I think that will help,” Alexander said. ”I'm a little bit stronger. I feel really good. How am I going to use that? I'm not sure. I'm just going to try to walk and not trip over my feet.”

Entering his fifth NFL season, Alexander is drawing inspiration in equal parts from Heaven and Herschel.

Heaven is his daughter, born shortly before kickoff of Seattle's game against St. Louis last Sept. 21. Alexander was on hand for her birth, then rushed to the stadium but missed the first quarter of a 24-23 victory.

”I'm a grown-up now,” Alexander said with a broad smile.

”The biggest thing I realized is how awesome it is to have a really special wife,” he continued. ”You can take that for granted but once you have a baby you're like, 'Oh, she's amazing.”'

He's also taking workout tips from Herschel Walker, who suggested Alexander try different kinds of push-ups — variations on the traditional gym class exercise — after they bumped into each other at a golf outing in Alabama.

”That stuff worked,” Alexander said. ”I got back in the weight room and I was throwing weights around. That was kind of cool.”

Going into his fifth season, Alexander has become one of the NFL's most consistent backs. Over the past three years, he has averaged 1,309 yards rushing and 14.6 TDs each season.

”It's just getting ready the same,” he said. ”You try to get ready, and as you go you get better. You make better plays. You make sure you don't go backward. That was the biggest thing for me, getting stronger and faster.”

Of the five running backs drafted in the first round in 2000, only Baltimore's Jamal Lewis (4,757) has more career rushing yards than Alexander (4,241). Alexander's 50 TDs in the last three years rank second to Priest Holmes of Kansas City (61).

For some reason, though, there's persistent talk in Seattle that Alexander doesn't fit in coach Mike Holmgren's pass-oriented attack.

Nonsense, says offensive coordinator Gil Haskell.

”If you play us, you have to respect the run, don't you?” Haskell asked. ”He's going to get his 1,300 to 1,400 yards and he's getting double-digit touchdowns each year. He plays every game. Knock on wood, but he hasn't been injured.”

Alexander always seems to be in a good mood. His only complaint at training camp is that he doesn't get to see his daughter.

”She's right at that age where she's ready to walk,” he said. ”She walks around the tables. I know I'm going to come home and she's going to be running up to me, and I'll be really sick that I missed it — but excited at the same time.”

Alexander is going into a contract year, insisting it won't change his approach.

”Nah. I've never been a person to worry about money, ever,” he said. ”I've got three half brothers and one older brother. They all got jobs in the summer because they were trying to buy candy when we were kids.

”They wanted to take girls on dates when they got older,” he added. ”I was the one who always would say, 'I'm just going to mooch off all of y'all.' I'm pretty much still the same.”

It's a good bet the Seahawks will keep Alexander in the picture. He's a key young member on offense, along with quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, guard Steve Hutchinson and receivers Darrell Jackson and Koren Robinson.

”I would expect him to be here,” Haskell said. ”We've got a young, good football team. It's not like you've got to do it all this year because three or four guys are going to retire. We're coming, and he's part of it. He knows it.”