QB Trent Dilfer doesn't need to start to enjoy his job in Seattle

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by Tim KORTE<br>AP Sports Writer
| August 6, 2004 9:00 PM

CHENEY, Wash. (AP) — Trent Dilfer is perfectly happy as a backup quarterback in Seattle. In fact, he would rather carry a clipboard with the Seahawks than take the starting snaps for another team.

”Being part of something special is better than being a starter with something that isn't special,” Dilfer said.

It's a special situation, indeed, for Dilfer with the Seahawks.

He threw only eight passes in five games last season, yet the former Super Bowl winner with the Baltimore Ravens was an important team leader and counselor to Pro Bowl quarterback Matt Hasselbeck.

”He's been through the good and the bad — really a lot of bad,” Hasselbeck said. ”My first year here, there was a lot of bad. He's been a huge help that way. He's just great to have around.”

Added center Robbie Tobeck: ”You watch Trent on game day and he's very involved. He's a communicator between Matt and the coaches. He's really involved in things. He's definitely a key part of our offense.”

Though Dilfer spent last season away from the spotlight, it was a very challenging time for him. Dilfer and his family were recovering after the death of his 5-year-old son, Trevin, from a rare heart disease in April 2003.

”It's not behind us. It's something we live with every moment of every day of our lives,” he said.

Dilfer also came back from a torn Achilles' tendon, an especially difficult injury for a quarterback. He good-naturedly showed how his right calf is underdeveloped and shrunken compared with his left.

”That was tough,” he said. ”It was harder to train. It's harder to do things I've always done comfortably. What I've learned is that you've got to strengthen everything else even more to compensate for any weakness you have down there.”

After Seattle won 10 games for the first time in 17 years and reached the playoffs for the first time since 1999, Dilfer received two team awards as an indication of how much the Seahawks value his leadership.

”It's nice when your peers recognize the effort you're making to be a team guy,” Dilfer said. ”It's nice when people recognize that you work hard on being a good guy, being a leader and doing the right thing.

”In sports today, there are too many guys doing the wrong things,” he said.

Since Dilfer was hurt midway through the 2002 season, Hasselbeck's rise to success has been well documented.

It might not have happened as quickly without Dilfer. Hasselbeck joined the NFL in Green Bay, where he learned nuances of playing quarterback alongside Brett Favre, Jim McMahon, Steve Bono, Ty Detmer and Mark Brunell.

Traded to Seattle, he was paired with Dilfer and even received valuable tips from Jeff George at the end of the 2002 season.

”Of all those guys, I'd say Trent is way past the rest,” Hasselbeck said. ”They all helped me, but he blows them away in the character he has, the selflessness he has. He's got so much football knowledge. He's kind of like a coach.”

Make no mistake. Dilfer still believes he could start, and he looks solid as he tosses spirals around training camp.

”It's hard when you want to play and you feel like you can,” Dilfer said. ”But one of the reasons this sport is so great is because you have to put some of your own personal desires aside at times for the good of the team.”

It could be a good ride in whatever capacity Dilfer is needed. The Seahawks are projected as one of the top NFC teams this fall.

”I've told people through the offseason that, at this point, this is the second-best football team I've ever been around,” Dilfer said, alluding to the Super Bowl champion Ravens.

”By the time it really counts the most, it could be the best,” he said.