Matt Hasselbeck January 9, 2008
(On wearing one black sock and Coach Holmgren telling him to put on a second…)
“Off the record, he’s a bit of a control freak. On the record, I agree. The socks looked
bad so I’m back to two white socks. Two white socks for me, on the record.”
(On if discussing the Brett Favre-Coach Holmgren-Matt Hasselbeck triangle gets
old…) “I don’t know if I’m even in that category. It’s really Brett (Favre) and Mike
(Holmgren). They’re the ones that really did a lot of things special in Green Bay; took
their team to two consecutive Super Bowls, won one. Brett won three MVPs while they
were together; really turned that franchise around, put them right back into the playoffs
year after year. For me, I was 17 games on the practice squad and then the backup
quarterback for the next two years. Starting holder, that’d probably be my claim to fame
there. We had a couple of fake field goals, screwed up the end zone celebration on one of
them. I’m not in their league at all.”
(On third down difficulties…) “I’m sure there’s a reason. If I had the answer we
probably wouldn’t be having those problems anymore. That’s a critical stat every game,
third down, offensively and defensively and it’ll be no different this way.”
(On if his humor helps him…) “I don’t know. I just try to be me. I just try to be
myself. If I learned anything from my time in Green Bay, I played at Boston College, we
were real serious. We worked hard as anyone, maybe harder. We didn’t really win any
games. We weren’t in bowl games. We weren’t very good. I get to Green Bay and
they’re Super Bowl after Super Bowl and the thing I noticed is they just had so much fun.
It wasn’t even like it was work. They’re paying us. It was crazy. I don’t know why. It
was fun. It was a blast and that’s the thing that I learned from not only him but the guys
that were there, the LeRoy Butlers, the Reggie Whites, those guys. It’s just something
important I think. I tried to hold on to that.”
(On if there was a time at Green Bay when he thought no one would ever notice
him…) “Quite honestly, when I was there I was kind of happy to just be on the team.
Every year I was fighting for a roster spot and every year they’d come out with their
preseason prediction; who was going to make the team. I don’t think I was ever
supposed to make the team. They have like making the team, on the bubble, then the
long shot. I was the long shot so I was just happy to be there.”
(On having more playoff experience than the Packers…) “It probably helped this
week in preparation but those guys are well coached and like you’ve said, they have
seven or eight guys that have been in a bunch of playoff games. They have good
leadership on that team so I don’t think it’s a critical factor.”
(On his first piece of fan mail…) “It’s pretty much like the commercial says. There’s
not too much to say except I think it was actually filmed. They have this show called
‘Inside 1265’ and I think they were actually filming me that day, ‘A Day in the Life of A
Practice Squad Player’ so it was even more embarrassing than it would be if no one was
there. The letter basically just read, hey, it says everything I said in the commercial
really. Basically, it’s really bad. You can watch the commercial. I’ll leave it at that.”
Matt Hasselbeck January 9, 2008
(On if he’s improved since their last playoff game against the Packers…) “I don’t
know, maybe. I think with every mistake you make you learn from it, you move on. I
know from every interception that I’ve thrown there’s a moment right before you let the
ball go you sort of remember previous interceptions but I’m sure I am. Who knows? I
hope so.”
(On if he can remember what should have happened on the play he was intercepted
by Al Harris in the last playoff game against Green Bay…) “Honestly that was so
long ago I probably couldn’t do it accurately so I probably shouldn’t but the NFL
Network’s replaying it like 27 times between now and Saturday so if anyone wants to see
it I’m sure they’ll have a great analysis.”
(On if he remembers Coach Holmgren’s wardrobe advice to him at the last playoff
game against Green Bay…) “I think it was right after pregame. I think he said
something like, John Wayne he might’ve said, I’m not even sure who that is but he said,
‘Hey John Wayne, put some sleeves on.’”
(On if he remembers Brett Favre’s comments on him not wearing sleeves…)
“We’ve played them so many times that it all kind of blends together. I remember there
were a lot of jokes on me that next year when we played them in the preseason and it’s all
fun. Truly it’s all fun and I don’t even take offense. I’m laughing right along with
everybody.”
(On some of the funnier ones…) “They’re not as good when I say them. They’re funny
when other people say them.”
(On the players who made the All-Pro team…) “First of all, when guys get awards like
that I think it’s cool for the whole team. It’s obviously cool for Walt (Walter Jones) and
Lofa (Tatupu) and Patrick (Kerney). But for us with Walt on the offensive side of the
ball, he’s just a great teammate. He’s fun to have around, and I don’t think we really got
to know him when he was holding out all those years and not coming to training camp.
Now that he’s around us so much more we all know each other, he really is one of the
great guys on our team.”
(On playing at Lambeau when he was younger…) “It was great. I think, in some
respects, I was a little spoiled. We played six or seven Monday night games every year. I
thought that was normal. I thought it was normal that John Madden and (Troy) Aikmen
and those guys were doing the game every week. That’s not the norm. You don’t have
Michael Buffet doing your player introductions every other game. It’s a cool thing, and
obviously they’ve got a nice thing going there.”
(On his relationship with Coach Holmgren early on in his career…) “Early on, when
I was at the lowest point here, I can remember talking to Brett (Favre) on the phone,
saying something to him like, ‘you have no idea how bad it is here.’ He’d laugh and say
‘no, you have no idea how bad it was here.’ Then he’d tell a tell a story and I would say
Matt Hasselbeck January 9, 2008
to myself, ‘ok, he’s right’ his version is way worse than mine. I’m glad, I’m glad for as
hard as he is on quarterbacks, as hard as he was on me at times, I’m glad he was.”
(On being comfortable at Lambeau Field…) “I think, more than anything, it’s just a
cool stadium. There are some great stadiums around the league, even in college, you go
to South Bend, Indiana, you go places like that. It’s more of the places you dreamed of
playing. I can remember even going to San Francisco to play for the first time. That’s
where you saw all those great Joe Montana games. Lambeau Field is the same way. You
remember when you were in college or high school, seeing games there, for other people
that are a little bit older, different games and bigger games that were there. I think that’s
what it is.”
(On the feeling of playing on the tundra of Lambeau Field…) “Yeah, we got to do our
mock game on Saturdays there. That was pretty fun.”
(On preparing for the cold…) “We talked about it, and basically I thought Mike
(Holmgren) said it best. When he was coaching there he was freezing his butt of too. I
can remember, as a player there, pretending like we weren’t cold, then running into the
locker room and all huddled in the sauna. We were cold as well. So I know that they’re
practicing in the Don Hutchens center, it’s under 55 degrees, it’s no secret. The weather
is the same for both teams. It’s been talked about once, and that’s probably the last time
it’ll be brought up.”
(On Brett Favre…) “To be honest, I really haven’t seen much of him playing. I know
Mike (McCarthy), I think the best thing about Mike McCarthy is that he’s not afraid to
coach Brett Favre. He’s coached a lot of great quarterbacks, starting with Joe Montana,
and know he’s with Brett Favre. Tiger Woods has a golf coach, he’s got a guy that’s
coaching him on his swing. That’s probably the best way I can say it. Yes he’s Brett
Favre, yes he’s one of the best of all time, but I think it’s important that you’ve got
someone that will coach you, and he definitely has that in Mike.”
(On learning from Brett Favre…) “That will be in my book. You can read my book.
His leadership style, number one, and number two would probably be the mistakes he
made. I didn’t have to make them, I saw him make them. I heard him tell me about
them.”
(On the differences between this point in the season and last year…) “We’re
healthier. I’d say, for me anyway.”
(On if Mike Holmgren has changed…) “Maybe a little bit. I think, if anything, when I
first got here I don’t think we were playing at a level that was up to his standard, and
now we are. People say he seems more mellow, or calmer, but I think that’s just the
product of us understanding what he wants, and giving it to him.”