Matt Hasselbeck Quotations | Page 2

I wasn't scared we were going to give it away or anything like that.

I would love to see him more, but that is not really my call.

We're a focused team right now. For the first time, you can say, hey, I know I can count on the guy next to me. That's definitely a good feeling.

We played really, really well at times, ... It's just that we turned the ball over too many times.

We could have lost this game. They've got some great leadership on this team. To come in here like that and play like this, the defense was just awesome.

We just didn't play well enough. It's disappointing. It's hard. But what can you do? They played really hard on defense and we didn't execute to the best of our ability. We were close a couple times, but close doesn't cut it.

We just didn't execute to the best of our ability today. We were close a couple of times, but close doesn't get it done.

We just didn't execute to the best of our abilities. That's why (Pittsburgh) is the Super Bowl champion, and we're not.

We were still trying to be aggressive, ... to do what we do.

You know how many kids are walking around there that are like 11 years old named Brett? A lot. About the same as there are 50 year olds named Vince.

When I said that, whenever it was, two years ago, that's how it was, having fun with some good friends. It's just a sign of the friendship. There's a core group of guys when I played here. There was something special about that team.

When I first got here, people talked about the 12th Man at Husky Stadium, and I didn't believe it. When we moved into Qwest Field, it's been different, especially the last three years. I've played in a lot of stadiums, and this is the loudest. Dome or no dome, our fans, for whatever reason, know how to get loud.

We haven't been parading around town doing all kinds of things. We're here for one thing and that's to play football. We're not here to do all this other stuff.

Unfortunately, we didn't make the plays we needed to make. They played well on defense. We didn't execute to the best of our abilities today. Therefore they're the Super Bowl champs, and we're not.

We were joking with Mack that he took a lot of time off the clock with that run.

We were joking to Mack that he ran a lot of time off the clock on that play.

To beat them the way we did, I don't want to say it's surprising, but it's quite an accomplishment because they're a very good team. I'm a little bit in shock right now. I hope people took pictures out there so I can look back at them later.

We're not done yet. We've got another game we've got to go win.

We're not done yet. We have one more game we need to win.

Yeah, he was a little quiet, didn't necessarily hang with everybody, but he was a professional, worked really hard, great teammate and a veteran guy who'd been around awhile,

We are just happy to come out of here with a win. I heard someone say in the locker room, 'Let's hurry up and get out of here before they change the score.' We are looking forward to getting on the plane and going.

We understand that this is Jerome Bettis' hometown and that he's going to get a lot of the attention. He's a classy guy who's had a great career. You can see why it's kind of hard for us to compete against that for attention.

We weren't a very good team and I wasn't a very good quarterback. I thought I knew all the plays inside and out. But Trent knew the plays better than anybody, and in meetings I'd watch him sit and take notes like he'd never seen them before. It rubbed off.

We can't make the mistakes that we made and expect to win.

We climbed to just about the top of the mountain. We were like 10 feet away and had to turn around and go back. It was a great journey and a lot of good came from it, but at the same time, we didn't finish what we set out to do.

We have been in the newspaper for playing football and not other stuff. That wasn't always the case last year.

We raise that flag before the game, and some people might not understand it. It's something I didn't understand at first. But it means something to people. It means something to our team, it means something to our coaches, it means something to the people in the city. I mean, the thing's hanging from the top of the Space Needle right now.

We knew that he would fit nicely in our offense,

We just weren't that good. The product on the field wasn't very good, and that is a frustrating thing.

We thought that maybe we would struggle a little bit more than we did, ... But those guys played great.

You have heard the same talks and speeches that he's given for the past five year, but now, since we're moving deeper into the playoffs, his wisdom and his experience are really coming out. It's really fresh for us because we've never been in that situation. There's a lot of wisdom and experience there.

too much of the weight of the world on his shoulders.

We didn't execute to the best of our abilities, and therefore, they're the Super Bowl champions and we're not.

We got introduced to a lot of people in the country today who didn't know what we were really about.

We fizzled when we got in the red zone. That hasn't been characteristic of our team. That's not us.

We weren't worried at all. All year we have had guys step up when players go down.

You have to know where he is on every play. Every play.

Whatever we may have lost in talent, we gained in accountability and professionalism and leadership.

Throwing mechanics, shoulder posture, my drop ? little things like that. Right now in camp it still feels like I'm confined and working on stuff. My feeling is, hey, these guys know what they're talking about. I'm buying in 100 percent to what they're saying. Don't ask questions. Come September, your mechanics will be better, you'll be a more accurate passer, and because of that your team will be better.

We just had opportunities to score touchdowns, but we didn't score touchdowns. We were moving the ball fine, rhythm, time of possession, first downs, yards...we just couldn't score touchdowns.

We were really focused on the task at hand rather than, 'Oh, my gosh, we're in this big game.

We went 8-0. We were the team that never punted. You can go back and see the trophy. It's printed on there.

You feel like you're getting worse as a player. You can't throw a spiral, and you can't throw a 5-yard pass that you could throw as a 9-year-old, because you're thinking about too many things.

We didn't know much about them and they didn't know much about us; it was a challenge in that way,

Boring is probably not the word. Frustrating is probably a better word.

At the snap of the ball, they are moving. They are like missiles. They are hitting their gaps, they're hitting their holes, and they're getting to where they are supposed to be, their correct assignment. When you watch them on film, they look like a Super Bowl-caliber team.

At the end of the day, after all the distractions, after the national anthem, after the planes fly over - well, I guess there will be no flyover because it's in a dome. But after all that stuff, you just have to focus on playing a football game. Sixty minutes of the best football you could possibly play. That's what it's going to take.

Did it bother me at times? Sure, it bothered me. Did I ever go in the tank completely? No not really.

And we still haven't played good. That's the amazing part. That excites me about the offense, that we're all sort of disappointed with how we've played. We left points out there today.

Arm strength, I think, is a thing that's, like, incredibly overrated in the NFL.

They are actually fun to watch. It's fun to watch film because they are so good. But at the same time you realize you have to play them this week.

It was tough. There was a lot of stuff I'd never been through. I'd never really been the guy. I'd never had to play through injury. I really had never played in the NFL.

It was a one game deal here. We were talking about this game and this game only...I have learned this week that people dogged the Seahawks because they don't think there is history, but there is history here.

It was a chance I shouldn't have taken. They had a good plan and executed it well. They blitzed early on, but we did a pretty good job of picking it up. After that, they kept seven and eight back in coverage a lot of the time.

The thing that I've learned through the course of this week is that it means a lot to a lot of people.

The thing's hanging on top of the Space Needle.

I've never been a part of a game like this. We set out trying to get a couple of goals accomplished. I think we took care of, statistically, some things we were trying to take care of. Probably more important, we were just trying to stay healthy also.

Sometimes, you'll look at the sheet or on the PowerPoint presentation and say to yourself, 'Is it going to work? It does.

Sometimes the ball bounces your way. We seemed to get all of those bounces. Everything seemed to be going our way.

People dog the Seahawks because there's not history here, but there is. Obviously, it doesn't go back as far as the Redskins or Packers or teams like that, but there's history here.

People expect the Steelers to win this game. Oh well, we're not getting caught up on it. It is what it is.

People expect the Steelers to win the game. Oh well, it is what it is. It doesn't surprise me that they're the favorite. There are a lot of things that people don't know about us, starting with our names.

Some people would rather be the favorite and walk in and play like the best. That hasn't been our thing this year. We have played to earn respect. And the way to earn respect is by going out and winning the next game you play. That approach has helped get us here.

Sounds simple, but it's great. It's the best.

Defensively, they are very well coached. I know we always say that, but it is really true this time. I think these guys are the best in the NFC.

Decision-making is probably more important than how you throw the ball. That's part of my job. I don't take it lightly.

Coaches coach guys on the field. I get to spend time with practice squad receivers and tight ends or a young center who's always inactive on Sundays... I feel really good about having an impact on those guys and their careers.

Detroit's been great. I've actually had a great time. The weather has been great. I've said many times, we've had police escorts everywhere we go in every city, and these are definitely the best police escorts. I don't know if they practice at home on the weekends or what, but these guys know what they're doing.

As far as having distractions, we haven't had any distractions,

The bottom line is we stalled out in the red zone. We moved the ball fine. We had rhythm. We just didn't score touchdowns. The penalties hurt us. We haven't been penalized much this year, especially in the red zone. It was bizarre. It wasn't us.

That was a combination of pain and frustration,

You should have seen our locker room after that game. It was awesome. Grown men acting like kids.

You're going to have games like this. You just have to sulk about it tonight and then get over it.

This is not being said with any disrespect, but we expected to win this game. That's what we expected to do.

They're triplets. Shaun's got a brother, too, and they're like quadruplets - long lost brothers.

They're triplets. Shaun's got a brother, too, and they're like quadruplets -- long lost brothers.

They're the coaches; you're not. You do what they ask you to do.

They totally fooled me. They got me. They had never shown it before, so I wasn't ready.

They make you prepare. Just some of the things they do and all of the ways they come after you.

They played really well on defense and executed well. We didn't execute to the best of our ability. That's why they're Super Bowl champs.

They don't do it just to do it. It means something here for our team. My mother got to raise the flag. It's a big deal.

They are both fine. It doesn't bother me any. And worrying about it doesn't help.

You can't make the mistakes we made and expect to win against a good team like this.

You can't make the mistakes we made and expect to beat a good team like this. The Steelers played well enough to win, and we didn't. They should get the credit.

You can't make the mistakes like we did and expect to win the game.

This means a lot to us players. But I can already feel how much it means to all the people who have been living and dying with this franchise since 1976. It's a humbling experience.

There was a time when we talked about how good a team we were but I'm not sure we believed it. Now we don't talk about it so much but I know we believe it.

There really isn't a weakness I see right now. Their scheme is so sound.

There's a little bit of motivation when people don't believe in you, and there are people who don't believe in our team. There are people who say they're not that good. That's a little bit of a motivating factor, but it's not something we're hung up on.

This looks like a much better Falcons team than we saw eight months ago. They look very impressive, and I'd have to say that they look like the favorites to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl right now.

This looks like a much better Falcons team than we saw eight months ago, ... They look very impressive, and I'd have to say that they look like the favorites to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl right now.

There's a lot that people don't know. Like our names.

It's just a humbling experience to know that all the people who set out to play in this Super Bowl, we're one of the teams that gets to go play in it. To have the opportunity to be called World Champions is an incredible opportunity. We've worked so hard for it and it's an amazing, amazing thing.

It was big because it was a free seven points that they got. You feel they didn't deserve it and then we had to answer back, because they were right back in the game at that point.

It was said, but we didn't really change much from what we do normally.

It was really a team win today. It's just really a great feeling right now to win this game.

It's a great feeling in our locker room right now, because we did come together. There is something a little bit more special about fighting through adversity and hanging in there in a tough game against a really good defense. Guys get hurt. Pork Chop Womack filled in at left tackle for Walter Jones for a couple of plays. He said something like, 'Did I make you nervous in there when Walt was out?' I told him no.

It's a pep rally, right? Those people were there from, like, 4:30 in the morning, so I feel like I owed them something.

It really was a comforting feeling today having him get up and talk about, 'Well, when I was in this Super Bowl we did this. Then when I was in that Super Bowl we did this. He's got experience there.

It really starts from the top, that is just the message we've been given. The veteran guys on our team would just sort of repeat the message from above, and we'd just try to live it out. Everyone is saying the goals of this team are more important. If you've really got chemistry and camaraderie, those things happen.