Matt Hasselbeck Quotations | Page 3

I tried to go to Georgia once. But my passport was expired.

It's a league where you've got to earn your stripes. And the emphasis is on earn , believe me.

It's a humbling experience to get to be the quarterback of this team who gets to play in the Super Bowl, with an opportunity to bring the Lombardi Trophy back to Seattle.

It's not something we're hung up on. I'm sure some of the coaches are aware of it. But a lot of our guys are young. They don't remember, and they don't really care.

It's not my job (to call plays). I just do what I'm told.

For Darrell, the next step will be taking on a real leadership role with the younger guys, ... He's playing about as good as anyone can play.

It's almost unfair. Some people sleep on the flights, but I tend not to sleep because I am so enamored by all of the stuff on the plane. The bathroom that is right in front of my seat is nicer than the bathroom in my first house that I owned.

It makes it easier for everybody. Coach Holmgren can just look at his call sheet and call plays he likes, get guys going, spread the ball around.

It's been a humbling experience. I've got the greatest teammates in the world. I feel very blessed to be the quarterback of this team - and we're not done yet.

It's unfortunate. I know they're doing the best they can. I certainly don't blame them. But the film doesn't lie, I guess.

That sounds like a question that a bunch of sports writers sitting around a desk should discuss. I don't really have the answer to that question. I don't know. What I do know is that the more I focus on playing football the better I play. The better I play, the better I'll do in those kind of discussions down the road.

It's still lingering. People are still talking about it.

Everyone can take a great deal of pride in having helped Shaun accomplish what he did.

The biggest thing was how great our defense was playing. Shortening the field, creating turnovers, all that kind of stuff makes an offense?s job much easier.

Not to be disrespectful, but we expected to win this game.

The bathroom that is right in front of my seat is nicer than the bathroom in my first house that I owned.

That is probably not going to happen against these guys. These guys are very good defensively. I think we need to be ready to weather the storm a little bit in terms of not being as successful as we're used to being.

That is no big deal. They were kind of stale anyway. They needed to be changed.

Talk is kind of cheap in situations like that,

Talking to the friends that I have on the Packer team, they admire the way that he handled this season, with a lot of bad breaks and a lot of tough situations. (Sherman) really kept it together. I think you judge somebody by how they handle adversity rather than how they handle success.

It's ironic because protecting the ball was my No. 1 priority going into the game. (That) interception, I had in my mind to throw it away.

It's definitely hard when you're putting in the work and the guy who's starting isn't, especially if he's overhyped or you're not winning. I can't imagine how hard it would be to be that guy's backup.

It's called running for your life. I should have scored, probably. It was uncharted territory for me.

It obviously helps playing at home with our crowd into it the way they were today.

It's hard to articulate. It's a feeling now that things are just different than they have been here in the past. I know that a lot of us have taken pride in being a Seahawk and taken pride in our job and what we do. But it's a little bit different now.

It's hard to articulate, ... It's a feeling now that things are just different than they have been here in the past. I know that a lot of us have taken pride in being a Seahawk and taken pride in our job and what we do. But it's a little bit different now.

It wasn't always easy here. It's been a ride . . . a bit of a roller-coaster ride.

It was like an away game for us, there's no question about that. But if there were 90 percent Steelers fans and 10 percent Seahawks fans, I thought at least the Seahawks fans were just as loud, if not louder at times. I give those Seahawks fans a lot of credit. They did a great job.

It was like an away game for us. It was 90 percent Steelers fans and 10 percent Seahawks fans.

It was like an away game for us. If 90 percent of them were Steelers fans, 10 percent were Seahawks fans, and I thought the Seahawks fans were as loud if not louder at times.

It was like an away game for us.

No longer can we give the excuse he's got a thankless job.

It was one of those, 'Please get out of bounds. Please get out of bounds,'

It was one of those deals where he shouldn't be able to run by a corner like that, ... It wasn't necessarily a throwaway ... I really didn't expect him to get it, but as I saw how hard he was running and the ball in the air, I thought, 'Maybe he will get there.'

It was a dream come true. I remember being at that game. I remember when he blocked a kick in that game. It's probably one of my favorite memories of all time.

They could have brought in a bunch of different guys in 2001, (but) they chose me. I don't take that lightly.

They are like missiles. They hit their gaps.

They are very skilled players. They can dunk a basketball. They can pass a football. They're very good athletes who just happen to be very big.

They have to do what they have to do. We are going to go out and try to play as hard as we can.

It was great. It worked out exactly like the coaches hoped.

It was a dream come true. It's probably one of my favorite memories of all time.

Once I had this horrible start my first year as starter, and he sat down during the game and told me about this horrible game he had in 1997 against the New York Jets, but still went to the Pro Bowl. He didn't have to be the guy that he was.

Shaun plays his best games in the spotlight.

(The fans) are a part of this thing. They are a real part of this thing.

I'm not dwelling on it. I've moved on to next week. It's nice to have a couple of days off. It was an emotionally, physically draining game.

I'm really proud of the way our team played this year. Sundays are very, very fun.

I love it. We're fired up about it. The linemen, they don't look good in the white on white.

I'm sure there's a game we will lose where we'll sit there and go, 'We should have won that game,'

I'm sure some of the coaches are aware of it, or the people who have been in the building for a long time are aware of it. But a lot of our guys are young. They don't remember, and they don't really care. What we do care about is this team, this year and what we can do.

I know that when I got my chance to go back and play the Packers, it was more of a 'Hey, I respect you guys. I like you guys, but it'll be even that much sweeter to beat you guys,' ... I'm sure they feel the same way. We respect those guys. They went to another team to make more money, and we're not mad at them. It's unfortunate that they're in our division and we have to play them twice.

I know that those guys (the officials) have a difficult job, and they're trying the best that they can. So I certainly don't blame them. But you know, film doesn't lie, I guess is what I would say.

I know where Mike's coming from when he says, 'Focus on what you can control,'

I know where Mike's coming from. He really wanted me to focus on what I could control. But the simple fact is those guys are very different, and I haven't played with them.

I knew we haven't played really well on offense in the second half so far this season, so it's been mentioned,

I'm really in shock right now. Standing on that podium, raising that championship trophy, in front of our fans is definitely a dream come true.

I'm just glad you knew we were in the United States. Most people think we are in Canada.

I'm not worried at all about Shaun because like we've all seen, Shaun Alexander plays his best games in the spotlight. When games are the biggest he seems to play his best. And we've never played a game this big.

I'm not worried at all about Bobby. I'm not worried at all about Darrell. In the past, Darrell hasn't practiced at all with the team and come out and had the best games of his career.

I'm not sure they were mental mistakes as much as just mistakes. I guess it wasn't our day that way. You can't make the mistakes we made and expect to win the game against a good team like this.

I'm not sure they were mental mistakes as much as just mistakes. I guess it just wasn't our day.

I'm happy for him. It's a feather in their cap when things like that happen. Unselfish play by everybody and Shaun having a great year, it's a winning combination for our offense.

I'm happy for him, ... It's a feather in their cap when things like that happen. Unselfish play by everybody and Shaun having a great year, it's a winning combination for our offense.

If there's a chance to get him the ball, I'm going to get it to him. He's earned it, and I want to give him every opportunity.

Instead of people saying, 'Hey, I feel bad for you,' it felt more like people were applauding ... No, it didn't feel that way, it WAS that way. It was tough. It was very, very tough.

I know in college there were certain places we weren't allowed to live or go after dark. It was kind of silly. That is not going to solve problems.

I hit him on a very similar route against Kansas City three years ago. He saw me and said, 'Hey, good throw, it's just like Kansas City.' I mean, that was three years ago. So that experience, and the reps that we've had together, it's hard to replace that.

I really don't know that much about their team, to be honest. That'll start Wednesday.

In the past, Darrell has not practiced at all, not even been with our team, and came out and had some of the greatest games of his career.

I guess the only thing to say is that it's not going to be an unfair advantage for anyone, because the other team is using the same football.

It hasn't always been easy. He's tough on his quarterbacks. But if you do it his way, it usually works out.

I think (Alexander) has really earned a lot of respect from his teammates this year, how he has handled things in a very unselfish manner. He came to camp on time (without a long-term contract) when a lot of people didn't expect him to, and I think that said a lot about the kind of commitment he was going to have to our team this year.

I just made that up. That's pretty good, huh? Thank you, thank you. That's good stuff.

Being in the locker room and talking to all the people in there, I realize this a big deal to a lot of people.

Hey, we simply didn't play well enough to win. We can't blame this loss on the calls out there.

He sets the standards really high, especially at the quarterback position, and he isn't going to settle for anything less.

He sets the standard really high, especially at the quarterback position and he isn't going to settle for anything less. Bottom line is he just wants you to do things his way and if you do that, things will work out and he will be happy and you won't have that friction as long as things are going well. It isn't all the on the quarterback but you just have to make it right.

He's the best player on our team, for sure. He might be the best player in the game.

He's just a veteran, he's a pro, he gets it. You're out there and it's loud, and he's recognizing the defense along with you.

I don't know if we have talked to those guys as much as we see how they conduct themselves. Joe has just been going about his business like he has all year. ... You just continue to be professional.

I don't know if it was me. Those other guys stepped up. It was really a team win today.

I don't know if it was just because they were the heavy kids in the pool with their T-shirt on or what. But every team I've been on, those guys have been really, really close.

I don't know how to explain it other than we feel really good about what we are doing. We believe in the program. We believe in what the coaches are asking us to do and we believe in each other.

I don't know if I really have the words. Sometimes it almost doesn't seem real, and then other times it seems very real and you're looking at a very good Pittsburgh Steelers team. And that's real.

I don't know if I know anything different, really. I know when you have good pass protection, it makes your job so much easier.

I didn't know or wasn't willing to admit that. I learned the hard way.

I didn't read into it like other people did. Guess what? We're going to go out and try and win this game. Sorry, we're not going to just go out and lay down.

Honestly, we're going to be OK, we're going to get over this game. Hey, we had an opportunity to play better and to be world champs. We didn't play well enough to be world champs and we all know that. People will make excuses, saying, 'They got you on a trick play,' or, 'The officials called that and it looked like something else.' As players, we're not going to make that excuse. Our excuse is we didn't play well enough, period.

He's a pro. He gets it, ... He doesn't panic in big-game situations.

He's a Pro Bowler now. He's so big-time that he's hogging interviews.

He's a pro and he worked hard. And I give him a lot of credit. We asked him to do a lot. He came through when we needed him.

He said basically, if you want to make it in this league, you have to forget all that stuff or you're going to end up like this guy, this guy and this guy who never made it because they couldn't handle it.

If he's healthy and can go, he's just another weapon for us. Another guy they can't leave by himself and if they do, Darrell will do what Darrell does.

I don't think he faded under pressure. I thought he made some really good plays, and I'm sure he'd tell you there's some plays he'd like to have back.

I don't think he faded under pressure. I had complete confidence in him.

He's meant a lot to us, in our careers and as a friend. It looked like he was having a lot of fun. If he does choose to go out that way, it's a great way to go out.

I don't overlook them; I think they're great. Our field position has been great all year, and our defense has created turnovers.

I do like the aggressive style. At least being on the offensive when you're on offense because we know how explosive the Rams are on offense.

For our team, it was we should really just go out and play to make our parents proud, so to speak.

It was the first car accident I had ever been in. It shakes you up a little bit.

One of those professional drivers hit one of those blockade barriers. It was the first car accident I have ever been in, so I was a little startled.