Hey, it’s Seattle. Looking back, we’ve been through a lot together, haven’t we?
Remember 2001 when you were virtually unknown and Mike Holmgren decided to bring you with him to Seattle? Remember when you faced intense scrutiny and criticism from us when you were battling for a starting spot with Trent Dilfer? Yeah, those days were rough.
But after getting a couple years and experience under your belt, you became the Seahawks’ full time starting QB in 2003 and lead the Seahawks to the greatest times we’ve ever known. From 2003 to 2007, you established yourself as the greatest Seahawks quarterback of all time, leading us to the playoffs every year and shattering all previous passing records.
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Kids everywhere wanted your #8 jersey. You were king of this town. Whenever someone thought about the Seattle Seahawks, “Matt Hasselbeck” is the first person that came to mind. You were the face of the franchise. Actually, you were more or less face of the entire city of Seattle, and we like that because, well, you’re a nice, media friendly guy that wins.
Then came 2008.
In that fateful year, the tides turned. You hurt a nerve in your lower back that kept you out of 9 games. From that point forth, for some reason that’s beyond me, a large amount of Seahawks fans wanted Senaca Wallace to replace you. Frickin’ Senaca Wallace. That’s like me scratching a Cadillac Escalade and thinking “What? I’m not going to wait around and fix this! I might as well dump it and buy a ’92 Toyota Camry!”
For the past three years, Seahawks fans have wanted your head and demanded you be exiled to another NFL team. Whether the candidate is Wallace or Charlie Whitehurst, we’ve all been straight up jerks to you.
But let’s fast forward to now. The NFL lockout is about to be lifted, and free agency will begin. And guess what? You’re a free agent.
You can go anywhere you want. That’s why it’s called a free agent. Clever, right?
You could just leave Seattle and go to someplace like Tennessee. That would seem like the logical thing to do, with the Titans looking for a man to mentor newly drafted QB Jake Locker. Why not do it? Nothing’s holding you back.
Or you could go to San Francisco and stick it to all those jerky Seattle fans and prove that you still have something left in the tank.
Or you could go to Arizona, throw touchdowns to Larry Fitzgerald and silence CenturyLink Field this fall.
Or… you could save Seattle from its own fate.
Listen Matt. We have three options. a) Put an immense amount of pressure on Charlie Whitehurst and name him the starter, b) Give up an arm and a leg for a guy like Kevin Kolb by trading away draft picks, or c) Re-sign you.
With options a) and b), we’re screwed. That’s basically what it comes down to. Whitehurst has shown zero signs of a fulltime NFL starter, and yeah, Kevin Kolb might be a slight step up over you, but we would be shipping away our future for him.
But with you, we know what we’re getting. And yeah, you might not be on the same level you were 5 years ago, but you did guide us to a playoff berth last season and a magical playoff win over the defending champion Saints. Even the most irrational, drunk Seahawks fan knows you can still be a legitimate NFL starter, even if some people don’t want to admit that.
Basically what I’m trying to say is don’t leave us. Just… don’t. I don’t want to be stuck with Charlie Whitehurst or Kevin Kolb ripping away all of our draft picks. You’re still the face of the Seahawks and the best QB Seattle has ever known, and I want it to stay that way another year.
Sincerely,
Next Season Sports
Reach Nathan Parsons at nathanparsons98@yahoo.com
