Jon Kitna, left, a former Seattle Seahawk/NFL quarterback, embraces his first football coach, Harry Snead, before being formerly introduced as the new Lincoln head football coach to staff and the media at the school's library today in Tacoma, Wash. Kitna is a graduate of the school who was recently hired as a math teacher after his 15-year career as an NFL quarterback. (AP Photo/The News Tribune, Dean J. Koepfler)

Question: Did you do well in your high school math classes?

Seahawks linebacker K.J. Wright brings down Bears running back Kahlil Bell during the first half.

CHICAGO – Red Bryant ran away from the Bears after his third-quarter interception.

The same could be said for the rest of the Seahawks, who scored 31 consecutive points in the second half, coming back to beat the Bears 38-14 on Sunday afternoon at Soldier Field in a game that not only sustained, but improved Seattle’s playoff chances.

Best moment of the game? Seeing Bryant lumber across the goal line. Are you still watching the Seahawks?

In his Sunday column, John Blanchette/SR discussed the ultimate price that former, indestructible Post Falls Trojan star Joe Tofflemire paid to play in the NFL. Tofflemire died last week at his home at age 46. His brother, Paul, and the extended family weren't surprised as a result of the toll that the violent world of pro football took on his brother's body. Blachette reports: “A study in the 1990s by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health noted that NFL linemen had a 52 percent greater risk of dying from heart disease than the general population. In 2006, the St. Petersburg Times reported while average life expectancy in the United States was nearly 78 years, the average for NFL players was 55 – 52 for linemen.” Then, Blanchette quotes Paul Tofflemire as saying: “The NFL stands for ‘Not For Long. It’s a violent game with a cost.” (SR file photo: former Seattle Seahawks center Joe Tofflemire reacts as a trainer checks his shoulder in training camp in July 1995.)

Question: Can you enjoy NFL football as much, knowing that the players are risking shorter lives for their moments of glory?

He bought himself a snub-nosed football shoe in the ninth grade to further his ambitions as a place-kicker, so instantly – and forever – Joe Tofflemire was known as “Toe.” But soon enough he grew into a complete player – one of the most honored linemen in Pacific-12 Conference history, a second-round NFL draft pick – and, to his family and friends, a complete inspiration. So their sorrow was as profound as their shock in learning that Tofflemire had died Tuesday at Kootenai Health in Coeur d’Alene after being found unconscious and unresponsive in his Post Falls home. The former Seattle Seahawks center was 46. “He was warm, sharing, caring, compassionate,” said Nick Menegas, Tofflemire’s coach at Post Falls High School. “His evolution from boy to man was so rewarding to watch. He was humble and kind – and so grateful for his opportunities”/John Blanchette, SR. More here.

• Ex-Post Falls/Arizona/Seattle Seahawk player remembered/Brian Walker, Press

In this SR file football by Christopher Anderson from the mid-1990s, Joe Tofflemire grimaces as a Seahawk trainer checks his shoulder during a recent practice. Tofflemire was a football standout at Post Falls High.

Joe Tofflemire, a first-team All-Pac-10 center at Arizona in 1986, 987 and 1988, died Tuesday in Post Falls. He wa 46. He was found unconscious and unresponsive in his home, according to family reports on Facebook. He later died in a Coeur d'Alene (Kootenai Medical Center) hospital. Tofflemire was UA's 1988 football team's Most Valuable Player and the 1988 winner of the Pac-10 Morris Award, emblematic of the league's top offensive lineman. He was selected in the second round of the 1989 NFL draft by the Seattle Seahawks and played for the team from 1989-94/Arizona Daily Star. More from Wikipedia here. (John Blanchette & Greg Lee are working on story for SR.)

• From Alison Larkin McArthur Facebook wall: The Funeral Services for Joe Tofflemire will be Rosary September 30th at 7 pm at Bell Tower Funeral Home- 3398 E Jenalan Avenue Post Falls- Graveside services Monday at Noon at Evergreen Cemetery- Spokane Street- Post Falls, and Monday 2pm Reception Post Falls Senior Center 1215 E 3rd Avenue Post Falls. If you wish to donate any cash or food items for the reception Monday drop the items off at the Post Falls Senior Center- 1215 E 3rd Avenue. Any other questions please feel free to contact me at 208-773-9582.

Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll walks on the field at the start of a walkthrough practice to open NFL football training camp Thursday, July 28, 2011, in Renton, Wash.

For one day, Pete Carroll wasn’t hopping around with the vigor and excitement that was so apparent a season ago.

Apparently even the Seattle Seahawks’ head coach needed to ease his way into training camp on Thursday at Renton, Wash., after a whirlwind start to free agency that saw the Seahawks land quarterback Tarvaris Jackson, offensive lineman Robert Gallery and wide receiver Sidney Rice, and bid adieu to quarterback Matt Hasselbeck after a decade in Seattle.

Oh, alright. I admit it. I'm a diehard Seahawk fan and have been ever since I had a Steve Largent poster on my wall when all my friends had Andy Gibb posters. And I'm GLAD, glad Hasslebeck is gone. In addition, this is the first summer in 3 years that I haven't had a kid in football camp. And that makes me sad!

Is it too early to talk about football?

Mike Williams leads the Seattle Seahawks with 52 receptions this season.

It seems our own Sam Taylor had a little dust up on Twitter with Seahawk wide receiver Mike Williams. Sam took exception to William's tweet about a “white boy hatin on the Seahawks.”

Williams didn't appreciate Sam's comment and promptly blocked him with a little profanity tossed in for good measure.

You can follow the action here.

Do you follow any professional athletes on Twitter? Have you ever been blocked by someone on Twitter?

Matt Hasselbeck is leaving the NFC West after 10 years of starting with the Seattle Seahawks, as he has agreed to a multi-year deal with the Tennesee Titans. He will be their starter this year and probably in 2012, but is expected to show rookie Jake Locker the ropes. With the announcement, the Arizona Cardinals lost one of their options at quarterback. With Hasselbeck leaving, teams in the NFC West should breathe a little easier. He has shown he can win in that division for a long time, and his experience and play were key in a playoff victory last season against the New Orleans Saints./Jeff Root, SB Nation. More here.

Question: Are you a long-suffering fan of the Seattle Seahawks?

Twitter remarks from Seattle linebacker Aaron Curry regarding religion, and his subsequent reaction to fans who expressed displeasure with those comments, are sure to open a few eyes. On his Twitter page @Seahawk59, Curry began quoting Bibilical verses. Nothing wrong with that, of course. But apparently a significant number of Seahawks fans began objecting to his quotations. They told Curry they were going to unfollow him and some even Tweeted they were going to stop being Seattle fans if he kept quoting scripture. To which Curry responded: “People tweeting me saying they gone unfollow me cuz of my GOD-filled verses! Newsflash: I rather have Christ than to have you follow me”/Mike Freeman, CBS Sports. More here. (2009 AP file photo, of Aaron Curry)

Question: Shouldn't a pro football player be allowed to tweet religious verses on his personal Twitter account, even though it might anger some fans?

Oakland Raiders cornerback Stanford Routt (26) is congratulated by coach Tom Cable after running an interception back for a touchdown in the fourth quarter of their NFL football game against the Kansas City Chiefs in Kansas City, Mo., on Sunday, Jan. 2. Cable, a former University of Idaho football coach, was hired today as offensive line/assistant head coach of the Seattle Seahawks. Story here. (AP Photo/Reed Hoffmann)

• Caldwell High sports returning to 4A classification/Jesse Zentz, Statesman
• Rep. Gibbs wants Geddes' Senate seat/Betsy Russell, Eye On Boise
• Key lawmakers question Idaho school reforms/Betsy Russell, Eye On Boise
• Update: FBI says backpack along MLK Day parade contained bomb/Tom Clouse, SR
• 4500 rally against abortion in Olympia/Jim Camden Spin Control
• Bypass work to crimp traffic flow through Sandpoint/Bonner County Bee
• More Idahoans may be eligible for food stamps/KXLY
• FBI: Men who found backpack bomb are unsung heroes/KHQ
• Geddes to take wait-see approach to Tax Commission reform/Kevin Richert, Statesman
• Former teacher sentenced for obscene child porn cartoons/Associated Press
• Task force reversal: Trail funding should stay with parks/Betsy Russell, Eye On Boise
• Task force backs $10 car fee increase to help pay for ISP/Betsy Russell, Eye On Boise
• Cigar makers want to ban blunts that can be used for drugs/Brad Iverson-Long, Reporter

Seattle Seahawks' Marshawn Lynch (24) carries the ball under pressure from New Orleans Saints' Alex Brown as Seahawks Mike Gibson (64)  falls during the play in the first half of an NFL NFC wild card playoff football game, today, in Seattle. Late in the fourth quarter, Lynch scored on a spectacular 67-yard run to sew up a 41-36 upset victory by the Seahawks over the Saints. ESPN game story & boxscore here. (AP Photo/John Froschauer)

“Blitz,” the Seattle Seahawks mascot, tosses a football, Friday, during a rally for the Seahawks NFL football team in Renton, Wash. The Seahawks will host the Saints Saturday in Seattle for the first round of the NFC Playoffs. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

• Seattle P-I columnist Jim Moore predicts the Seahawks will beat the Saints
• Sports Illustrated says Seahawks don't have a chance of beatiing Saints
• Survey/USA News Poll: 7-9 Seattle deserves to be in NFL playoffs

Question: Predict the final score of Saturday's game?

A fan holds a sign during the first half of an NFL football game between the Seattle Seahawks and the St. Louis Rams Sunday in Seattle. The Seahawks won 16-6 to finish 7-9 and win the NFL West and a playoff bid against the New Orleans Saints next week. (AP Photo/John Froschauer)

• Blanchette: Laugh with Seahawks, not at them

Question: Are you happy or embarrassed that the 7-9 Seahawks made the playoffs?

Is it just me or does Charlie Whitehurst look like Jesus?

I'm not at all intending to be blasphemous but everytime I look at this picture I think, you know if this guy starts on Sunday, the Seahawks might just have a chance.

TAMPA, Fla. — The tailspin continued Sunday for the Seahawks. So, too, did their playoff chase. Yes, it’s been that kind of season for the Seahawks and the NFC West. Seattle suffered its seventh lopsided loss in nine weeks, falling 38-15 to Tampa Bay at Raymond James Stadium, but in a historically bad division, that result once again didn’t hurt the Seahawks’ playoff hopes.

And after an up-and-down season it all comes down to the final game for the Seahawks. Beat St. Louis at Qwest Field on Sunday, and the Seahawks, 7-9 record and all, will be champions of the division that has turned into a punch line. More here.

Watching a Seahawk game lately is like undergoing a voluntary root canal. But I'll still be watching next Sunday. WIll you?

Now on sale at the Seattle Seahawks team store: khaki pants and rumpled navy hoodies, essentials from The Pete Carroll Collection. Got to beat that old Pork Chop Womack replica jersey you used to wear on Sundays, right? Does it ever. Beats it badly. Just the way the San Francisco 49ers were beaten Sunday in the Seahawks’ 35th season opener, a turn of events few outside of the war room down at the team’s Renton headquarters saw coming. Despite playing the fashionable pick to win the NFC West – if there is such a thing as fashionable in that Village of the Damned – and running exactly four offensive plays the first quarter, the Seahawks rolled 31-6 and 67,044 at Qwest Field rocked/John Blanchette, SR. More here. (AP photo/Ted S. Warren: Pete Carroll shakes hands with 49ers coach Mike Singletary after the Seahawks dismantled San Francisco 31-6 Sunday.)

Question: Are you ready to jump on the Pete Carroll/Seattle Seahawks bandwagon now?

Pittsburgh Steelers’ Deshea Townsend (26) loses his helmet as he hits Seattle Seahawks’ Joe Jurevicius during the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl XL football game Sunday, Feb. 5, 2006, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

RENTON — Better late than never.

Haunted by blown calls in Super Bowl XL, referee Bill Leavy acknowledged officiating mistakes that may have contributed to the Seahawks’ 21-10 defeat to the Pittsburgh Steelers 4 ½ years ago.

“It was a tough thing for me,” Leavy said Friday. “I kicked two calls in the fourth quarter, and I impacted the game, and as an official you never want to do that.”

Although Leavy did not refer to any specific calls, two controversial plays in the fourth quarter of the 2006 game hurt the Seahawks and incensed their fans. Percy Allen, Seattle Times, Full story

Are we over this yet?

Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck has taken more than his share of hard hits this season. 

Final: Tennessee 17 Seattle 13

The season that can’t end soon enough has skidded into the New Year, and all that’s left to see in Seattle’s regular-season finale today against Tennessee is the Seahawks’ level of resolution.

“This is the last chance for this group to show how good we can be,” defensive end Patrick Kerney said. “Every Sunday you’re trying to show how good you can be. This is it for us, sad as it is. But I hope guys embrace that opportunity and put their best effort forward.” More here.

I watched. It hurt.

Quarterback Aaron Rodgers leads the sixth-ranked offense in the NFL.

It has been a chorus of this Seahawks’ season, but even by Seattle’s standards Sunday’s loss was enormous and that’s saying something given the number of double-digit whuppings Seattle has been subjected to this season.

Seattle lost 48-10 at Green Bay, which was not only the largest loss this season but tied for second-largest margin of defeat in franchise history.

And as bad as that was, it was almost worse. Tight end John Carlson’s 16-yard touchdown catch with 4:15 left saved a little bit of face in a game when it was tough to find anything to salvage.