Having Been Traded To Seattle, Proehl Won’t Be Looking For Buddy

Don’t invite Ricky Proehl to the same mini-camp with Buddy Ryan.

Proehl, the new wide receiver for the Seattle Seahawks, has seen enough of Ryan, the Arizona Cardinals’ head coach, to last his career.

Last season was Proehl’s season from hell. He said Ryan embarrassed and belittled him all year long.

“Buddy’s a guy who doesn’t care,” Proehl said. “His way is the only way. You can’t really tell him anything. When he believes something, you can’t really tell him differently.”

Ryan shipped Proehl from Phoenix to the Seahawks in April for a 1995 fourth-round draft choice.

Proehl talked Thursday after completing the second of three Seahawks mini-camps under new coach Dennis Erickson. Erickson has real conversations with his players, Proehl said.

“Dennis is a class act,” Proehl said. “There’s no question he’s a players’ coach. He’s got a great personality. Whenever you have a coach you can feel comfortable talking with, that’s a big plus.”

Proehl, 27, knew he would be gone from Phoenix after he dropped a potential game-winning touchdown pass in Arizona’s regular-season opener against the Los Angeles Rams.

Ryan criticized Proehl to the media and wouldn’t stop. Proehl heard about his mistake in the Rams’ game for the remainder of the season.

The player acknowledged he should have made the catch.

But Ryan “rode me for the whole season and it bothered me,” Proehl said. “He said something to me, the team and in the papers. To hear him getting on me in the papers and all that week after week, there comes a time when you’ve just got to say, ‘I know it happened, it’s over, I’ve just got to go out and play.’ “

Proehl made the most of his last season with the Cardinals, making 51 catches for 651 yards and five ouchdowns. He averaged 57 receptions in his five seasons in Phoenix, his first four under Joe Bugel.

Nevertheless, the Cardinals’ third-round draft choice in 1990 had his least productive season. In his first four seasons, he had 56, 55, 60 and 65 catches, respectively.

To give Seattle more offense, Erickson traded for Proehl and then made wide receiver Joey Galloway the Seahawks’ pick in the first round of April’s draft.

Proehl has 4.5-second speed in the 40-yard dash and is considered a possession receiver. Blades, who caught 81 passes last season, also is a possession receiver. Galloway gives Seattle a legitimate deep threat.

“I’m just ecstatic to be here,” Proehl said. “Words can’t describe how happy I am.”