Alexander aims for greatness

KIRKLAND, Wash. – After rushing for 154 yards and three touchdowns, after breaking the Seattle Seahawks’ nine-year-old record for rushing yards in a season, after moving to the top of the NFL in rushing, Shaun Alexander arrived home Sunday night to a message on his answering machine.

The voice belonged to Stump Mitchell, the Seahawks’ running backs coach and a card-carrying member of the Shaun Alexander Fan Club. Mitchell was calling from the team’s Eastside practice facility, where he went after a 24-21 win over the Arizona Cardinals to begin preparations for Sunday’s game against Atlanta.

Mitchell had been crunching some numbers when he noticed that Alexander was leading the NFL in rushing by a 66-yard margin.

“When it’s all over after Sunday, we have to win the rushing title,” the assistant coach’s voice said on Alexander’s machine. “Not only for yourself, but for your offensive linemen as well.”

Mitchell’s passion for a feat never achieved by a Seahawks runner is honorable, but it’s not one shared by this Seahawks runner. Alexander, who leads the NFL with 1,616 yards heading into the final weekend, doesn’t much care if he wins the rushing title or not.

“It really doesn’t move me one way or the other,” he said. “Maybe it will 100 years from now. I think highly of myself, so I don’t really label myself off of titles.

“Would it be an honor? Yeah – not to degrade what other guys have done, of course not. But at the same time, it’s not one of those things where records or a rushing title are going to make me think any differently of myself at all.”

So why is Mitchell so doggone fired up about it?

That all goes back to a television interview he saw nearly two weeks ago, which showed Kansas City running back Priest Holmes listing the top runners in the NFL. Mitchell didn’t blink when Holmes named San Diego’s LaDainian Tomlinson the best back, nor when Holmes pointed toward himself as No. 2. Mitchell couldn’t argue with the choice of Edgerrin James as the third-best back in the league.

But when Holmes mentioned Tennessee’s Chris Brown, who has 1,067 rushing yards this season but is in his first season as a starter, Mitchell nearly exploded.

“It really ticked me off,” Mitchell said. “It gave me a new look on life in terms of being a running back. Why (does Alexander) have to settle for just winning the NFC rushing title? Priest opened up his mouth; let’s go for it all.

“Priest is a really good running back, no question. He’s fantastic. But Shaun is pretty good, too. And I think he should be recognized.”

The so-called experts are beginning to give Alexander his due, but it might take a rushing title to cement his place among the best in the game.

He’s 66 yards ahead of the Indianapolis Colts’ James, 72 yards in front of the New York Jets’ Curtis Martin, and leads the closest NFC rusher – the New York Giants’ Tiki Barber – by 193 yards.

He’ll face the NFL’s ninth-ranked rushing defense in the Atlanta Falcons, yet Alexander is in a good position to win the rushing crown this weekend.

Only seven different players have won the NFL rushing title since 1990, meaning Alexander has a chance to join Emmitt Smith (four times), Barry Sanders (four), James (twice), Ricky Williams, Holmes, Terrell Davis and Jamal Lewis in that elite group.

Yet Alexander has something none of those players has. It’s called leverage. He could be the first defending NFL rushing champion to become an unrestricted free agent since the league revamped free agency in 1993. Past holders of the NFL rushing title had no need for a resume, while Alexander’s could feature his latest accomplishment in bold print.

“I don’t think it matters,” Alexander said of winning the rushing title in a contract year. “People already see what I can do. People already knew before this year. It’s one of those things: When opportunity knocks, who answers the door? And I think that’s what happened this year.”

As salaries go, the Washington Redskins set a new bar by signing running back Clinton Portis to an eight-year, $50.5 million contract last March. The Redskins did so after trading for Portis, who finished fifth in the NFL in rushing last season but had two years remaining on the contract he signed with Denver as a rookie.

Time will tell whether Alexander will look for similar numbers and whether anyone will reward him. The Seahawks probably aren’t in a position to spend that kind of money on one player, especially when considering the fact that 16 key players will be eligible for free agency in March.

Fullback Heath Evans, a teammate and close friend of Alexander, couldn’t imagine Seattle’s offense without the star halfback.

“When you lose someone like that – and this isn’t just his best friend speaking; it’s a football mind speaking – it changes the whole face of an offense,” Evans said. “The offensive line knows they can leave one or two (defenders) free, and Shaun’s going to make them miss.

“I am a little biased, I’ll admit that. But he’s a special player.”

The contract discussions are left for another time and Alexander is setting his sights on the one thing he can control. That’s a Sunday date with the Falcons, which could provide Alexander with his biggest feat yet.

“How he goes, we take a big, big sense of accomplishment,” offensive lineman Robbie Tobeck said. “I kind of wear that with pride, that I’ve blocked for 1,000-yard rushers or the NFL rushing champion.”

Many people will root for Alexander this weekend, even if Alexander is not among them.

“It would mean a lot,” Mitchell said. “It means that Shaun has come a long way.

“I was asked last year who I thought the best running back in the NFL was, and I don’t think I put Shaun in the top four. But if you ask me now who the best back in the league is, I would say it’s Shaun.”

Maybe after Sunday, Holmes will feel the same way.