Burleson settles in
KIRKLAND, Wash. – Like any new kid who transfers in, Nate Burleson was reserved in the early parts of his acclimation.
Then one of the popular kids, Matt Hasselbeck, made the first move to welcome him.
“He nudged me on the shoulder and said, ‘Hey, it’s OK to smile around here – it’s not your first day of school,’ ” Burleson said. “But that’s kind of how you feel when you come in and you don’t know many people.”
It may sound like junior high, but the exchange took place at the Seattle Seahawks headquarters, and Burleson was one of the important free-agent acquisitions of the off-season.
And Hasselbeck, the team’s Pro Bowl quarterback? “He’s definitely a guy who can make you feel comfortable,” Burleson said.
Hasselbeck is a team leader and likely serves as an unofficial welcome-wagon representative in the locker room, anyway. But there’s more involved than hospitality when it’s a receiver like Burleson showing up.
The link and connection between a quarterback and a top receiver has to me more than just the arc of a thrown football, or the dotted line on the chalkboard representing a play’s primary receiver.
An almost telepathic communication needs to develop, which takes time and repetition, respect and trust.
Burleson experienced it in Minnesota, where he played three seasons for the Vikings.
“It’s so important for a quarterback to be able to trust you and for him to have faith in you on the field,” Burleson said. “In Minnesota, when I had a big year in 2004 (nine touchdown receptions), Daunte (Culpepper) and I were real close. I went to his house to eat, and his family and my family were real close. That extended on to the field.”
What about Seattle?
“I’m hoping very much to develop that kind of relationship with Matt,” Burleson said. “And, obviously, he’s not a hard guy to get along with.”
He and Hasselbeck have not had the chance to work much on that bond, yet, Burleson said. But he knows what Hasselbeck is looking for in him.
“The quarterback wants to feel like he can believe in you,” he said. “Talking isn’t going to do it. It’s how you play and then how you present yourself. If I make the plays, and in the locker room I’m a genuine guy, then I won’t have a problem getting the ball.”
During a Seahawks minicamp practice Wednesday, as receivers ran one-on-one routes in the Red Zone against the defense, Burleson worked on improving the Seattle offense.
Learning the offense actually was not the first chore for the Seattle native and O’Dea High grad.
“First and foremost is finding the chemistry with the guys you play with,” Burleson said. “In this business, it can be hard to make friends because you never know where you’re going to be from year to year, but at the same time, you want to enjoy the people you’re around.”