Reunion lacks sentimental feel

KIRKLAND, Wash. – There were no promises of touchdown dances or playful boasting from an opposing wide receiver when the Seattle media took part in its weekly conference call Wednesday morning. Cincinnati’s Chad Johnson was not on the phone this week.

Neither was San Francisco’s Darrell Jackson.

The former Seahawks receiver refused to do a conference call with local reporters, leaving his sentiments about facing the team that once employed him for the Bay Area media.

“I want to go out and win. Everybody does against their former team,” Jackson was quoted as telling Bay Area reporters on Wednesday. “There’s nothing (motivational) other than that.”

Jackson and the San Francisco 49ers will host the Seahawks on Sunday, but the reunion doesn’t have quite the juicy subplots one might expect.

Despite Seattle’s desperation to cut ties with Jackson (he was dealt to a division rival, at the low price of a fourth-round draft pick) and the receiver’s animosity toward Seahawks president Tim Ruskell (he admitted as much Wednesday), the build-up to Sunday’s game is not as heated as one might expect.

The most telling quote of the day came from the Bay Area, where Jackson took a shot at Ruskell by saying: “There was one dude I had a difference of opinion with, and just with my luck, it happened to be the head dude.”

In these parts, all of the talk about the reunion was positive. Coach Mike Holmgren admitted that Jackson’s habit of missing practices with injuries was tough on the team, but he also remembered the former Seahawk as one of Seattle’s best playmakers of the past decade.

“I liked him,” Holmgren said. “But I have a tendency, if a guy is going to meet me halfway, I like my players. And Darrell was no different.”

Quarterback Matt Hasselbeck joked about how strange it was to see Jackson in another team’s helmet.

“The uniform, I’m over that,” Hasselbeck said. “I’m happy for him (that) he’s moved on. But the helmet, I just don’t think the helmet fits right.”

Seahawks wide receiver Bobby Engram answered a few questions about his former teammate before laughing and responding: “What, are we getting sentimental here? Is this a stroll down memory lane? I just want to play football.”

No matter what happened in the final years of his Seahawks career – Jackson was traded, Ruskell said after the April trade, because he never seemed to get over a long-standing contract squabble – the 28-year-old wideout will go down as one of the best receivers in Seattle history.

Only Steve Largent, with 100 touchdown receptions, caught more TD passes than Jackson’s seven-year total of 47.

Jackson ranks fourth in team history in receptions (441) and third in receiving yards (6,445).