Warren Commissioned Seahawks Ask Running Back To Do More Than Just Run

The scenery grew tiresome.

Nearly every time Chris Warren assumed his tailback position for the Seattle Seahawks last season, he would view eight or nine defenders crowding to the line of scrimmage.

Shoulder-to-shoulder, lined up like a firing squad, they targeted one man.

Care for a last cigarette and a blindfold before we hand you the ball, Chris?

“It got kind of monotonous,” Warren said of the single-minded defensive tactics. “We knew teams were going to do that because rushing was what we did best and they wanted to stop us. We still got our fair share of yardage, though.”

The intriguing aspect about this season for Warren - aside from continued distraction from off-field incidents - is that defenses won’t be able to focus so singularly on him.

Warren accounted for more than 40 percent of the team’s total yards last year.

He presented a complex athletic equation in which mass (226 pounds) plus velocity (sub-4.4 40 time) equaled 1,545 yards - the second-highest rushing total in the NFL, trailing only Detroit’s Barry Sanders.

Seven games of 100-plus rushing yards last year helped him to become only the 28th NFL back to have three consecutive seasons in excess of 1,000 rushing yards.

All of this was the product of a one-horse offense in which defenses worried about little else but Warren.

“When I was with Phoenix a couple years ago, we geared everything to stop Chris, because he was all they had, and he still gained 200 yards (actually 168),” recalled Seahawks linebacker Tyrone Stowe.

This season, defenses might even have a difficult time finding him.

“We plan to use Chris quite a bit as a receiver, to split him out and also use him as a receiver out of the backfield,” said Bob Bratkowski, Seahawks offensive coordinator. “His rushing attempts may go down, but his touches of the ball and total yardage could both go up.”

A 29-yard gain on a slant-in pass from a split receiver position in the preseason game against New Orleans hinted of what Warren can do, as an undersized cornerback in man coverage was helpless to bring him down.

This was what Seahawks head coach Dennis Erickson envisioned when he first began molding the team’s offense to suit its personnel.

“He’s got so much versatility, we’ve got to do everything we can to get him the ball in different situations and exploit that,” Erickson said. “We want to get him in situations, pass-wise, he’s one-on-one in the open field. Because not only can he run, but he’s big and creates a real mismatch out there.”

Warren, entering his sixth year with the Hawks, sees this diversification as a challenge.

“I like it because it’s making me more of a complete player, developing my receiving skills and making me run good, crisp routes,” he said.

“And it should make Warren a good bet to return for his third straight Pro Bowl - a development that was never expected of a fourth-round draft pick from Ferrum College in Virginia.

Despite early athletic success at the University of Virginia, Warren dipped below the university’s stringent scholastic standards and transferred to Ferrum as a junior to iron out his academics and flatten undermanned Division III opponents.

Two seasons of returning punts and kicks led to his taking over the featured-back role in 1992.

With his long, skating stride, Warren made it look easy. In fact, so easy that some wondered if he was playing hard at all times.

No doubts about his toughness were raised last year as he gained 185 yards against Houston despite several fractured ribs sustained in an auto accident that paralyzed teammate Mike Frier.

A quiet man, Warren was uncomfortably thrust further into the spotlight when confusion arose concerning the accident - whether Warren or teammate Lamar Smith had been driving at the time.

Warren played hurt and played well through that turbulent December, and the truth surfaced that Smith was at the wheel.

Now, Warren faces misdemeanor charges of fourth degree assault in connection with an incident in a Renton nightclub. A woman claims that Warren slapped her on the buttocks after she refused to dance with him.

Separating the on-field Warren from the off-field Warren, it’s clear he has grown into a more important role on the team.

During one seemingly insignificant drill, for instance, Smith casually shouldered a blocking dummy. Warren stepped up, told him that the effort was not acceptable, and Smith ran the drill again, aggressively and with noticeable intent.

Whether or not off-field charges will sideline Warren remains to be seen.

In uniform, though, Warren should clearly benefit from the new Seahawk offensive approach.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo