A Hasty Return Hurts Seahawks

Some wondered if James Hasty, after two off-season shoulder surgeries, would be able to continue to perform at a high level.

No one is questioning Hasty now.

The Washington State grad from Renton’s Franklin High almost personally doomed the Seattle Seahawks Sunday as he picked off a pass, forced a fumble, deflected two other passes and made eight tackles in Kansas City’s 34-10 win in the Kingdome.

Hasty, in his first season with the Chiefs after seven with the New York Jets, deflected the credit to teammates.

“We had a great pass rush and it was a great job by the coaches getting us prepared for what we saw today,” Hasty said.

Hasty said the Chiefs’ staff studied game films of the University of Miami, where Seahawk coach Dennis Erickson coached last season. “That prepared us for all phases of the game.”

Two big plays by Hasty caused problems for the Hawks in the first half.

In the first quarter, rookie Hawk receiver Joey Galloway beat Hasty on a deep post pattern, but Hasty reached in and caused a fumble - denying the Hawks an almost certain touchdown.

Then, as time was running out in the first half, Hasty intercepted a deflected Rick Mirer pass and returned it far enough that the Chiefs could tack a field goal onto their lead.

“We got it done today, we were able to adjust to the situations they threw at us,” Hasty said.

The quality pass rush provided by the Chiefs’ front line was one of the reasons he chose Kansas City. When Hasty showed up in Kansas City on his free-agent tour, the first thing he did was insist on running a 40-yard dash.

When coaches read a 4.31 on their clocks, they knew Hasty was their man.

Former Hawk defensive tackle Jacob Green was added to the team’s Ring of Honor at halftime. The Hawks’ first-round draft choice in 1980, Green became the team’s all-time leader in sacks with 116.

Green was preceded in the “Ring” by Steve Largent, Jim Zorn, Dave Brown, Pete Gross and Curt Warner.

The worst injury of the game was suffered by receiver Ricky Proehl, who broke a bone in his ankle.

Erickson said Proehl would likely miss four to six weeks.

Defensive end Antonio Edwards also went down with a knee injury. He will undergo an MRI test today.

Many of the statistics were as lopsided as the final score: K.C. owned a time-of-possession advantage of 32:39 to 27:21; Greg Hill rushed for 109 yards on 15 carries - 31 yards more than the Seahawks’ total.

Also, the Hawks got no sacks, and rarely pressured Chief quarterback Steve Bono, who threw three touchdown passes.

A few positive stats emerged from the rubble: Rick Tuten punted seven times for a 45-yard average, and Corey Harris returned five kickoffs for 114 yards.

Hawk backup quarterback John Friesz was obliterated by blitzing Chiefs on his touchdown pass to Brian Blades in the fourth period.

On a corner blitz, Hasty nailed Friesz in the head. “He hit me in the face, awfully high,” Friesz said. “But I would actually prefer that to being hit in the knees. I’ve been hit in the knee and blown out a knee because of it, so they can hit me all they want to in the head.”

Rick Mirer, Eugene Robinson and Trey Junkin were voted as team captains by the Seahawks.

, DataTimes