Just in the knick of time
TAMPA BAY, Fla. – Shaun Alexander likes it best when all eyes are upon him.
When the weight of the world is on his shoulders.
When no one expects him to overcome.
That’s how the past week has felt, and now Alexander is ready to deliver.
He missed most of the past week of practices with a bruised knee, and Alexander appears ready to pull a Willis Reed.
Just don’t ask him what that means.
“I don’t know who Willis Reed is,” said Alexander, who missed two days of practices because of a bruised knee last week but is expected to start when the Seattle Seahawks face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this afternoon.
Reed, of course, is the New York Knicks star who overcame a thigh injury to come limping into Madison Square Garden during an NBA Finals game.
Based on Alexander’s recent history, he seems primed for a similar entrance.
Who could forget the time when he took his first handoff as a University of Alabama running back and ran it for a touchdown?
Or the time when he took over for injured starter Ricky Watters in 2002 and broke out for 176 yards and a pair of touchdowns in a Seahawks win over Jacksonville?
The 266-yard, three-touchdown performance against Oakland?
How about the game in which he scored five touchdowns – all of them coming in the first half?
“Every week’s kind of like that. You never know,” teammate Heath Evans said. “I think back to that Raider game my rookie year (in 2002), and everyone was expecting the Raiders to come in here and beat us, and he just ended up putting on a show.
“Everyone always talks about this (Tampa Bay) defense, so you know Shaun’s going to be jacked up.”
By all accounts, today’s game against the Buccaneers has the makings of a classic Alexander breakout.
He hurt his knee last Sunday in New Orleans and looked as if he’d miss at least one, probably two, more games. He had to sit out practices for most of the week before trainers cleared him to take part in Friday’s session. After nearly a week of anticipation, Alexander was cleared to play.
“He’s one of those guys that, at 80 percent, he’s better than everybody else at 100 percent,” Evans said. “I’m not blowing smoke up anybody’s rear-end, either. Based on the numbers that he’s put up since he’s been here, that’s just the way it is.”
If anyone had forgotten how important Alexander is to this offense – and, amazingly, he’s had his share of critical fans in Seattle – he sent out some loud reminders last Sunday. In addition to rushing for 135 yards, Alexander scored three touchdowns – all of them in impressive fashion.
After turning a modest screen pass into a 14-yard TD early in the second quarter, Alexander later added a 6-yard TD run after changing directions and avoiding three defenders in a sprint to the end zone.
His most impressive scamper may have been the third one, during which he started to the right, doubled back against the grain, and made a linebacker miss before scoring from 9 yards out.
“When he gets one-on-one with a linebacker or a defensive back, you’ve got to beat somebody,” running backs coach Stump Mitchell said. “All we ask is that the offensive line get us started, and then you have to do some things on your own. And Shaun is pretty phenomenal at doing some things on his own.”
As much success as Alexander has had with the Seahawks, his sense of celebrity hasn’t fully bloomed in Seattle. He’s generally viewed as one of the best running backs in the NFL, yet doesn’t always get recognized in the city where he plays.
“When we go back to the South, like if we’re in Florida walking through the mall, everyone’s going to know Shaun Alexander,” Evans said. “Whereas, we can go to Bellevue Square and no one will know him.
“I don’t know what it is up here, but it seems like in this small little area people are like: ‘Oh, that’s Shaun Alexander; he’s a great running back.’ Everywhere else: ‘Oh my gosh! Shaun Alexander!’ “