His aim is Tru

DETROIT – Grew up in Tacoma, standout at Washington State University, first-round draft pick of the hometown Seattle Seahawks, playing in the Super Bowl, with roughly 35 relatives and friends expected to attend.

And he recently celebrated the birth of daughter, Karmyn.

It’s a Tru story.

Seattle cornerback Marcus Trufant wore a wide grin Tuesday during Media Day at Ford Field, site of Sunday’s Super Bowl.

“I’ve got people flying in from everywhere, people from Washington (and Louisiana), jumping on planes, trying to get here and I’m trying to find hotel rooms for them,” Trufant said. “It was kind of rough at first, but now I’m focused on what I have to do.”

“I had to get the tickets, that’s just part of it, and some of them bought tickets from other people. I haven’t even looked at the bill yet, but I know it’s going to be pretty big. I don’t even want to look at it yet. I charged it on the card.”

It’s a bill he won’t mind paying. Trufant has reached a summit few players, let alone a third-year cornerback, see in their careers. He’s playing on the NFL’s grandest stage – the Super Bowl – and he wants to share the experience with those closest to him. His parents and younger brother Isaiah, who finished his senior season at EWU in November, will be here Thursday.

“Man, it’s big,” he said. “Not only for this team, it’s big for the city, big for me and for my family. Everybody’s really enjoying it.”

Trufant said his chore the next few days is finding a balance between enjoying the moment with his family and preparing for the biggest game of his career. If history is an indication, Trufant won’t have any problems.

“The thing that has made Marcus good is he worked so hard in practice every day and every play,” WSU coach Bill Doba said. “He broke his hand in practice in (a) goal-line drill, the next to last play in practice and it was one of those, ‘let’s-run-that-again deals.’ He came flying up in there 100 miles an hour.”

Trufant, of course, played in several games wearing a padded cast. “He got an interception wearing that thing,” Doba said.

Doba remembers the recruiting trip to watch Trufant as a senior at Wilson High.

“Marcus was playing running back and I thought he’s OK at running back, but the game got close and they put him in at corner,” Doba said. “He backpedaled and a guy tried to go deep and he turned and snapped those hips and accelerated and I said, ‘There’s a corner.’ “

Trufant has started since day one for Seattle.

“You know he wasn’t a really highly recruited kid, but once he got (to WSU) he just blossomed and he just went up the draft (charts),” Doba said. “Coach Holmgren told me in Marcus’ first year that he was going to be a good one. He recognized it right away.”

And it appears Trufant is improving, despite what the statistics say. In 2004, Trufant had five interceptions, 20 passes defensed and finished with 93 tackles to become just the fourth cornerback in NFL history to lead his team in that category.

Trufant had one interception, 14 passes defensed and 64 tackles this season – and he had a better year.

“It doesn’t really match up (statistically), all the interceptions and stuff is good, but when you’re winning games it doesn’t matter,” he said. “I probably shouldn’t have been making that many tackles. I’m not making as many this year and we’re doing a little better, so I’ll leave that to the linebackers and linemen.”

Trufant and the secondary have been stout in playoffs wins over Washington and Carolina. The Redskins’ Santana Moss had seven catches for 103 yards, but he slowed down considerably after getting leveled by Trufant in the second half. Carolina’s Steve Smith found little breathing room in Seattle’s secondary, finishing with five catches.

That just leaves one more piece of unfinished business Sunday.

“As you grow up as a kid you have dreams about playing in the NFL and playing in the Super Bowl, but everybody dreams,” Trufant said. “You never really know if it’ll come true, but this is a dream come true for me. I’m playing for Seattle and we made it to Super Bowl. You can’t ask much more.”