A banana a day…

KIRKLAND, Wash. – Ray Rhodes has always been an intense coach – even irascible.

But until now, few have accused him of going truly bananas.

The veteran Seahawks defensive assistant and former NFL head coach will be eating more bananas during Seattle’s trip to St. Louis for Sunday’s showdown for the NFC West lead.

Two weeks ago, on the Seahawks’ way home from a blowout loss at Chicago, the team plane made an emergency stop in Rapid City, S.D., because Rhodes “felt faint,” according to coach Mike Holmgren.

Doctors found that Rhodes had a low potassium level that night, which gave Holmgren a simple plan.

“I told him to eat a lot of bananas on the plane,” Holmgren said this week.

“For those of you who went to college and took a couple of those classes, when the potassium level drops, there are certain things that happen to your body. Some of us have to be careful with that, and Ray’s one of those guys … particularly on the day of a game. By his own admission, he wasn’t very smart with that.”

Associated Press