Meyer trying to catch a break with destiny

KIRKLAND – And to think he could have had home-field advantage.

There is a certain disconnect in watching the Seattle Seahawks endure training camp somewhere other than Cheney, where the meaning of the verb was truly defined. No searing heat, no dust, no scablands, no middle-of-nowhere japes, no feelings of exile or deprivation. No reason to complain.

Is this indeed training camp, or is it Camp Med?

Relief has replaced anticipation and there is overriding emotion among the veterans who survived all those Cheney grinds and have been paroled here to Seahawks headquarters, though one rookie has to be a little wistful.

Erik Meyer is back for one more crack at what he sees as his destiny, and surely it could have been a psychological security blanket to get his opportunity on the practice fields of Eastern Washington University where he developed into the school’s finest quarterback, and more. But the Seahawks’ decision to relocate back to Kirkland this year shredded that notion.

Still, a chance is a chance.

Even when it’s virtually no chance.

Meyer was signed last month by the Seahawks after a strong performance with the Cologne Centurions of NFL Europa – ostensibly to compete with third-year pro David Greene for the No. 3 quarterback’s job behind Matt Hasselbeck and Seneca Wallace. Club management seemed altogether hungry for an upgrade to Greene, to the point of jettisoning Meyer’s old Montana State rival Travis Lulay, who had gone through training camp with the Hawks last summer and then was allocated to Europa’s Berlin Thunder but eventually suffered a shoulder injury.

But more than two weeks into Camp Kirkland, it’s just as apparent that the Seahawks have decided that Meyer is not the answer – at least not yet. He got no work in Seattle’s first preseason game at San Diego, and coach Mike Holmgren announced Thursday that he’s determined to play Greene perhaps the entire second half on Saturday night in Green Bay.

Unofficially, Meyer leads all quarterbacks here in completions; alas, the bulk of them are to the managers he plays catch with on the sidelines while Hasselbeck and Wallace and, yes, Greene get the majority of snaps.

“Sure, it’s hard,” Meyer said. “Especially after starting in Europe and get all those reps for years at Eastern. It’s like been a freshman in college all over again. You have to learn from the veterans and pick up the offense and learn the playbook.

“Eventually, the opportunity will come.”

When he pulled his helmet off during practice the other day, Meyer revealed a newly-shaved head and was asked if he’d done it just to see if it might get the coaching staff’s attention.

“No, I thought I was losing my hair, so it was a psychological thing,” he said, laughing. “I was finding too much hair shed in my pillow, so I was getting nervous.”

Meyer has done his share of bushwhacking through the sporting landscape, perhaps not exactly as those who enjoyed his record-setting career at EWU expected. It was there that he won the 2005 Walter Payton Award as the outstanding player in NCAA Division I-AA football – the Heisman Trophy of football’s middle class. But just like the Heisman, the Payton is an imperfect predictor of professional quarterbacking success.

John Friesz had a lengthy pro career. Steve McNair became a star. Tony Romo finally drove Drew Bledsoe into retirement. But Dave Dickenson settled for being a star in Canada and Lang Campbell for being one in Arena football, and Meyer’s vision is not off to the greatest start.

An undrafted free agent, he was cut last year in Cincinnati after getting just two snaps in the pre-season. He was doubtful enough about his future that after being selected three different times in the amateur baseball draft, he signed with the San Francisco Giants and tried to regain some old magic as a pitcher with their team in the Arizona Fall League, where he pitched a scoreless inning.

“But I had to make another decision and I felt like I had to give football a fair opportunity,” he said. “I couldn’t give it up. I had to pursue it as much as I can until the Lord has other plans.”

So he wangled a tryout with Cologne, made the team and unseated starter Quinton Porter in Week 3. Just more than a month later, he was the league’s player of the week for a 21-of-29, 287-yard, 3-touchdown day in a win over Amsterdam, and wound up as Europa’s No. 2 passer with 1,604 yards and a record 68.6 completion percentage.

“Just competing at that level was a huge confidence boost,” he said. “It allowed me to play at a faster speed, it helped with reads and hitting smaller windows for receivers.”

It also allowed Meyer to try and unravel the main raps against his pro potential – his size (he’s 6-foot-1) and a low release point on his passes. His offensive coordinator in Cologne, Jeff Filkovski, acknowledged both those things, but also called Meyer “a competitor, a leader. His spirit and moxie gives our offense an attitude.”

He still has it, even if he’s spending more camp time watching than doing.

“I really feel pretty good,” he said. “There are some mechanical things I have to clean up, but I’m working on that. Being the last quarterback here, I’m last on the depth chart and I have to work my way up. I know that. I’m just waiting my turn.”