Stevens has run his final route with Seahawks

SEATTLE – This story could have had a happy ending.

After all, the Seahawks wouldn’t have made it to the Super Bowl if Jerramy Stevens hadn’t had his best season and the best season for a tight end in the franchise’s history.

He played hurt, and caught passes despite a painful knee that needed surgery at the end of the season.

His Seattle story could have continued through another Seahawks contract and ultimately to a happy ending.

He’s played his whole career in this state. High school at River Ridge of Lacey, college at the University of Washington and the last five years with Seattle.

He caught 130 passes and scored 15 touchdowns with the Hawks. He made big catches. He improved as a run blocker.

Once upon a time, Stevens could have stayed in Seattle and made this story work.

But his baggage is too heavy. Stevens will be gone, taking his potential, his good, his bad, his maybe to some other NFL city next season.

Free agency began Thursday, marking the unofficial end of Stevens’ football career in this state.

He was good, but he could have been so much better.

He dropped one too many passes, like the Super Bowl touchdown gaffe. He was booed louder than any Hawk since Brian Bosworth after he dropped passes this season at home against Green Bay.

Stevens, 27, had too many brushes with the law – although, in fairness, he seems to have matured off the field.

His reputation around the league, however, is so bad that Stevens was fined this year after Oakland’s Tyler Brayton kneed him in the groin – not the other way around.

On the field, Stevens still runs his mouth too much, upsetting teammates as well as opponents. All parties seem to agree that it is time for him to go.

A change of scenery will be good for the Hawks and better for Stevens.

Happy endings are for Disney movies, not the NFL.

For the Seahawks and Stevens this will be a short goodbye. The Hawks are poised to sign New England’s Daniel Graham, a favorite of Hawks coach Mike Holmgren’s since the 2002 Senior Bowl.

Graham, who was in the same tight-end class as Stevens, isn’t nearly as athletic as Stevens and two years ago had a problem with dropped passes, but he is a great blocker. His career receiving statistics are comparable to Stevens’ (120 catches, 17 touchdowns). By all accounts, he’s a good teammate. But signing Graham is only the first step. The Hawks need one more tight end, because Ben Joppru is the only other on the roster.

San Francisco’s backup Eric Johnson, a pass-catching tight end who is unhappy playing behind Vernon Davis, could be the second.

The Hawks have to either sign him or hold their breath and hope that Delaware tight end Ben Patrick, a Bubba Franks clone with soft hands and quick feet, is available in the second round of April’s draft.

It’s free-agent time, and the Seahawks have to get busy.