Unknowns Claim Spots On Roster Seahawks Place Pair Of Veterans On Waivers, Keep Offensive Linemen Beede, Grant Williams

Coming into training camp, Frank Beede was the 14th of 14 offensive linemen for the Seattle Seahawks.

Ahead of him were six returning veterans, two veteran free agents, three draft choices and two undrafted players who received bigger signing bonuses.

Beede, who was at California before a positive steroid test pushed him to Panhandle State, was given a mere $5,000 signing bonus and a chance.

His hard work paid off.

Beede and Grant “Big Country” Williams, out of Louisiana Tech, officially earned spots on the 53-man roster when coach Dennis Erickson announced his final seven cuts Sunday. Beede knocked veterans Matt Joyce, a 13-game starter last year, and Todd Norman off the team by displaying uncharacteristic savvy Friday night against the San Francisco 49ers.

“Grant and I were kinda the guys who weren’t supposed to make it, so we kinda stuck together,” said Beede, a 292-pound center-guard. “It’s kinda crazy when you think about it. I had another free agent, Greg Bloedorn, Reggie Green, a sixth-round draft pick, and two veterans (Joyce and Norman) ahead of me. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would get through all that to this point. It seems like an insurmountable task to get through that.”

Joining Joyce and Norman on the waiver wire were veteran wide receiver Robb Thomas, tight end Carlos Etheredge, fullback Oscar Gray, defensive tackle Riddick Parker and deep snapper Tom Fletcher. Erickson spent an extra day debating whether or not to keep Fletcher, but decided he was satisfied with Kevin Mawae’s snapping on field goals and extra points and the deep snapping on punts of linebacker Jason Kyle.

The Seahawks head into the season-opener next Sunday against the San Diego Chargers with only four healthy linebackers. Outside linebacker Terry Wooden is doubtful with a pulled hamstring. His backup, Michael Barber, learned Sunday through a Magnetic Resonance Imaging test that there is no structural damage in his right knee and he might be able to play Sunday. Backup James Logan is out at least another week recovering from a broken leg.

Overall, Erickson had a 32 percent turnover in the roster from last year. Of the 17 new Seahawks, nine are rookies. He found two starters - right guard Derrick Graham and free safety Darryl Williams - through free agency. The coach was particularly pleased with the last-minute scrambling of vice president of football operations Randy Mueller to find tight end Ronnie Williams and center Ed Cunningham two days before the opening of training camp.

“Cunningham and Williams were Godsends for us,” Erickson said. “Cunningham had a great training camp. He’s played in this league and has been a quality player in this league. He’s a guy if there is an injury at guard, that would be an ideal move for us.”

For example, if left guard Pete Kendall, who had surgery to repair a fractured right thumb, can’t play against the Chargers, Cunningham is a candidate to start at center and Mawae can move to left guard. If the Seahawks lose a starting tackle, Graham will move to tackle and Mawae to right guard.

The next options are Beede at guard and Grant Williams at tackle.

“You hate the use the word potential, but Frank has played extremely well,” Erickson said. “When he was in there in the same situation (as Joyce and Norman on Friday night), we just felt there was a little bit more stability with Beede.”

Here are the reasons players were released at particular positions:

Wide receiver: Robb Thomas didn’t make it because of the great exhibition season of Ronnie Harris (seven catches for 127 yards and three touchdowns, including one on a punt return) and the potential of James McKnight.

“In my two years, that was the hardest decision that I ever had to make because Robb has done so much for this organization,” Erickson said. ‘We just had Ricky Proehl and the addition of Mike Pritchard . . . it’s just too difficult. Then it came down to McKnight and Ronnie Harris. Ronnie obvious did some things for us at receiver. McKnight has tremendous ability.”

Fullback-tight end: Instead of keeping three fullbacks and two tight ends as he did a year ago, Erickson kept two fullbacks (Mack Strong and rookie Reggie Brown) and three tight ends (Christian Fauria, Carlester Crumpler and Ronnie Williams). Etheredge was brought in to play until Fauria could return to practice after breaking his right index finger. Oscar Gray is a candidate for the practice squad.

Defensive tackle: Henry McMillian, a sixth-round choice a year ago, barely beat out Parker, who was signed from the World League. McMillian will be the fourth defensive tackle.

“He’s just been around a year,” Erickson said of McMillian. “Henry played hurt a lot this preseason. When he was healthy, he played real well.”

As illustrated by Beede, playing well in the summer can win jobs in the fall.

Notes

Reggie Green, who didn’t make the 60-man roster, is expected to join the Denver Broncos practice squad… . The Seahawks are expected to sign quarterback Jon Kitna, halfback Duo Innocent and three others to their practice squad today.