Holmgren savors this day

SEATTLE – So who scripted this?

For Mike Holmgren’s Seattle farewell, they imported his old quarterback and the weather from Green Bay, Wis. Ralph Edwards never pulled out this many stops on “This is Your Life.”

All that was missing was an overwrought soundtrack and the voice of Harry Kalas or John Facenda.

On the frozen tundra of Qwest Field…

It was, as Holmgren said, “almost too much.” The quarterback he shaped into the NFL’s protypical gunslinger trying to beat him, a white-out that turned the footing into turf-ala-Lambeau and the warmest embrace on a frigid day from a city where he did not win a Super Bowl but where he forged a bond that surpassed any he may have had with Cheesehead Nation.

Throw in a Gipperish win for the Seattle Seahawks – 13-3 over the New York Jets – and Holmgren can ride off into the sunset on his Harley with a peaceful heart.

“That was something,” he said, minutes after he’d taken his farewell lap around the field.

A berm of snow from the pregame shoveling allowed him a dignified distance to wave and doff his white cap. Occasionally, the wave became a fist pump and more than once he wiped his misty eyes with his hand. Along the rail, fans yelled “Thank you!” and from the upper end zone two Wayne’s World refugees did the we’re-not-worthy bow. The Qwest record for cellphone photos was obliterated.

And while they saluted the NFL’s winningest active coach – for one more week – they chucked snowballs at his entourage.

“No direct hits,” Holmgren joked, “but my security people took a couple of shots. That’s what they’re paid to do, though.”

It was a day with as much regret as redemption, and yet neither packed as much juice as the vibe between coach and the Seahawks’ self-proclaimed 12th man. Maybe 60 percent of the 68,181 distributed tickets were used, but it was a hardy 60 – guys who drove 17 hours from Montana as well as those who bused down from Queen Anne.

And if they showed up for Holmgren’s last home game in a 10-year run as Seahawks head coach because he rescued the franchise from being a punch line, they also took the opportunity to salute his undeniable decency. They roared when his wife, Kathy – normally a retiring type – hoisted the 12th-man flag in the upper deck, and they dug deep – to the tune of $47,061 – when her volunteers for Congo relief came with their buckets.

They stood because it was the thing to do – but also because sitting on icy aluminum is uncomfortable.

“I really do want to thank the fans,” Holmgren said. “They’ve been great for the organization – long before I got here. When we built this new stadium, they really started taking a feeling like they had a part of our victories, with the noise and all that. I think that’s a pretty neat atmosphere. I would like them to feel really good about that. My only regret is that we couldn’t have won a few more games this season for them.”

Well, yes. The Seahawks are 4-11, and Sunday’s victory was where what-might-have-been met why-it-was-so.

They played with late-season inspiration common to spoilers, sacking the fading Brett Favre four times and harassing him into two interceptions. From the discard pile, Courtney Taylor and Koren Robinson made some splendid receptions. Seneca Wallace threw BBs and Maurice Morris ran with fire. Even Josh Wilson looked like a real, live cornerback.

But some quick math reveals that at 16 of 22 positions, the Seahawks have had multiple starters this year – and three or more at seven of them. Holmgren noted that the entire starting offensive line has turned over – in essence, five backups now start.

“Last night at my meeting, the five chairs in the front row are empty,” he said. “None of the current starting linemen wanted to sit there – those were for our (original) starters, and it was kind of symbolic of what’s happened.

“You think about the opportunities lost and why we couldn’t do that a couple more times. But I’m not going to get greedy. I’m one of the lucky ones.”

And yet much like the three wins that closed the 2002 season – when the Hawks had missed the playoffs three years running and Holmgren wasn’t being seen as a savior – the last three weeks have demonstrated that these patchwork Seahawks haven’t bailed on their lame-duck coach.

“I came in as a guy that a lot of teams passed on,” Wallace said, “and said he can’t play quarterback in the National Football League. Mike gave me that opportunity. When I first got here, he said, ‘Hey, you’re a quarterback.’ That’s why I got choked up a little bit, because of how he stuck with me.”

And so player after player approached Holmgren with congratulations and a smile, forgetting for a moment that there is another game to play next week in Arizona. Each exchange put the lump back in his throat.

“It’s not easy to talk to the head coach, for players,” Holmgren revealed. “my guys, every once in a while when they come up and say something, it’s something. It reminds me of why I got into coaching in the first place.”

On the frozen tundra Sunday, a few hearts melted.