Meeting is tale of two quarterbacks

GREEN BAY, Wis. – During an unlikely career that has extended beyond even the most far-fetched milestones, Matt Hasselbeck has amassed 96 NFL starts, 12 franchise records, three invitations to the Pro Bowl and one large, encompassing shadow. It’s a shadow from which Hasselbeck has been able to escape.

Until, maybe, today.

This afternoon, Hasselbeck and his Seattle Seahawks will face the Green Bay Packers in a playoff game at Lambeau Field. Hasselbeck spent two years as Brett Favre’s backup in Green Bay, and has spent much of his career being the subject of unfair comparisons to one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history.

When the Seahawks play the Packers in a divisional-round playoff game today, Hasselbeck has a chance to finally step out of the shadow. A Seattle win may well serve as a ceremonial passing of the torch from the 38-year-old Favre to the 32-year-old Hasselbeck.

But if you think Hasselbeck is feeling the pressure, you don’t know Matt Hasselbeck.

When a reporter mentioned earlier this week that the juiciest storylines leading into today’s game revolved around Hasselbeck, Favre and Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren, Seattle’s quarterback chuckled.

“I don’t know if I’m even in that category,” he said. “… I was 17 games on the (Green Bay) practice squad and then the backup quarterback for the next two years. Starting holder (on field goals), that was probably my claim to fame.

“I’m not in their league at all.”

The self-deprecating Hasselbeck does have a long way to go to approach the league records that Favre has set in recent seasons. But when it comes to shadows, Hasselbeck has done just about enough to step out of Favre’s and start casting one of his own.

Said Seahawks offensive coordinator Gil Haskell of Hasselbeck: “He’s really one of the elite quarterbacks in football.”

While Favre earned his first starting job in his second NFL season, Hasselbeck had to wait until his fifth year. But they went through similar ups and downs, eventually coming into their own after four full years as NFL starters.

“Early on, when I was at the lowest point here (in Seattle), I can remember talking to Brett on the phone,” Hasselbeck said, “saying something to him like: ‘You have no idea how bad it is here.’

“He’d laugh and say, ‘No, you have no idea how bad it was here.’ “

With Holmgren’s help, both players persevered and have had remarkable careers – especially this year. Favre and Hasselbeck were both named to next month’s Pro Bowl.

Few people are as proud of Hasselbeck as Favre is.

“I knew right away,” Favre said when asked how soon he saw Hasselbeck’s future as a starter. “I told him (early in Hasselbeck’s Packer career) that Holmgren was going to trade for him. I just had this … (Holmgren) would have been crazy not to. I thought Matt had all the tools.”

While Hasselbeck seems to be at the peak of his career, Favre has found a way to bounce back after looking like his was on the decline. He’s followed up back-to-back seasons in which his passer rating dipped into the 70s by putting together an MVP-type year. If not for the record-setting season of New England’s Tom Brady, Favre would be the odds-on favorite to win his fourth MVP trophy.

Favre, who turned 38 in October, has considered retirement in each of the past two off-seasons. He was so certain he would step away from the game after a disappointing 2005 season that he climbed onto the Seahawks’ bus after a season-ending win over Seattle to inform Holmgren that he’d just thrown his final pass.

A few weeks later, Favre reversed field and decided to return for another season.

“Mike Sherman gave me the simplest and best advice you could give me,” Favre said this week, referring to the former Packers coach. “He said, ‘You know what? Go home. We don’t need an answer right away. Take your time.’

“I’m so thankful that I did that, because had I had to make a decision that next day I probably wouldn’t be here. And I would be regretting it.”

Favre said earlier this week that he has not decided whether he’ll come back next season – a newspaper near his hometown of Kiln, Miss., reported Thursday that he will return, but Favre himself did not respond to that story – and added that his only focus right now is on beating the Seahawks.

To do that, Favre might have to out-duel a former backup who has come into his own – and a coach who helped him reach the pinnacle of his profession.

Hasselbeck is becoming pretty special in his own right.

“I’m very happy for Matt,” Holmgren said.

“Listen, I’ll take a little credit. I’ll take a little credit. But the credit goes to Matt Hasselbeck.”