Trufant follows through on pledge

Marcus Trufant didn't have a dance step choreographed for his first touchdown.

No performance planned or rehearsed once he reached the end zone. Nothing that required an explanation or resulted in a penalty.

Just one big smile, a few high-fives for the fans sitting in the suites in the north end zone after the cornerback, who hadn't scored since high school, found himself in the end zone after an 84-yard interception return in the fourth quarter Sunday.

And after all that time, Trufant didn't so much as spike the football.

"I just kind of threw it in the air," Trufant said. "I was just smiling from ear to ear."

Understated? Sure, that's Trufant's personality. Underrated? Not for long.

Trufant picked off three passes in the final 16 minutes of the game Sunday, one more interception than he had the previous two years combined. He has a career-high seven interceptions this season, second only to San Diego's Antonio Cromartie, who leads the NFL with nine.

And now the cornerback, who has never played for a team outside this state, will be getting a little national recognition. His performance, as a free-agent-to-be, is making his case as an elite cornerback even if Trufant is too silent to make that case himself.

"He's been locking guys down the whole year," safety Deon Grant said. "But since he's quiet, nobody knows about it."

This isn't usually the way it works out for the men on the edge of the defense. Cornerbacks usually have the loudest lungs in the locker room. They talk big and run fast. Atlanta's D'Angelo Hall is that way. So was Deion Sanders, who went so far as making a hip-hop record.

The position requires a whole lot of talent and at least a little bit of hubris. The receiver is the one who knows the route and the timing. So does the quarterback. The cornerback has only his reactions and athleticism and the singularly difficult job of keeping the ball from its intended target.

A cornerback's importance is written into the pay stub. Cornerbacks and pass-rushing defensive ends generally command the most money among defensive free agents.

And cornerback is a difficult position to evaluate. Oh, it's easy to see when one looks bad, but one of Trufant's best games barely made a blip on the statistics in the game at Cleveland. But one thing Trufant has not done in the past is make plays on balls in the air. He intercepted nine passes his first four seasons combined.

He set the goals much higher this season.

"At the beginning of the year he said he wanted to lead the league in interceptions," linebacker Lofa Tatupu said. "And I believed him. And I think he's really put his mind to that."

The addition of safeties Grant and Brian Russell gives the Seahawks insurance against the deep ball and has emboldened Trufant to be more aggressive.

Trufant's first interception Sunday came after Arizona recovered an onside kick in the third quarter. The Seahawks were playing a basic Cover 2 defense in which the safeties divide the field in half and take responsibility over the top. Trufant's job was to jam receiver Larry Fitzgerald at the line of scrimmage, which he did. Then he covered more than just the bare-bones assignment and ended up dropping back to jump in front of Fitzgerald, his interception snuffing out the possibility of an Arizona rally.

Trufant intercepted two more passes in the fourth quarter, including the one he returned for his first NFL TD.

"That's what the hometown hero is supposed to do," Grant said.

Except the hometown hero wasn't quite sure what to do when he reached the end zone, tossing the biggest keepsake of his career. Teammate Jordan Babineaux tracked down the ball, a souvenir from the best day in the best season for the cornerback from Tacoma who might be playing his way into the Pro Bowl this season.

Danny O'Neil: 206-464-2364 or doneil@seattletimes.com