Huge interception turns the spotlight on CB Babineaux

Marcus Trufant is always teasing Jordan Babineaux for being one of the larger Seahawks cornerbacks. He's always telling Babineaux that if he keeps snacking, he's going to end up playing safety.

After Babineaux — who is listed as 6-foot, 200 pounds — wrapped a Drew Bledsoe pass in his arms late in the fourth quarter yesterday afternoon, Trufant reconsidered.

"I guess he can eat whatever he wants," Trufant said.

The interception came with 14 seconds left in a tied game. The Cowboys were on the 44-yard line, one complete pass away from field-goal range. Bledsoe tried to force that pass to wide receiver Terry Glenn, and Babineaux stepped in front of it and returned the ball 25 yards up the sideline.

The return set up the game-winning field goal with the kind of play the Seahawks usually don't make. And if it looked as simple as a game of catch, that's because it was. Just ask the participants.

Said Babineaux: "He threw it right to me."

Said Bledsoe: "Obviously, it's a major-league mistake on my part."

Babineaux doesn't blame you if you've never heard of him. He knows he wasn't guaranteed to make the Seahawks' roster at the start of training camp.

His improvement has been gradual, starting with playing his way off the practice squad at the end of last season and entering this one hoping for more playing time.

"I went to training camp with a chip on my shoulder," Babineaux said. "I took it personally. I knew it was up to me to go as far as I want to go.

"I'm still trying to establish myself in this league. Being able to come up with plays like that is definitely big for me."

Big for the Seahawks, too. The play that Babineaux made is one that Trufant said "can get you over the hump. Not only for one game, but for the season."

That Babineaux was the one to make it only spread the smiles wider on his teammates' faces. They call him "Babs" and talk endlessly about how hard he works.

That's what they came back to afterward — the old cliché about hard work paying off.

"Every day," Marquand Manuel said. "Every day he's working to get better, just getting consistent. And now you see the player that's out there. I'm so proud of him."

Because Babineaux is bigger than the other Seahawks cornerbacks, he can also play safety. With safety Ken Hamlin out, Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren said, "Babineaux has to play a bigger role."

It can't get much bigger than that play, "a great play" according to Manuel, maybe the biggest play this season for the Seahawks. Just don't expect Babineaux to be content.

"You want to continue to get better," he said. "So far my road in the NFL is steady-going. I'm looking forward to the rest."

After the game, he couldn't remember another interception in his career that registered as important as the one he made yesterday. He tucked the ball into an equipment bag, but didn't yet know what he would do with it.

Maybe he would paint it and give it to Hamlin to brighten his spirits, Babineaux said.

"It's emotional for a lot of us," he said. "Definitely we have Hamlin on our hearts and on our minds."

Greg Bishop: 206-464-3191 or gbishop@seattletimes.com