Wistrom playing under radar

Once upon a time, Grant Wistrom was signed to a giant contract to be the impact player on defense the Seahawks desperately needed.

Then the seemingly inevitable reality of a high-caliber free agent who comes to Seattle set in. Wistrom, like so many other Seahawks free-agent signings before and after him, suffered a serious injury.

The defensive end got a small crack and bruise in his left knee bone at New England in the fifth regular-season game of his tenure with the Seahawks. He returned five weeks later and played four more games before suffering a torn medial collateral ligament in the same knee in the fourth quarter at Minnesota. That injury ended his season.

"Last year when he went down, it had a really big effect on the entire defense," coach Mike Holmgren said. "He kind of makes everyone else better."

The Seahawks' defense collapsed without Wistrom, falling from the top 10 before Wistrom's original injury to the bottom 10 by the end of the regular season.

Wistrom tried to return in time for the playoff game against his former team, the St. Louis Rams, limping out to practices the week of the game hoping he could run on the knee. Despite his determination, it wasn't to be. And the Seahawks' season ended without him having a say in it.

This year, Wistrom is healthy. He has started all 13 games at right end, even though his sack total isn't high. It took the NFL crediting him with a sack after reviewing game statistics from the New York Giants game Nov. 27 to get him his third sack of the season. That's only sixth-best on the Seahawks.

"Last year was miserable," Wistrom said. "I got to watch way too much football and really didn't have a chance to earn what I'd been given to come here. So last year sucked and obviously my numbers aren't that great this year, but I think I'm playing good football and I'm going out and helping this team win."

Most would agree. Wistrom creates enough havoc to allow his teammates to make sacks and tackles for loss. He has kept a good attitude and as defensive captain holds his teammates accountable for miscues while congratulating good plays, be that in practice or in games.

"He busts his fanny and expects everybody else to do that," interim defensive coordinator John Marshall said, "and if they're not, he will say something."

Defensive tackle Rocky Bernard called Wistrom "probably the biggest emotional leader we have out there."

"Stats aren't always everything," Bernard said. "When a guy's playing hard and going out and trying to make plays and be disruptive, you don't always see it in the stats. But when you watch the film, you see exactly what's going on and you see his impact on the game."

If nothing else, Wistrom is very aware of the six-year, $33 million contract he was given before last season and wants to play up to the level of expectations that come with it. Wistrom makes no excuses for his lack of sacks. He admitted the knee bothered him all season long last year, but that he returned for his eighth pro season feeling great.

"Sacks aren't coming my way, and there's nothing I can do about it except go out and play every Sunday," he said.

Maximum effort has been Wistrom's calling card. Example? Wistrom ran down San Francisco quarterback Alex Smith from behind on the 49ers' last offensive play of last week's game, even with the game's outcome long since determined.

The play had an effect on Tennessee defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch, who looked up to the older Wistrom, his college teammate when he first arrived at Nebraska.

"It's plays like that, that's the type of player I want to be," Vanden Bosch said. "I've always thought Grant played harder than anybody else I've ever played with or played against."

José Miguel Romero: 206-464-2409 or jromero@seattletimes.com