Veteran, rookie compete for Hawks kicking job

KIRKLAND — The seasoned veteran with something to prove. The self-assured rookie trying to impress.

Welcome to the 2008 Seahawks kicker competition, coming to practice fields near you this spring and summer.

The Seahawks haven't had a kicking competition since training camp 2002, when Rian Lindell kept the job after a battle with Aaron Elling and Shayne Graham. The principals this time are Olindo Mare, a longtime Miami Dolphins kicker and one-time All-Pro selection, and rookie Brandon Coutu, a seventh-round pick from Georgia.

They gave a quick preview of the upcoming duel in the team's minicamp for veterans and rookies last weekend. Coutu had to leave Sunday with the other rookies, and Mare is the only kicker with the team this week.

"When you get somebody in there who is pretty good, it always makes you focus that much more," Mare said. "It's nothing new.

"I don't know much about Brandon. Obviously he must be pretty good to be drafted."

The last Seahawks kicker drafted — there have been only four — was one who will be a tough act to follow, Josh Brown. In 2003, Brown was chosen in the seventh round and went on to a highlight-filled career with the Seahawks before leaving for St. Louis as a free agent.

Coutu has a swagger, Seahawks president Tim Ruskell said after the kicker was drafted.

"He is very, very confident. Extremely so, which is what you want out of your kicker," Ruskell said on April 27.

"I came into Georgia as a walk-on the same year a scholarship player came in and I had to compete all four years I was there," Coutu said. "There's going to be competition at every level and it's only going to get a little more tough, but I'm just excited about the opportunity they've given me so far."

The coaches will start charting Mare's and Coutu's attempts in June when both are expected to attend the team's minicamp, special-teams coach Bruce DeHaven said.

Mare became the Dolphins' all-time scoring, field goals made and field-goal accuracy leader in 10 seasons before going to New Orleans in 2007, where he struggled. He signed with Seattle in March.

"I want to go to the playoffs. I want to be part of a great organization. I want to continue to play football," Mare said. "I've got a family to feed. I've got a lot of things I'm playing for, and it's nice to be a part of an organization that's been to the playoffs for so many years."

Surgery for Sims

Right guard Rob Sims, who opened the mandatory minicamp last Friday as the No. 1 right guard, will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his right knee today and should miss the last three days of the ongoing veteran voluntary camp.

Sims, a third-year pro, has started 19 of the 30 career regular-season games in which he has played and is slated to be a starter over veteran Chris Gray at right guard. He was held out of Monday's practice.

That leaves left guard Mike Wahle and right tackle Sean Locklear as the only projected starters able to practice with the team. Left tackle Walter Jones and center Chris Spencer are rehabilitating from offseason shoulder surgeries.

Notes

• As this is a voluntary camp, the team didn't release any details on why WR Bobby Engram missed practice Monday.

• The Seahawks released DT Kelly Talavou, who was on the practice squad for two weeks during the 2007 postseason, and WR Travis Brown. They signed rookie DT Kevin Brown, an undrafted free agent from UCLA who tried out with the team over the past weekend, and WR Joel Filani, a 2007 sixth-round draft pick of the Tennessee Titans.

Times staff reporter Danny O'Neil contributed to this report.