Deon Butler's Rookie Diary

For the first time this season, Seahawks rookie wide receiver Deon Butler didn't catch a pass in last week's game against Indianapolis. For Butler, Penn State's all-time leading receiver, it was another odd occurrence in his transition from college to the NFL.

But he's not discouraged. Like the entire Seahawks team, he's searching for ways he can help end a three-game losing streak. He likes the challenge.

In this week's edition of his rookie diary, Butler discusses getting back on track, reveals his bachelor eating habits and ponders the most intimidating guy in the Seahawks' locker room.

"I'm real efficient with the free meal"

"I don't cook. I'm a frozen food expert right now. I've been giving my oven and my microwave a workout. Whenever my mom comes to visit, she cooks, so I eat leftovers for a week or so. But I've got to start watching a cooking channel on TV. Somebody's got to tell me what channel to watch, and I'll start watching it.

"Right now, it's frozen food, or I eat out. I eat here, at the VMAC [Seahawks practice facility], most of the time. I eat breakfast and lunch here, and I usually pack something to go. So I only have to get one meal a day outside of here. I'm real efficient with the free meals right now. I'm going to start calling Nate Burleson and seeing what they've got cookin' at his house."

"I'm not getting moved to the couch, Mom"

"I've got some visitors coming this week. I've got two of my best female friends coming in. One's at Duke Medical School and one works back on the East Coast. They're two of my best friends from college. And my mom is coming up, too. So they're all going to be hanging out, doing girl-type stuff. But it'll be good just having some people at home, people who've known me before I was even a name on Penn State's campus. It'll be good to have them here and show them around.

"I've got a guest room, so there will be enough space for everybody. I've got my couch now — finally. It came in earlier than the expected four weeks. My mom already asked me if I was sleeping on the couch. I was like, 'Whoa, this is my place now. I'm not getting moved to the couch, Mom.' I don't know who is, but it ain't going to be me. That's all I know. This is my place. I'm not going to the couch."

{"I want to see them throw the fish"

"So I'm going to get to show my mom and my friends around, and actually, I'll get to show myself around a little. I know the Bellevue area. Downtown Seattle? Not as much. But it's not really hard. We'll just go down there and walk around. I know I want to take them to the Space Needle. I haven't been to Pike Place Market. I'm really curious to see Pike Place. I want to see them throw the fish. And then I'm looking forward to being in the city and walking around. I don't get to do that much, and I won't get to stay as long as my mom and friends will. I'll leave the car with them and let them drive. My plan is to give them the car with the tank on empty and let them fill it up [laughs]."

"I don't think ever in my life I've lost three games in a row"

"It hasn't been easy this week — or the past three weeks — but I'm staying positive. I'm still having trouble with the flow of the season because it's so much longer, and I don't always know when to relax and when to panic. But last Sunday, after we lost to Indianapolis, that was a bad feeling. I don't think ever in my life I've lost three games in a row, dating back to AAU basketball to high-school football to Penn State.

"In college, I was a leader my last two years. I always felt comfortable saying something. Here, I'm a rookie, so you really don't want to jump out there and say anything. If I have something to say, I'll just talk to the wideouts. And it'll mainly be encouragement, like, 'Keep it up. Keep fighting.' You have to know your place. No one wants to hear a rookie that's not playing much get up there and start yapping.

"It's a long season, but it's definitely a new feeling losing games. It's something you have to acknowledge. Everything happens for a reason. You've just got to keep fighting through it. I'm not a quitter. I know this team is not a quitting team. So it'll be a new challenge for us coming out of this hole. I know we'll do it, so that's something to be excited about."

"Who's the most intimidating guy in the locker room?"

"Being from the East Coast, the Seahawks don't get a lot of publicity there, and this is a team that doesn't have a lot of guys get in trouble, which is a good thing. So I didn't hear about them in the paper back on the East Coast, and there are no big, flashy guys with attitudes on the Seahawks. When I met Matt Hasselbeck, I was probably like one of the little blind mice when he was talking to me. I was like [in a chirping voice], 'Yep. OK.' He was probably like, 'Dude, you can talk.' One of the first things I thought of when I got drafted to the Seahawks was, 'Oh, I know Shaun Alexander.' And then I was like, 'I don't even think he's still on the team!' I wasn't sure. So I really didn't know the names on the team. Once I got here, there were a lot of guys that I knew from other teams, but I didn't realize they were Seahawks now.

"Who's the most intimidating guy in the locker room? Walt is real easygoing and funny, but it's still like, 'He's Walter Jones.' What did I ask him one time? I know he's been to, like, a gajillion Pro Bowls, and he's the best thing at left tackle. But we were just talking, and I was like, 'You got drafted in the first round, right?' He just looked at me like he was about to smack me or something, and then he looked around at everybody else, and they were looking at me like I said something totally wrong. Then Walt said, 'Yeah, I got drafted in the first round!' I asked, 'Well, what draft was that?' I kind of got defensive. I didn't know. And then he told me it was the 1997 draft. I said, 'I was 11 years old, dog! I wasn't watching the draft then.' So it kind of lightened the mood. He started joking about how young I am.

"Patrick Kerney was kind of intimidating at first, too. He's a big guy and he doesn't really joke a lot, at least from my perspective. He's kind of just a straightforward type of guy. He's not a real jokester. He's very serious about doing his job."

Jerry Brewer: 206-464-2277 or jbrewer@seattletimes.com, Twitter: @Jerry_Brewer