Seahawks coach Jim Mora kept a Breitling watch as collateral, the Vikings used a ruse to get rid of a limousine designated to take Houshmandzadeh to the airport.

Houshmandzadeh felt comfortable with Vikings coach Brad Childress, thought owner Zygi Wilf was "super cool" and counted running back Adrian Peterson among the assets.

"They had a great run game," Houshmandzadeh said of Minnesota. "They had a great offensive line and the offensive line is the backbone of every team, but when it came down to it I felt like the quarterback situation -- which kind of makes a receiver go -- it was a better situation here so I did what any receiver would do."

But that situation has now changed with Brett Favre coming out of retirement to play for the Vikings. Would his decision have been different had he known?

"I don't know," Houshmandzadeh said. "It's hard to say, 'What if, what if?' So you make the decision at the time that was best.

"I tried to look at everything and I talked to a lot of people and the process, different coaches throughout the NFL, and got advice what they thought was best for me. People that I really trust. And I would say it was split even with him not there and so I just had to do what I thought was best."

Quarterback Matt Hasselbeck has some thoughts on what might have been if the Vikings' situation under center were different.

"I'm just glad Brett didn't come out of retirement around that time because he just probably would have picked Brett," Hasselbeck said in a conference call with Minnesota reporters Wednesday.

So with the Seahawks 3-6 and the Vikings 8-1, is he having second thoughts?

"As of right now, it doesn't look like it was the best decision," Houshmandzadeh said. "But it's very early in the process, you know. I feel like I can play a lot more years, you know. I feel great, and so you can't just say one year, 'Oh it was a bad decision.' I feel like I can play a long time because I feel good. I haven't played a lot of football early in my career. Knock on wood, I've never had a major injury so I feel like I can play a lot more years to come so ask me that in some more years and we'll get an answer."