Seahawks
Notebook: Nothing phony about the pump fake

By Greg Bishop
Seattle Times staff reporter

STEPHEN DUNN / GETTY IMAGES Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck has completed four passes in two games this season after using a pump fake, including both of his touchdown tosses.

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KIRKLAND — A good pump fake starts with a better situation. A safety cheating underneath. A cornerback leaning forward. A defense underwhelmed with short passes just asking for a long one.

So much goes into something relatively simple, something positively playground. The corner plays tight just off the line of scrimmage. The receiver stops his route, pretending it's a hitch. The quarterback unleashes the ball. Or does he? The corner thinks so and moves forward.

The receiver turns and streaks upfield. He can't see the corner anymore. The safety can't recover. At that instant, said receiver knows the drill. Touchdown. A schooling in the art of the pump fake.

"It's a special play," Seahawks wide receiver Koren Robinson said. "An art form."

Robinson said the Seahawks might call one or two pump fakes a game, all set up by the Seahawks' short-passing West Coast offense. Of those calls, he estimates that corners bite about 5 percent of the time.

But so far this season, the Seahawks have, well, pumped it up. In two games, quarterback Matt Hasselbeck has connected on four passes after pump fakes, including both his touchdown throws. Hasselbeck enjoys "getting to be an actor." Robinson enjoys the end result — like his 27-yard touchdown against Tampa Bay last week that followed one such pump.

"If you bite on the first move, you're done," he said. "You can't recover. Touchdown. Put a fork in. It's a wrap."

Franchise this

Seahawks offensive tackle Walter Jones will have a kindred spirit on the opposing sideline when Seattle hosts the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday. They're joined together by the dreaded franchise-player tag.
 
Like Jones, 49ers linebacker Julian Peterson missed part of training camp this season. Like Jones, he wants a long-term deal. Like Jones, he couldn't get one done. And like Jones, he isn't a huge fan of the system.

"It works in the owners' favor," Peterson said in a conference call this week. "You get a good deal for one year, but it is kind of messed up because if the team doesn't have the money to pay you, then they should let you test the market."

The crux of his argument centers on a player's second contract, which is usually their biggest payday.

"Most people think about their second contract as setting their families up for the rest of their lives," he said. "When you get hit with this franchise tag, you think, 'Man, I have to go out and prove myself again and again.' Because you really don't have any safety net if you go down with a major injury or something like that; now it's a different situation."

Still no nickname

Several Seahawks fans have been clamoring for a new nickname for the up-and-coming defense. On various message boards, nicknames like "Deep Sea D" and "Blue Wave" have been suggested. Defensive players polled yesterday said they don't have a nickname and don't think they deserve one. Yet.

"I'll leave that to the people," free safety Ken Hamlin said. "You can't judge us off of two games."

Notes

• LB Isaiah Kacyvenski and DT Rashad Moore missed practice yesterday and were added to the injury report. Both are probable, along with TE Jerramy Stevens, who returned to practice. The 49ers added RB Kevan Barlow and DE Otis Leverette. Both are questionable.

• The Denver Broncos signed former Seahawks DE Anton Palepoi and could activate him as soon as this Sunday when the Broncos host San Diego. Seattle released Palepoi, a 2002 second-round pick, after Week 1.

• The Seahawks will unveil a steel "State of Football" monument today at Qwest Field, which will be permanently displayed in the stadium plaza. The structure features replica helmets from every state high-school football program, 331 in total.

• There are limited tickets available for Sunday's game. Call 888-NFL-HAWK. The game will be televised on Channel 13.

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