Curry feels rush for Hawks

Before the first play from scrimmage, during the TV timeout, Aaron Curry paced inside the Oakland Raiders' 10-yard line, impatient for play to begin. He jumped up and down like a fan in a Pearl Jam mosh pit.

Then he crouched, across the line from Oakland's Cornell Green, waiting for the storm to begin.

Earlier in the day Curry had tweeted the following message: "SPARTANS PREPARE FOR GLORY."

He was prepared.

In this first month of his professional career, rookie linebacker Aaron Curry, the fourth pick in this year's first round of the NFL draft, and the highest Hawks draft pick since cornerback Shawn Springs was taken third in 1997, has been everything he was advertised to be.

A volatile mix of speed, anger and efficiency.

On this opening defensive play of Thursday's exhibition finale, he came off the line like a shot and raced around 315-pound Green, the Raiders' starting right tackle who was grasping at the breeze Curry created.

The first play outside linebacker Curry ever made in Qwest Field was a resounding rush of Oakland's quarterback, JaMarcus Russell, that led to a David Hawthorne sack.

This is the gem of the 2009 draft. Curry is the player who fell into the Hawks' lap last April and should be dropping quarterbacks, running backs and wide receivers every Sunday into January.

He is the do-it-all dream pick, who will be asked to rush the quarterback, asked to stop the running game and asked to be part of the Seahawks' pass defense.

Curry is that good.

Third-and-11 on the Raiders' first possession and Curry was in pass coverage. Russell threw a swing pass to Michael Bush and the Hawks linebacker was on Bush as soon as he turned. The play gained a harmless 4 yards and Oakland had to punt.

Put the binoculars on Curry and watch him play his first half in Seattle and it's easy to imagine what the next 16 Sundays are going to be like for the Seahawks.

Curry is a show within a show. Watching him rush the quarterback is its own sport. Watching him hit running backs is like watching George Foreman in his prime.

Five days earlier, Curry steamrolled Kansas City's unfortunate Jackie Battle. And he chased and caught Larry Johnson from behind.

Smart, mean and fast.

On Oakland's third possession, Curry quickly was in the backfield, throwing Gary Russell for a 1-yard loss.

After the hit, Curry leaped to his feet and waved to the fans in the Hawks Nest, who were watching him the way you watch a prodigy in his concert-hall debut.

The Seahawks gave Curry this entire first half of the last exhibition game to get him ready for the mayhem of the regular season. It was hard to keep your eyes off him.

He killed another Oakland drive, hurrying into the flat to stop Raiders fullback Luke Lawton for a yard loss on third-and-one. Once again, Curry bounced to his feet and punched the air.

The Hawks Nest approved.

Curry was so exciting on this hum drum night, he was like watching offense on defense. It was easy to hope the Hawks offense would go three-and-out, just to get him back on the field.

There's a restlessness in his style of play. He came at the Raiders from different angles, from different positions. He was a wild card who had to be accounted for on every snap.

In this final dress rehearsal, Curry was the most dangerous player on the field. Almost always he seemed to be around the ball, a collision waiting to happen.

Late in the first half, Hawks defensive tackle Michael Bennett recovered Bruce Gradkowski's fumble and, just because he could, 254-pound Curry flattened 320-pound tackle Mark Wilson with a block during Bennett's return.

And for an encore, at the end of the half, Curry blitzed, untouched, off the Raiders' right side, hit Gradkowski, sacked him and forced a fumble that led to a Seahawks field goal.

If you're keeping score, in his Qwest debut, Curry had four tackles, one sack and two quarterback hits.

The future was announcing his arrival.

Steve Kelley: 206-464-2176 or skelley@seattletimes.com