Seahawks/Cowboys - Notebook (1/6/2007)

Just six days ago he was watching the Dallas Cowboys – the team that drafted him four years ago, traded him and failed to re-sign upon his release from the Cleveland Browns – on television. Saturday night at Qwest Field, he had four tackles, a pass defense and a fumble recovery as a nickel cornerback for the Seattle Seahawks in their 21-20 over the Cowboys in the Wild Card Playoff game.

“I don’t know when I’m going to wake up – I’m not going to go to sleep tonight,” Hunter said. “I never played on a team like this before when everyone believed in each other, and I’ve played in a couple of places. I never had the experience of playing on a team where you hear Lofa on the sidelines saying, ‘Don’t worry about it, we’re still playing good. We’re going to give them (the offense) a chance.’

“Maybe we should have lost that game, but we still believed in each other, and I’m still dreaming.”

Hunter, who lives on a hill in Dallas above the Cowboys training facility, was a fifth-round draft choice of Dallas in 2002 out of Virginia Union. At 6-2, 210, with good speed, he made plays and was highly thought of until he had knee surgery. He was traded to the New York Jets, cut, and then signed by the Cleveland Browns last season. Nobody picked up him this year until the Seahawks called him last week.

He had started his own mortgage loan company, and the criminal justice graduate was in the process of finishing all his paperwork to become a special agent for the federal government working with the border patrol and immigration.

The Seahawks had lost starting corners Marcus Trufant and Kelly Herndon, along with veteran backup Jimmy Williams within a period of eight days. They signed Rich Gardner the week before, then added Hunter and safety John Howell for depth.

So rookie Kelly Jennings started at one corner and Jordan Babineaux was moved from strong safety to start at the other. That made Hunter the nickel cornerback, and he played plenty with Gardner chipping in on occasion. Howell played on special teams. They didn’t even have enough defensive backs to play their dime scheme, so it was either base defense or nickel against the vaunted Cowboys passing attack of quarterback Tony Romo, along with receivers Terrell Owens and Terry Glenn.

Owens caught two passes for 26 yards and Glenn snared four that totaled 41 yards.

“Babineaux and Jennings, I think, were solid,” Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren said. “Gardner and Hunter came in, and they both thanked me for giving them the opportunity in the locker room. I thought it was kind of cut. I said that, ‘I thank you, too." That’s a two-way street.”

And now they prepare for another round known as the Divisional Playoffs – presuming that Hunter can get some sleep – so he can practice next week.

“This is a dream situation for me,” Hunter said. “Last week I’m watching TV, preparing for my test, and my agent calls me asking me if I’m in shape to go to Seattle for a tryout. It’s hard to believe this is the way it worked out.”

Believe it Pete, and there’s more to come.

Bobby’s Back
For nine weeks, Seahawks veteran wide receiver Bobby Engram struggled. He struggled to find medication that would stabilize his blood pressure in the way of a sudden thyroid condition. He struggled to find the proper medication that wouldn’t drain him of strength and stamina.

And it wasn’t until the 11th week that he finally caught a pass again – something he had been doing almost blindfolded most of the 33 years he’s been alive.

But Saturday night in the Seahawks Wild Card win, he was huge - with four receptions that were good for 88 yards – including a 36-yarder on a slant over the middle in the first quarter and a brilliant 30-yard snatch on the fingertips on a couple of great throws from Matt Hasselbeck.

“It was great to contribute – whatever it takes to win,” Engram said. “When you hope and you keep playing, sometimes good things happen.”

Coach’s Corner
Cowboys coach Bill Parcells on the missed 19-yard field goal in the final 1:19 of the game when Tony Romo fumbled the snap:

“He’s been our holder all year and I don’t think we have had one bad snap," said Parcells. "It’s not the special teams, it’s just a mishandled snap.”

Big Play Babs
It was déjà vu for Jordan Babineaux, making the game-saving tackle on Romo when the field goal attempt failed on the fumbled snap with 1:19 left in game. Remember, it was Babineaux who picked off Drew Bledsoe’s pass last season in the final ticks of the game that allowed Josh Brown to kick a 50-yard field goal with five seconds left to allow the Seahawks to defeat the Cowboys 13-10.

That was the second of 11 consecutive wins for the Seahawks.

“Sure, I remember that one,” Babineaux said. “They’re both great wins. But this is in the playoffs, the playoffs are always more special.”

This & That
Chris Gray was back in the starting lineup at right guard after missing last week’s regular season finale at Tampa with a quad contusion. That ended his franchise-record streak of 121 consecutive games started...Backup quarterback Seneca Wallace started the game as the slot receiver and caught a 6-yard pass from Matt Hasselbeck on a crossing pattern...Wide receiver Darrell Jackson made his first start since the Arizona game when he suffered a hyper-extended toe. But he was ineffective and he called it a day in the third quarter with no receptions. D.J. Hackett played in the game as well, despite the restrictive hip-flexor problem from last week. He contributed two receptions before twisting his ankle on their first series of the fourth quarter and didn’t return...The Seahawks signed rookie Ben Obomanu from the practice squad Friday and released 11-year veteran tight end Itula Mili. Obomanu was inactive Saturday, along with Marcus Trufant (ankle), Robbie Tobeck, David Kirtman, Marquis Cooper, Ray Willis and Marcus Green. David Greene was once again the third quarterback...The inactive players for the Cowboys were Quincy Butler, Abram Elam, Junior Glymph, Montavius Stanley, Joe Berger, Jason Fabini, Corey Procter and Steven Bowen.