He was never supposed to be this good. He was never supposed to last this long.
In the year of Peyton Manning and Ryan Leaf, he was an afterthought, just another flier in the sixth round. For goodness sakes, he was picked 101 spots after the immortal Jonathan Quinn. He was taken 15 picks after John Dutton. He spent a year on the practice squad. He backed up Trent Dilfer in Seattle.
Yet, Matt Hasselbeck is still here.
Even better, he’s still winning.
At age 40, Hasselbeck still has life. He is 3-0 as a starter for the same Indianapolis Colts team that struggled under star Andrew Luck, and he has already put his bid in for Comeback Player of the Year. Sunday, he attempts to stay undefeated against the Tampa Bay Bucs.
Think of it this way. Hasselbeck started playing college football the year that Jameis Winston was born.
“I remember Matt Hasselbeck most during his Seahawks days,” Winston said. “It definitely will be an honor to play against him. One thing about playing against old people is I could say that he’s balding, but we have so many baldheaded 20-year-olds on this roster I can’t even make any funny jokes about it. He looks better at the age of 40 than some of the young guys on our team.”
Hasselbeck won 69 games with Seattle. He led his team to the playoffs six times and made the Pro Bowl three times.
“He’s had a great career, going back to his time in Seattle, then going to Tennessee and playing well there,” said Bucs’ defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier. “Now helping out in Indy – undefeated as a starter for them. A guy who’s very savvy, very smart, really understands the game and gets the ball where receivers are in great position to catch the ball – throws a very catchable ball. What happens above the neck is really what is impressive about him. He does a great job of understanding defenses and a lot of it has to do with his experience. He knows exactly where to go with the football. They’re doing a good job of mixing the run with the pass right now under their new coordinator. He presents some challenges, but his leadership really sticks out.”
“When he was a little younger, he was a bit of a scrambler. You would think at this stage of his career, not as much, but like all quarterbacks, you want to find a way to harass him and make it a little bit more difficult for him to find his reads. We’ve got to do some things to get him uncomfortable. Otherwise, he’s pretty good.”
Hasselbeck has had a 91.9 rating over his three victories, and he’s thrown only two interceptions. In other words, he’s looked pretty good. Which is a new thing for him.
“I did not look good as a young player,” Hasselbeck said. “I was balding – I’m bald now, but I was balding when I was like a second and third-year player in Green Bay and balding in Seattle, and it was just a really bad look (laughing). A good friend should have come to me and said, ‘Hey, let it go, man. Shave the head or something.’ I had a bad look going when I was younger. I set the bar low.
“I obviously wish Andrew wasn’t hurt, like everybody in the State of Indiana. Everyone wishes he was 100 percent and that he was the guy under center. But that’s part of my job. I have to be ready to go and to help carry his team while he’s out.”
