University of Northern Iowa Athletics
HANNAM GETS A START FOR THE SEAHAWKS
7/29/2004 8:00:00 AM | Football
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Wednesday, August 13, 2003 Seahawks Notebook: Hannam gets his shot at starting lineup CHENEY -- The Seahawks' starting tight end Friday night in the their second preseason game against the Colts in Indianapolis will be:
And that leaves? Ryan Hannam, a small-town boy from an even smaller town in Iowa who played his college ball at NCAA Division I-AA Northern Iowa. So why is tight ends coach Jim Lind smiling? Because Hannam is getting this starting shot not only because he's the last experienced tight end standing on two good legs, but because he has earned it -- just like the roster spot he won last year as a rookie. "We certainly wanted to give all those guys a chance to start a preseason game," Lind said yesterday during the lunch break at the team's Eastern Washington University training camp. "So this is Ryan's chance." It comes with the tagline that Hannam was pushing for more time even before being pushed into the starting lineup.
As might be expected, Hannam is one of those jack-of-all-trades, trying-to-master-some tight ends. He's a good blocker. He has good hands. He can run. He's smart. He's tough. Oh, and he gets open, which is the element of his game that quarterback Matt Hasselbeck most appreciates. Hasselbeck went to Hannam once in the preseason opener, for an 8-yard completion on third-and-3. Yesterday, Hasselbeck came close to wearing Hannam out, as he looked more and more to last year's fifth-round draft choice and seemed to put a little more on each pass. Hannam cradled each throw in soft, sure hands. "When he runs a route, at a certain angle he can turn and catch the ball and give you a big circle to put it in where he can catch, turn and run up the field," Hasselbeck said. "He's a great kid and he does what you ask him to do." Sometimes he just does what needs to be done, without the request. Like Monday, when Hasselbeck threw a pass behind Hannam in the end zone. Hannam turned, reached behind him -- and over safety Curtis Fuller -- to make the catch. "That," Hasselbeck said with a smile, "is the kind of play you really like to see." As natural as Hannam makes it look, he didn't come by all these positive traits naturally. He was a defensive lineman in college before a coaching change after his freshman season prompted his moved to offense. "The defense wanted him back, because he was their best defensive player," Lind said. At St. Ansgar High School, Hannam was a big man on a little campus, lettering all four years in football, baseball and track and three years in basketball. Last year, could have been humbling because Hannam wasn't just a rookie tight end, but the other rookie tight end due to Stevens' lofty draft status and uncommon skills. Instead, he decided to make the most of the opportunity he had to fulfill a dream he had harbored since growing up a Minnesota Vikings fan. "Once Ryan showed us what he could do, it didn't take long to get confidence in his ability," Lind said. Hannam continued to show, and show up, during the off-season. He and improving wide receiver Alex Bannister were always around when Hasselbeck wanted to throw, so the quarterback quickly developed a rapport and pitcher-catcher relationship with them. "One of the main things that paid off for me was that I came back a little early this off-season, got into the conditioning program and worked a little extra with the quarterbacks," Hannam said. "It's also a huge difference between that first and second year," he added. "They talk about the learning curve you go through, where the first year you're just trying to figure out what the heck am I supposed to be doing on each play. You come in your second year, already knowing the plays, knowing the guys you're playing with. You can concentrate on the little details of the play and just competing against the defense." Expect to see more of Hannam this season, even when Mili and Stevens are healthy. Of course, that's not saying a lot since he caught all of one pass as a rookie -- although it was a 16-yard touchdown from Hasselbeck in the Nov. 10 game against the Cardinals in Arizona. Other than that, Hannam played on special teams and blocked as the second or third tight end in short-yardage situations. This season he deserves more, because he is showing he can do more. P-I reporter Clare Farnsworth can be reached at 206-448-8016 or clarefarnsworth@seattlepi.com
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