Steve Hutchinson’s Job the Same Regardless of Quarterback
June 26, 2009 – 7:45 am by Lance Zimmerman
I witnessed the best left side of an offensive line in action maybe ever in the history of football during the 2005 season. Left tackle Walter Jones and left guard Steve Hutchinson were the only reason Shaun Alexander won the MVP trophy, and were two-thirds of the reason the Seattle Seahawks reached the Super Bowl that season (the other being Matt Hasselback).
Hutchinson bolted for greener pastures during the 2006 off season and has catapulted the Minnesota Vikings running game into a completely different level. No disrespect to Adrian Peterson, but if you replaced Hutchinson with an average left guard, the Vikings ground attack wouldn’t be nearly as potent as it is now.
Steve Hutchinson joined KFAN on Thursday to discuss the Vikings and of course the whole Brett Favre saga, which won’t be over until either Favre’s arm falls off, or everyone stops caring. My bet is the former happening before the latter.
On if he’s ready to suit up:
“Yeah, we’re ready to go. I think everybody saw the potential of what we could be when we left the season last year. Obviously we didn’t make it as far as we wanted to in the playoffs, but we saw what we could potentially do. Everyone’s got a little bit of excitement. You know when you’ve got something special. You’ve been on teams that were really good and you feel the electricity in the locker room. You can feel it. Everyone’s a little excited to come back this year.”
Hutchinson was asked what kind of guy Brett Favre is and if he’s ever played with him in the Pro Bowl:
“I haven’t played with him. Whenever I was over there he’s never made the trip over to Hawaii. I have mutual friends, guys who used to play with him in Green Bay and I’ve talked to him in the past. I’ve heard all the stories about him with guys I’ve played with in Seattle like (Matt) Hasselbeck obviously played in Green Bay with him. I think his legacy and what he does kind of speaks for himself. I’ve probably heard every rumor out there just as you guys have about he’s already signed, he hasn’t signed, he’s not going to play, he’s going to stay retired. I’ve heard it all. My answer to all of that is, listen, I’m for whatever’s going to make our football team better. I have all the confidence in the world in Sage (Rosenfels) and Tavaris (Jackson).”
On if it’s hard losing a player like Matt Birk:
“Matt and I got pretty close over the last three years. I’ve known him for awhile. We’ve played together in a couple of pro bowls before I came over here so I’ve gotten to know him. Everybody knows what he can do on the field, but off the field he was a good friend of mine. But that’s the nature of this game. When I left Seattle I left some really good friends. We were really close on that offensive line. Everybody knows though that’s the nature of the business. Was I sad to see him go? Yeah. Was I happy he had the opportunity to keep playing this game? Yes.”
Listen to Steve Hutchinson on KFAN in Minneapolis with The Power Trip
Tags: Brett Favre, football interviews, Minnesota Vikings, NFC North, Steve Hutchinson
