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Kacyvenski gives Rams inside info on Seattle
By Jim Thomas
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
10/13/2006
Just two weeks after his surprise release by Seattle, Rams linebacker Isaiah Kacyvenski faces his old team Sunday in the Edward Jones Dome.
As the "Church Lady" used to say on "Saturday Night Live": "How conveeenient."
Convenient, that is, for Rams coach Scott Linehan. Most coaches tiptoe around the topic of pumping players for information about their former clubs. Not Linehan.
When asked if he has quizzed Kacyvenski about the Seahawks, Linehan replied: "I have. General things as far as how they saw our team."
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While acknowledging that Kacyvenski's observations are largely based on the Rams of Mike Martz, Linehan said he still gained some insight from the conversation.
"A lot of it has been kind of the things that I wasn't aware of, as far as the history of the games that he's played in against the Rams," Linehan said. "I think it's valuable to a point.
"A lot of it's in a mentality. Maybe how they look at us. How they see our team -- strengths, weaknesses, things like that. What the keys are to playing us. . . . Like I've said before, sometimes too much information is a bad thing. Common sense says they're going to be aware of that as well. But I think more than anything, it's been kind of fun."
Fun, as in playing long-distance mind games with Seattle coach Mike Holmgren?
"No," Linehan said. "It's a unique situation. We sat in this room (Wednesday) morning and watched a bunch of special-teams film of Seattle, and you see Isaiah in there with (Seattle). We're coaching against a technique he was using, and things like that. I thought that was a little bizarre."
Before joining the Rams, Kacyvenski had been with the Seahawks since 2000, Holmgren's second season in the Pacific Northwest. It's not as if the Seahawks have changed offensive and defensive schemes repeatedly over that span. So Kacyvenski potentially could help on X's and O's.
"We all know that, so when it happens, you might change some things because of that," Holmgren told St. Louis reporters on a conference call Wednesday. "I think a linebacker, or a quarterback on offense, or a safety are the guys who will probably understand the bigger picture a little bit better than some other positions. Isaiah's a bright guy, and there's always that possibility."
There are ways, of course, to counteract inside information. Such as having Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck call out fake audibles.
For his part, Kacyvenski is playing it close to the vest this week on all matters pertaining to the Seahawks.
"I'm not looking to give them bulletin board material," he said.
When asked if this would be an emotional game, Kacyvenski replied: "I'm an emotional guy anyway. I can't let me playing there, and me knowing everybody, affect how I play. . . . But I'm going to be ready no matter what. I don't need extra incentive."
He said he has talked to several of his former Seahawks teammates since his release.
"And they've wished me luck," Kacyvenski said. "I don't want to go too much into detail. It'll be good to see them on the other side of the field."
But he did drop a pretty good hint when asked if he could help the Rams prepare for Sunday.
"I can tell you this: I'm here to help the Rams win," he said.
Kacyvenski was Seattle's special-teams captain. The Seahawks tried to re-sign him after his release, but Kacyvenski opted for St. Louis, apparently much to the chagrin of Holmgren.
According to Hasselbeck, Kacyvenski's release "broke our hearts, to be honest with you. It was a tough one to swallow for our team. . . . I think, for some of us, we're still in shock about it."
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