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Holmgren plays it close to the vest
Posted: Sunday April 18, 1999 09:09 PM
KIRKLAND, Wash. (AP) -- In his first NFL draft as general manager and coach of the Seattle Seahawks, Mike Holmgren played conservatively. That was exactly the opposite of New Orleans' Mike Ditka, who traded eight draft choices for Ricky Williams. "I was asked if I'd trade all my picks for a player," Holmgren said. "Like Ditka did. "Well, I'm probably a little more safe." On Sunday, the second day of the draft, Holmgren made his third trade in two days and wound up with four more picks, giving the Seahawks seven new players. Following Saturday's selection of defensive end Lamar King of Saginaw Valley State (Mich.) in the first round and Washington quarterback Brock Huard and Auburn wide receiver Karsten Bailey in the third, the Seahawks got two more defensive players, an offensive lineman and a specialist. In the fourth round, they drafted defensive end Antonio Cochran of Georgia with the 115th selection. In the fifth round, the Seahawks selected 6-foot-4, 333-pound tackle Floyd Wedderburn of Penn State at No. 140 and punt returner Charlie Rogers of Georgia Tech at No. 152. Then in the sixth round, Holmgren packaged Seattle's two picks and traded them to Cleveland for the Browns' first pick in the round, No. 170, to get Steve Johnson, a cornerback from Tennessee's national championship team. He got just about all the help he wanted -- except at tight end. "I got the returner," Holmgren said. "I got a little nervous because I had targeted two tight ends and I lost them both. "My resident gurus were sitting there and I asked them if he [Johnson] would be available when we drafted and they said, 'Sure.' I said, 'You told me that for those tight ends.' Then I said, 'Let's trade the two picks up to Cleveland. I don't want to miss this guy.'" Fritz Shurmur, Holmgren's defensive coordinator, was particularly happy with the addition of the 6-3, 273-pound Cochran to go along with Saturday's addition of King. "When we talk about defensive linemen, we stay away from the undersized guys," Shurmur said. Seahawks owner Paul Allen and team president Bob Whitsitt brought Holmgren to Seattle to help the franchise get to the playoffs for the first time since 1988 and have its first winning season since 1990. Holmgren took the coaching job in Seattle -- signing an eight-year contract for $4 million a season -- so he could have the team's GM job, too. This weekend, he didn't have Packers GM Ron Wolf calling the shots over him. Holmgren enjoyed his first draft immensely. "I had a great time," he said. "It was fun. The difference was as guys were coming off the board in years past, I didn't get so nervous. This year, I took it personally." Holmgren will get to see his new draft choices on the field this weekend. The team has a three-day minicamp that opens Friday. New Seahawks receiver Sean Dawkins, who signed as an unrestricted free agent during the week, also will be among the players who will work out under Seattle's coaches. "I'll be anxious to see how the guys took some of the things I asked them to do to heart," Holmgren said. "We are going to have testing now that first day. I'll see how their conditioning progress went. I'll see who the guys were that were listening."
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