In a press conference to introduce Matt Hasselbeck as the Seahawks’ new quarterback, Mike Holmgren, the man responsible for bringing Hasselbeck to Seattle, said, “The fact that we were able to get Matt, a quality young man and a great quarterback, I thought it was really the start of something very important for the Seahawks.”

While Holmgren, who previously coached Hasselbeck when he was a young backup in Green Bay, had high hopes for his new young quarterback, it’s hard to imagine he knew just how special of a relationship he and Hasselbeck would form in nearly a decade together in Seattle.

And of course, it was smooth sailing when Hasselbeck and Holmgren reunited in Seattle… Or maybe not.  

"It didn't start out so hot for me there," Hasselbeck recalled prior to joining the Seahawk Ring of Honor in 2021.

"When we traded for Matt, I would say the first couple of years were kind of bumpy," said Holmgren. "It was kind of tough love."

Hasselbeck was benched on a couple of occasions early in his Seahawks career, and it took him and the offense some time to get in sync, but once those 2000s teams got rolling, Hasselbeck was piloting one of the NFL’s best offenses. From 2003-07, the Seahawks made the postseason five straight times, winning four consecutive NFC West titles, and in 2005 the Seahawks went 13-3 and reached the Super Bowl for the first time in team history.  

Hasselbeck earned Pro Bowl honors three times during that stretch, with the Seahawks ranking in the top 10 in both total offense and scoring in each of his three Pro Bowl seasons (2003, 2005, 2007).  

A nine-time team captain, Hasselbeck started 131 of 138 regular season games played and started 11 postseason games. He was the team’s nominee for the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year award in 2003, and the Steve Largent Award winner in 2009. Hasselbeck’s name can be found throughout Seattle’s record books with the impact he made on the franchise. He finished his time in Seattle as the franchise's all-time leader in attempts (4,250), completions (2,559), yards (29,434) and career wins (74), and second in touchdowns (174), with Russell Wilson later establishing new highs in all of those categories.  

While Hasselbeck was best known for his play during the Holmgren era, one of his finest, and most emotional moments, came in what ended up being his final home game in Seattle, the Seahawks’ playoff win over the Saints following the 2010 season, John Schneider and Pete Carroll’s first year in Seattle.  

The Seahawks struggled at times that season and Hasselbeck battled injuries, yet they ended up winning the NFC West despite a 7-9 record, then went on to upset the defending champion New Orleans Saints in the wild card round.

"That's probably the year that I'm most proud of because it was the most difficult year," Hasselbeck said. "We had a new staff come in, Pete came in and was really trying to change the mindset that we had, get into what he called his championship mindset. To battle through the challenges the way we did and really be playing good football at the end of the year after all of it was really exciting."

After falling behind early in that game, in part due to an interception on a tipped ball, the Seahawks came back to win 41-36 win. The game was most remembered for Marshawn Lynch’s famous “Beast Quake” run, but it was also one of Hasselbeck’s best games. Playing with a cast on his broken left wrist, Hasselbeck threw for 272 yards and four touchdowns, outdueling Drew Brees to lead the Seahawks to an improbable playoff win.  

After the game, Hasselbeck walked off the field with his son, Henry, on his shoulders, and daughters Mallory and Annabelle at his side, creating one of his favorite memories from a career full of big moments.  

“We win the game, and never, ever had my kids been on the field after a game, but someone, one of the other wives I think, must have known what I did not know—that it was my last home game—and she handed my kids to a police officer who then got my kids on the field," Hasselbeck said. "I had a broken wrist, so I couldn't hold Henry's hand, so I put him on my shoulders. I gave my daughter the ball that I had taken the final knee with, which I found out later was probably the ball from the Beast Mode run. For whatever reason—I think I did some interviews on the field—I was one of the last guys coming off the field with my kids there, and it's a picture that I'm proud of. It was an emotional moment. My kids love the photo, my family loves the photo. I remember looking up at that tunnel, my family was sitting right there. It was a very, very cool thing."