Seahawks reach out to Robinson, who could re-sign with injury-ravaged team Tuesday

Seahawks reach out to Robinson, who could re-sign with injury-ravaged team Tuesday
By CLARE FARNSWORTH
P-I REPORTER

RENTON -- The Seahawks' on-going search for a wide receiver has finally led them to a familiar face: Koren Robinson.

The team's former first-round draft choice was at the team's facility Monday night and was expecting to sign a contract Tuesday after he passes his physical.

The ninth selection overall in the 2001 draft, Robinson was released after the 2004 season when alcohol problems were threatening his promising career. But the Seahawks are desperate for a receiver who knows their system because Nate Burleson, Ben Obomanu and Logan Payne have been lost for the season to injuries and Bobby Engram and Deion Branch are not ready to return from their injuries.

As coach Mike Holmgren put it earlier Monday, "Desperate times call for desperate measures."

Robinson, 28, caught 78 passes for 1,240 yards and five touchdowns while starting at split in 2002, the most productive of his four seasons with the team.

"I don't know about the football side of it all," quarterback Matt Hasselbeck said earlier in the day when asked about Robinson. "I haven't seen him play in a long time.

"But I guess what I care about more is that he grew up and really matured and got his life turned around in the right direction."

Hasselbeck saw Robinson during the offseason, when Robinson told him he was married, had one child and another was on the way.

"So I'm really happy for him," Hasselbeck said. "I'm proud of him."

Robinson was suspended for four games in 2004 for violating the NFL's substance abuse policy. He also was arrested for DUI in May 2005, which led to his release by the Seahawks.

He played the 2005 season with the Minnesota Vikings, and was voted to the Pro Bowl as a kick returner. But the Vikings released him after he was arrested for DUI in 2006 and agreed to plead to fleeing police. Robinson also spent 90 days in jail in 2007, stemming that 2006 incident.

The Green Bay Packers signed Robinson in 2006, but he served a year suspension before returning to the Packers for the final nine games last season, when he caught 21 passes and averaged 23.8 yards returning kickoffs. The Packers released him in May.

The Seahawks talked about signing Robinson last week, but it appeared that Holmgren lost that debate to club president Tim Ruskell, who had made the decision to release Robinson in 2005. The Seahawks did not contact Robinson last week, when they instead signed Billy McMullen and Samie Parker -- although Parker was released Saturday.

Asked about Robinson on Monday, Holmgren said, "I'll say the same thing -- he is on that list.

"The value there is he's played. He knows this system. He's played with us before."

And apparently will play with them again.




http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/football/379264_robinson16.html

Koren to the rescue?
FRANK HUGHES; frank.hughes@thenewstribune.com
Published: September 16th, 2008 12:30 AM

RENTON – At a time when the Seattle Seahawks’ hopes for a home-field playoff advantage are buried under an 0-2 reality, desperate measures may mean they will turn to Koren Robinson.

The Seahawks considered signing their former bad-boy receiver last week before signing Billy McMullen and Samie Parker, though Parker was later released.

Then came injuries Sunday to Logan Payne and Seneca Wallace.

Now, according to published reports, Robinson could be signed as soon as today.

The Seahawks’ top draft pick in 2001, he had three productive seasons with the Seahawks, then a blighted 2004 that included a four-game suspension for substance abuse. He was released that offseason and has since played for Minnesota, making the 2006 Pro Bowl, and Green Bay.

Seahawks general manager Tim Ruskell has been loathe to sign players with character issues, but quarterback Matt Hasselbeck said he thinks Robinson has cleaned up his life.

“I don’t know about the football side of it at all. I haven’t seen him play in a long time,” Hasselbeck said. “But I guess what I care about more is that he grew up and really matured and got his life turned around in the right direction.

“I saw him this offseason. He’s married, has a child, has another one on the way, so I’m really happy for him. I’m proud of him.”

The Seahawks learned Monday that Payne tore the medial collateral ligament in his right knee and is lost for the season. Wallace, who was being asked to play split end because nobody else was available, pulled his calf muscle in warm-ups and is out for three to four weeks.

Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren on Monday spoke of desperate times calling for desperate measures, and Robinson would certainly qualify on that count.

“Believe me, we’ll explore every option we can,” Holmgren said. “This is a little bit unusual. “We’ve got to figure out a way to win one.”

Because the Seahawks need almost immediate help at wide receiver, Holmgren ideally would like to acquire a player who already is familiar with the system, perhaps through a trade.

Other players who fit that description include D.J. Hackett and Darrell Jackson, neither of whom Ruskell is likely to pursue, and Arizona’s Jerheme Urban. Cleveland’s Joe Jurevicius is not eligible to play until after game six.

Regardless, Holmgren wants a stopgap for the upcoming St. Louis Rams game, after which he thinks he will get back Bobby Engram and perhaps Deion Branch – the source of Holmgren’s confidence that the season is not lost despite the disastrous start.

“I hope that we can replenish the roster here in not too long a time,” Holmgren said. “That in and of itself doesn’t guarantee anything, but at least we have some of our guys back. Yesterday, offensively, even though we were depleted, I thought we had a chance to win the football game, even saying all this stuff.”

Holmgren did not want to address one obvious issue, which is that the Seahawks’ past indicates that home-field advantage is their best opportunity for a lengthy stay in the playoffs.

After the 0-2 start – matching the San Diego Chargers, the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Cleveland Browns, all teams with lofty aspirations and off to difficult starts – the Seahawks have to win 11 or 12 of their final 14 games to get home-field advantage through the playoffs – as they have spoken of doing.

“I think it’s way too early to start doing the math,” Holmgren said. “There’s too many unpredictable things that happen in this business, not the least of which is injury. We happen to be injured right now, but it could happen anywhere, at any time, to anybody, on any team, and then all of a sudden the math goes out the window. We’ll just keep taking ’em … one at a time and see what happens.”

Don’t forget, last season’s New York Giants started 0-2 before reversing their fortunes and winning the Super Bowl.

The difference between those teams and the current Seahawks is that those teams are not down to their seventh, eighth and ninth wide receivers and desperately looking for help.

Defensive end Patrick Kerney said the weight room was packed for the first lifting session at 10 a.m. Monday, with players eager to get back to work.

“We are 0-2, that is the biggest issue,” Kerney said. “You are going to lose guys throughout a season, but you better be able to adapt. That is part of the game.

“We have to be more consistent. We have to shore it up on the practice field. And there is only one medicine for it: Hard work. That is the only way I’ve ever known.”



http://www.thenewstribune.com/sports/seahawks/story/483685.html

Seahawks sign Koren Robinson, make trade for Keary Colbert

Former Seahawk Koren Robinson, a first-round draft pick in 2001, is back with the team. And the Seahawks traded a 2009 draft pick to Denver for another receiver, Keary Colbert.

By Danny O'Neil and Jose Miguel Romero

Seattle Times staff reporters

Related

* Danny O'Neil's Seahawks Blog
* Talk about the team in the Hawks Forum

Koren Robinson has signed a one-year deal with the Seahawks, according to his agent, returning him to the team that first drafted him into the NFL in 2001.

The Seahawks also made a trade today with Denver, sending an undisclosed 2009 draft pick to the Broncos for receiver Keary Colbert. The deal is pending league approval.

A lot has happened in the seven years since the Seahawks selected Robinson ninth overall in the draft. Robinson had a breakout season in 2002, catching 78 passes for 1,240 yards. That was followed by two years in which his production plummeted. In 2004 he was suspended four games by the league, benched one game by his coach and released by the Seahawks that offseason after being arrested for DUI.

He was arrested again in Minnesota the following year and suspended by the NFL for a year, but has not had any incidents in the two years since.

Robinson's addition comes after injuries have decimated the wide receiver position. Bobby Engram, the top returning receiver from last season, is out with a broken shoulder, Deion Branch still isn't back from offseason knee surgery and Nate Burleson, Logan Payne and Ben Obomanu have been lost to season-ending injuries.

Enter Robinson, who played with the Packers last season and caught 21 passes. He made the Pro Bowl in 2005 with the Vikings as a returner, so he could factor into the Seahawks' punt-return team.

Colbert played in the Broncos' two games this season, but did not have a reception. In four seasons with Carolina, he caught 109 passes for an average of 13.1 yards, and seven touchdowns.




http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/seahawks/2008183360_webhawk16.html

Hawks apply patches for catches
Robinson back; Colbert acquired in Denver trade
By CLARE FARNSWORTH
P-I REPORTER

RENTON -- The old Koren Robinson would have ridden back into town professing how many catches and touchdowns he would produce while stepping in as the Seahawks' savior in Sunday's must-win game against the St. Louis Rams.

But the matured -- and, yes, humbled -- wide receiver the Seahawks re-signed Tuesday is not the brash former first-round draft choice who seemed to make as many bad decisions off the field as he did big plays on the field during his first stint with the club.

And that is why club president Tim Ruskell decided to welcome back a player he had dispatched in 2005 after Robinson was arrested for DUI.

"That turned the tide for me, that this was a guy that his priorities weren't Koren, there were other things in his life," Ruskell said in announcing Robinson's return to the team that made him the ninth pick overall in the 2001 NFL draft. "It wasn't about better stats and more touchdowns. It was let me help the team. Let me have a chance here.

"He just seemed like a different person to me."

Offered Robinson, "That's the old Koren. It's a new ship now. The only thing I can do is just take care of business and be prepared."

The Seahawks' business on this day also included making another move to shore up their injury-ravaged receiving corps, acquiring Keary Colbert in a trade with the Denver Broncos.

To clear a roster spot for Robinson, wide receiver Logan Payne was placed on injured reserve. Payne tore a ligament in his right knee in Sunday's home opener against the San Francisco 49ers.

The trade for Colbert, 26, will not be completed until Wednesday, when another roster move must be made.

The Seahawks traded the Broncos what is believed to be a fifth-round pick in the 2009 draft, which could be upgraded to a fourth-rounder depending on how much Colbert plays this season.

The Seahawks also inherited the three-year, $7.2 million contract that Colbert got in March, when he was signed as a free agent after playing his first four seasons with the Carolina Panthers.

Robinson, meanwhile, signed a one-year, $730,000 contract that includes clauses to guard against him slipping back into this old ways -- "stipulations between me and Tim," as Robinson put it.

"Sure, there's risk," Ruskell said, "but we did a lot of research. We didn't just do this haphazardly or spur of the moment.

"All of us believe in second chances, and this has a chance to be a good story."

The Seahawks started the re-evaluation process on Robinson, 28, last week. They sent director of pro personnel Will Lewis to North Carolina to work Robinson out and, more importantly, see if he really had changed. That process continued when director of player development Maurice Kelly had a long conversation with Robinson.

Those talks, coupled with recommendations from coach Mike Holmgren and quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, convinced Ruskell that Robinson deserved another chance.

"Had any of that not gone well along the way -- and I told Koren this -- then we would not have done this," Ruskell said.

For his part, Robinson said the right things Tuesday, including apologizing for his indiscretions during his first stint with the team.

"I look to make amends with anybody that I've done wrong," he said. "I apologize to the fans of Seattle. I apologized to Coach Holmgren and my teammates. I was young and I was selfish.

"It's always good to get a second chance. I'm grateful for this chance, this opportunity."

Asked if he ever thought he'd get another opportunity to play for the Seahawks, Robinson said, "I did not, just because of the terms and circumstances that I left Seattle. I never would think that I'd be back."

Robinson said he has been sober since August 2006. He has been married for two years, and he and his wife have two sons -- 6 and 2 -- and are expecting a daughter next month.

"I have a support group that keeps me humble, keeps me grounded," he said. "None of this would be possible without my wife, my kids and my parents."

Each receiver had his best season early in his career.

Colbert caught 47 passes for a 16-yard average and five touchdowns in 2004, his rookie season with the Panthers. After that, he had 62 receptions and two touchdowns in three seasons. Colbert did not catch a pass in the Broncos' first two games this season.

Robinson had a 78-catch, 1,240-yard, five-touchdown season in 2002, but his reception totals dipped to 65 and 31 the next two seasons.

After being released by the Seahawks, Robinson played the 2005 season with the Minnesota Vikings, and was voted to the Pro Bowl as a kick returner, and parts of the 2006 and 2007 seasons with the Green Bay Packers, who released him in May.

As with the Seahawks, however, Robinson's off-field problems overshadowed his on-field production. He was arrested for DUI in 2006, which prompted his release by the Vikings. He served a one-year suspension while with the Packers -- the next-step penalty after his four-game suspension in 2004 while with the Seahawks for violating the league's substance abuse policy.

"My name just has a bad rap," he said. "And it's not me as a person. I just made a couple of bad decisions and it stuck with me.

"So I just want people to know that I feel like I am a good person."

Just how good Robinson can be against the Rams this week remains to be seen. But something had to be done to address what Ruskell labeled a "crisis" situation at wide receiver.

"You see some of the old Koren -- in terms of his quickness, being able to catch the ball, running the routes, knowing the system," Ruskell said. "All that played into the decision."

None more than Robinson not being the old Koren off the field.

UP NEXT: ST. LOUIS RAMS

WHEN/WHERE: Sunday, 1:05 p.m., Qwest Field

RAMS' RECORD: 0-2, after losing to the New York Giants 41-13 in their home opener Sunday

WHERE THEY RANK: 32nd on offense (31st rushing, 29th passing); 32nd on defense (27th rushing, 32nd passing)

SERIES: Seahawks lead 10-9 after sweeping the home-and-home series last season

STAR POWER: Torry Holt. Some things never change, and for the Rams that starts with their seven-time Pro Bowl wide receiver continuing to make not only big but improbable plays -- like the highlight-reel catch he made in the end zone against the Giants. It is the Rams' only touchdown in their first two games. He's also the answer to a trivia question: Name the receiver who has the most receptions in the NFL this decade? It's Holt, with 760.

UNSUNG HERO: Donnie Jones. A seventh-round draft choice by the Seahawks in 2004, the Rams punter has been the most productive player on a team that has been outscored 79-16 in its first two games. In the season-opening loss to Philadelphia, Jones punted 10 times. Sunday, against the Giants, he averaged 55.7 yards on six punts, with a 43-yard net. But surprisingly, Jones leads the league with a 51.2-yard average.

ON THE SPOT: The long line forms behind Scott Linehan, the former University of Washington assistant who is 11-23 as the Rams head coach. After Sunday's game, the columnists in St. Louis were calling for Linehan's head, as well as those belonging to defensive coordinator Jim Haslett, offensive coordinator Al Saunders and general manager Jay Zygmunt. That will happen when your team ranks a comatose last in offense and defense and is tied for last in points scored. Monday, owner Chip Rosenbloom told the Post Dispatch, "Things will get better. And if they don't, changes will be made." The Rams have not made a performance-based coaching change during the season since 1962, when Bob Waterfield "resigned" after a 1-7 start.

BURNING QUESTION: Can anyone on the Rams play defense? They have yielded 963 yards and nine touchdowns. They have yet to produce a turnover, and also had zero in the preseason. Against the Giants, they were burned for six plays of 28-plus yards and against the Eagles it was five plays of 25-plus yards.

FAMILIAR FACES: Their kicker is some guy named Josh Brown. You might have heard of him, since he signed with the Rams in free agency after four seasons of making clutch kicks for the Seahawks. Then he tried to justify the move by saying it wasn't about the money, but winning. In addition to Brown, Jones and Linehan, there's also wide receiver Dane Looker, who played at Washington and Puyallup High School; nose tackle Adam Carriker, who played at Kennewick High; strength and conditioning coach Dana LeDuc, an assistant with the Seahawks from 1995-98; secondary coach Ron Milus, a UW assistant from 1991-98; special teams coordinator Al Roberts, a former UW assistant (1977-82, 1996) and coach at Garfield and Mercer Island high schools; and quality control coach Keith Murphy, who coached at the UW (1996-99) and Eastern Washington (1999-2006).

THE LAST WORD: "In my mind we're going to beat Seattle. I'm not making a guarantee -- you can call it what it is -- but in my mind we're going to beat Seattle, and we're going to right this ship. Because we don't have a choice." -- Linehan




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