Friday, March 2, 2018

The Chronicles of Redskins Quarterbacks Part 6: Tim Hasselbeck

Tim Hasselbeck (03-04) “Elizabeth's Husband”
5 starts (1-4)
Completion % = 53.7% (95/177)
1012 yrds – 5 TD - 7 INT – 63.6 – 9 sacks

Matt's brother.  Elizabeth's husband.  Poor Tim Hasselbeck could never be his own person as a football player.  He grew up in Massachusetts where he was an All-American high school quarterback.  He attended Boston College where he spent his first two seasons backing up his older brother Matt.  He finally got his shot as a redshirt junior in 1999, and he would go 15-9 as the Golden Eagle's starter over the next two seasons.  The Bills would sign him as an undrafted free agent in 2001, but Hasselbeck would find himself on Philadelphia Eagles' practice squad in 2002.  It was at this time that his brother Matt was making rumblings in Seattle after most people acknowledged that he had taken the starting role from Trent Dilfer and looked to be the quarterback of the future in Seattle (which he was).  Dan Snyder took one look at Tim Hasselbeck's resume and said, "Hey, Matt Hasselbeck is kicking ass in Seattle after being traded out of obscurity in Green Bay.  Surely his brother can do the same thing for us.  We need to sign him.", and sign him he did.

Tim Hasselbeck came to Washington in 2003 in the aftermath of the Shane Matthews/Danny Wuerffel debacle, from which Patrick Ramsey came out as the unquestioned starter.  Ramsey would start the season 3-1, but he would only go 1-6 over the next seven games, and he would leave the Miami game with a bruised foot that kept him out the rest of the season.  It was Tim Hasselbeck's time to shine, but he could only muster one win against the Giants in his five starts, and he actually put up a 0.0 quarterback rating in a 27-0 loss to the Cowboys in Week 15.  His line in that game was as follows:  6-26 for 56 yards and 4 interceptions.  He played the entire game without anyone else taking a snap.  

Despite his poor performance, Hasselbeck actually stayed on as a backup in Washington for one more season, but he would never see the field again for the Burgundy and Gold.  He played the next two seasons as Eli Manning's backup in New York, and he would end his playing career with the Cardinals in 2007 appearing in only one game that year.  During all this time he was better known for his wife's accomplishments on TV, but he now has carved out a nice little niche for himself as an ESPN Fantasy Football Analyst.  Kudos to Tim for reinventing himself as a TV personality and finally stepping out of his wife's shadow, but we will always remember him in Washington as the husband of that woman on The View. 

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