I will admit that it sounds weird referring to Matt Hasselbeck as "the quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts."
Granted, he was signed to a two-year deal solely to act as Andrew Luck's back-up, but I still consider Hasselback as the leading passer in Seattle Seahawks history. After he left there, he spent two seasons playing against the Colts for the AFC South division rival Tennessee Titans. His role now is different than at those previous jobs, but what's interesting is that the former 6th round pick of the Green Bay Packers in 1998 seems to generate just as much media interest now in the role of a back-up as he did when he was a premiere starting NFL quarterback.
Today, Hasselbeck made a series of media rounds, conducting interviews with CBS Sports, NBC Sports, and ESPN, just to name a few. The goal was to promote his charity work with the End It Movement. Apparently, April 9th is a date targeted to bring awareness to the ongoing global slavery problem. This seems like an extremely noble and serious cause Hasselbeck has latched himself onto, and it pushes him up a few pegs in my personal opinion.
Obviously, during special interviews with big media entities, the entire discussion did not focus on human slavery. Much of it dealt with Hasselbeck's departure from the Titans and eventual signing with the Colts.
With Mike Florio of PFT and NBC Sports, he said this about competing with Luck at the quarterback position:
I feel like I learned a lot in my role with Jake Locker this past year and it really was fulfilling to work with a young guy that’s talented and eager to work and eager to learn," Hasselbeck told Monday’s edition of Pro Football Talk. "I think the thing that I could probably do a better job is just really bringing a competitive spirit to the room. Obviously, Andrew Luck’s gonna be the starting quarterback there but I can still come in and bring an element of like just being the best that I can be, each and every day.
When asked by CBSSports.com's Will Brinson about why he chose Indianapolis, Hasselbeck responded:
Free agency actually started before I got released. So, some of those [QB] chairs got filled, so to speak. There were some other chairs I could have waited around for, but the Indianapolis Colts were just on it from the second I got released. They were full court press, very convincing, and they were selling what they brought to the table. I got to see firsthand the tightness of that time. How special it was. How they rallied around their coach last year.
Interesting. Seems like Ryan Grigson and company targeted their back-up QB option early and went after him aggressively. Smart move.
On why he is involved with the End It Movement, Hasselbeck recalled this story to Colin Cowherd of ESPN, via Paul Kuharsky:
He recounted how during his time with the Titans a man was arrested at a motel just across the street from LP Field for trying to pimp out and sell four under-aged girls.
"If you didn’t know, then fine," he said. "But once you know that this is going on you just say this is absolutely unacceptable."
While he might be in Indianapolis just to back-up Luck, it's hard not to be impressed with how Hasselbeck has conducted himself throughout his career as well as what he does off-the-field with his charity work.