Carroll sticking with Hasselbeck?

New Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll says he plans on sticking with Matt Hasselbeck as his QB.

“I know we have a quarterback that has played really good football in his career,” Carroll said. “Matty, he’s feeling pretty good. He’s bouncing back from a sore shoulder during the season. He’s ready to go. That is one of the key elements of putting together a team that has a chance to win right away. You’ve got to have a quarterback. I know that we have a first-class guy in Matt and I can’t wait to get working with him.”

Did he notice that Hasselbeck has been terrible as of late? And when he’s not bad, he’s hurt and that forces a guy who can’t play like Seneca Wallace to be the starter?

“The NFL is a quarterback-driven process,” Carroll said, “and so the fact that we have Matt Hasselbeck here is a big factor. He’s played the game, he has been a champion, he knows how to get the thing done. We’ve got to get his support group and his play to the level that gives us a chance to win.”

A champion? If you win the conference one year you are considered a champion? What about the fact that he’s completely unreliable healthwise? OTR was able to obtain an earlier, edited version of his final quote, which we will pass along to you, the reader.

“I’m thrilled that he’s got that background and experience and he’s not banged up. Oh, and he’s the one with the hot wife, right? The crazy neo-con broad that everyone wants a piece of so long as she doesn’t talk?” Carroll said.

We’ll see if Carroll sticks with Hasselbeck after he gets off the phone with the Philadelphia Eagles and finds out the asking price for Donovan McNabb.