Sports

POSTED: Friday, May. 22, 2009

Dream job may follow NFL ban for Seahawks' Pittman

RENTON – Bryan Pittman paid the steep price of losing his job for not knowing the voluminous list of NFL banned substances. But the Thomas Jefferson High graduate has been given a second chance to redeem himself with the Seattle Seahawks.

Seattle recently signed the free agent long-snapper.

The six-year pro tested positive for a diuretic on the league’s list of banned substances during 2008 training camp. He was suspended for four games, ending his run of playing 92 consecutive games for the Houston Texans.

The 6-foot-3, 265-pound Pittman said he took the substance to make weight, but was not aware the substance was on the NFL’s list of banned substance.

“I looked at the banned substance list, and of course I don’t know half the crap that’s on there. No one does,” Pittman said. “But we’re responsible for what we put in our bodies, and that’s ultimately what led to the hearing and my appeal. Even though the league doctors told the hearing officer that there was nothing else in my system, the diuretic did not dilute the specimen, and I wasn’t taking anything, they still suspended me.”

Pittman took a circuitous route to the NFL. After high school, he spent two seasons playing at Walla Walla Community College, which ended its football program, before walking on at the University of Washington and earning the long-snapper job there. Pittman said he was promised a scholarship his senior season but didn’t get one, so he turned pro.

“I wasn’t ready physically, emotionally for the big leagues,” Pittman said about his decision.

He moved to Arizona to train and refocus before returning to the Puget Sound area and playing three seasons with the semi-pro football Puget Sound Jets.

At a training camp for kickers, punters and long-snappers, Pittman got noticed by NFL special teams coaches and signed a deal with Cleveland that eventually led to him to Houston.

Pittman, considered one of the top long-snappers in the NFL before the drug test, hopes to finish out his career in Seattle.

“My ultimate dream was to be a Seahawk,” Pittman said.

Pittman, 32, will compete with free agent Ryan Senser.

Seattle has been trying to replace J.P Darche since he suffered a hip injury in February 2007.

The Seahawks drafted Tyler Schmitt in the sixth round last year, but back issues landed him on the injured reserve.

Griffith practices

Recent free agent pickup Justin Griffith practiced for the first time since joining the Seahawks this offseason. Griffith went through individual drills and did not work with the offense during team drills, but he said his surgically repaired right knee feels fine.

Griffith knows Seattle’s offense well, having played for offensive coordinator Greg Knapp both in Atlanta and Oakland. He’s expected to compete for the starting fullback job with second-year player Owen Schmitt.

“I don’t feel like I’m losing anything,” Griffith said about sitting on the sideline. “I don’t feel like I’m behind at all. As a matter of fact, I feel like I’m going to help some young guys learn the system a lot better, too, just trying to get the offensive concepts down right now. That’s what you have to learn right now, the concepts.”

Extra points

The Seahawks and the Washington State Lottery have discussed putting the team’s logos on scratch games. A team spokesman said Thursday the Seahawks have entered negotiations with state lottery officials. Team owners voted on Wednesday to allow teams to make deals with lotteries. The New England Patriots were the first to announce a licensing agreement. … Veteran offensive tackle Walter Jones ran wind sprints at three-quarter speed for the first time this offseason. Jones is returning from microfracture knee surgery. “I’m feeling good,” Jones told radio 710-AM. “I’m going through rehab right now trying to get back. … I’m on track with everything that’s going on.” … Quarterback Matt Hasselbeck said the team has installed most of the new offense: “Yeah, I would say everything’s in. I hope everything’s in. The book is so thick. I think what we’re trying to do now is just really install everything, see what works, see what fits the personnel, and Greg Knapp’s kind of going 100 miles an hour teaching it, coaching it. We’re just trying to learn it, practice it, get so it feels just like second nature.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Eric D. Williams: 253-597-8437 eric.williams@thenewstribune.com blogs.thenewstribune.com/seahawks