Looks like we traxed a 5th round draft choice for Keary Colbert late yesterday:
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.
