Matt Hasselbeck, SI Cover Boy? Not quite...

If you believe in the "SI Jinx", and that athletes that grace the cover are doomed to failure, you might not want to open your mailbox to get your copy of SI this week, as Seahawks QB Matt Hasselbeck is on the cover. Sort of.

Since Sports Illustrated issues regional and national covers, the majority of the country won't see it.

Still, Peter King managed to not mention the New York Giants or New England Patriots in one column and actually produced a pretty good article on Hasselbeck entitled "Mr. Cool". There's some funny stuff in there about how Hasselbeck, the starting Pro Bowl QB in the NFC, can go out to eat in Seattle without being recognized, and how he as a rookie managed to pull a prank on reigning MVP Brett Favre.

I particularly liked this part:

"How many other playoff quarterbacks would go unnoticed in their home cities?" a dinner guest asked. "Tom Brady couldn't walk anonymously into a place like this in Boston."

"Tom Brady couldn't do it in Omaha," Hasselbeck said. Then, with a mischievous grin, he added, "Sometimes I get people looking at me, saying, 'I know you. I just can't place you.' I'll say, 'Yeah, yeah! Maybe from high school. Did you go to Issaquah?' And it's like, 'Nope,' and they just go away. They don't know me."

The entire article can be found here if you're a subscriber to Sports Illustrated.

I'll never forget the night that the Seahawks traded for Hasselbeck, and the immediate laughter it was greeted with by some friends of mine. 5 years later, it might be the most vindicating transaction made during the "Mike Holmgren as GM" era, and ranks up there in terms of the most lopsided trades in NFL history. Holmgren dealt a 3rd round pick for Hasselbeck and a swap of 1st round picks with the Green Bay Packers.

Green Bay selected DE Jamal Reynolds and LB Torrance Marshall, neither of whom are currently on an NFL roster.

Seattle got Hasselbeck, a Pro Bowl QB, and OG Steve Hutchinson, an ALL-PRO offensive lineman.