Seahawks:

Inside the Camps

However, as the Rams reduced their roster last weekend, Draft was asked to take a pay cut from his $1.225 million salary to the minimum for his years of service of $845,000. Draft refused.

Thursday, his contract was terminated, leaving David Vobora as the starter on the strong side and with four backup linebackers aside from Will Witherspoon that have played a total of 40 NFL games with 12 starts. Quinton Culberson, who had been released four days earlier and was re-signed after Draft was cut, accounts for 30 of those games and 11 starts.

Said Draft, "I just really could not look at myself in the mirror if I agreed to do that; if I freely gave up that money."

Draft, who is a tireless worker in the community, noted that much of the money he makes goes to his foundation.

"I felt I had to take a stand for what I've done, what I'm doing (in the community)," he said. "They said because of their current salary-cap situation, that down the line with the incentives they needed to pay to other players they'd end up being over the cap. It's a business decision; they feel like they have to do it.

"The unfortunate thing is when it's business for them, it is all too personal to me."

Vobora and Larry Grant had been sharing time on the strong side when Draft was in the middle. Grant is currently sidelined by a knee injury, so Vobora will get the start this week against Seattle.

Said defensive coordinator Ken Flajole, "Only time will tell, but he's done a good job. He has been a pleasant surprise. I'm pleased that he is getting an opportunity to show what he can do. I'm sure he is too. Hopefully, he'll just take it and run."

The final pick of the 2008 draft, Vobora was asked how much Draft has helped him over the last year-plus.

"He's helped me a ton," Vobora said. "I definitely credit a lot of what I know, how I approach the game, how I approach practice, to him. So this opportunity is definitely big for me. I thank him for a lot of the stuff that he's helped me with."

Said Culberson, who noted the irony of having a job because Draft rejected a pay cut, said of Draft, "If you needed help, he would go out on a limb for you. He was more than willing to do something for one of his teammates."

Seahawks: After testing his health during exhibition play, Seahawks' quarterback Matt Hasselbeck says he's ready for his first action in the regular season as Seattle hosts St. Louis on Sunday.

Hasselbeck, who turns 34 in two weeks, is coming off of his worst season as pro, missing nine games in 2008 due to a bulging disk in his back. But he says after a grueling offseason workout regimen that helped strengthen the core muscles surrounding his injured back, that he's ready for the 16-game grind.

"It's exciting to finally have the regular season here," Hasselbeck said. "We've been looking forward to it for awhile. I think the thing that is probably the most exciting his just the energy that comes with the regular season. The season kicks off tonight with the league, and just the buzz about the city. We definitely feel that energy, and it's exciting."

Hasselbeck said he's unsure of what he see defensively from St. Louis, with a young Rams team looking to rebuild with new head coach Steve Spagnuolo installing new schemes from his days as the New York Giants defensive coordinator.

That said, Hasselbeck said the Seahawks offensive will focus more on what they can control, which is executing offensively.

"For us right now we're just really trying to focus on our game plan and probably worry more about us than about them because they're so much unknown about them," he said. "We don't know what their game plan is going to be. But we know what ours is, and if we focus on that, that's a good way to start.'

PREDICTION: Seahawks 24-23