Back, Back, Back Comes Bratkowski

KIRKLAND - Perhaps some mysterious football force keeps pulling Bob Bratkowski to the Northwest, some gridiron siren that beckons him every decade.

This time, he is a first-year assistant coach for the Seattle Seahawks, handling wide receivers.

The last time, he was offensive coordinator at Washington State University in 1987-88 under head coach Dennis Erickson.

The first time, Bratkowski was a WSU receiver in the mid-1970s after responding to a recruiting call out of the blue while attending high school in Green Bay, Wis.

Whatever the draw is, Bratkowski, 36, is back after deciding in February to leave Erickson and the 1991 national co-champion Miami Hurricanes to join Tom Flores' Seahawk staff.

"I wasn't in a real big hurry to get into the NFL, but the chance to get into the league with a coach like Tom, with the quality person he is, was a combination that doesn't always come up," Bratkowski said.

"It was hard to leave Dennis, who is a very good friend, but also there were considerations for my family - quality of living, education. . . ."

Before deciding, Bratkowski consulted another NFL assistant - his father, Zeke, quarterback coach for the Philadelphia Eagles, the Seahawks' Dec. 13 opponents.

The elder Bratkowski knows a thing or two about NFL life after playing 14 seasons, including three title years as Bart Starr's backup in Green Bay, and spending 22 years as an assistant coach.

After mulling the options with his wife, Rebecca, Bob Bratkowski decided to stay in Miami. Then he slept on the decision and changed his mind.

Bratkowski's departure didn't come as a colossal shock to Erickson.

"I knew I was going to lose him sooner or later," Erickson said this spring. "I had just hoped it wouldn't be quite this soon."

Bratkowski joined Erickson at Wyoming in 1986 after leaving Mike Price's staff at Weber State. He had followed Price to Missouri as a graduate assistant when Price left a job as a Washington State assistant to go to Missouri with head coach Warren Powers.

Bratkowski has two national-championship rings from his three years in Miami, but said his 1988 WSU Aloha Bowl ring means just as much to him.

"We went a farther distance to get to where we had to go to have that 9-3 season at WSU," he said.

Early in 1991, Bratkowski had to make another decision under difficult circumstances. His brother, Steve, a successful commodities broker in Memphis, Tenn., was killed in a water-scooter accident. Bratkowski had to decide whether to take over the business.

"I probably could have made a lot more money than I'll ever make as an assistant coach, but I made the decision I wanted to stay in football because it's what I enjoy and love doing," he said.

Two things Bratkowski doesn't miss about college football are recruiting and worrying about players' off-field behavior.

"In college, if a player gets in trouble, it's taken as almost a reflection on the coaches," he said. "If a player gets in trouble here, it's a reflection on him."

One constant in Bratkowski's coaching career has been his attire - he prefers to wear shorts, no matter what the weather.

"My legs never get cold," he said.

That may qualify as a minor mystery - just like the force that keeps pulling him back to the Northwest.