Seahawks / Training Camp -- No Rush: Beede Stakes His Claim As Right Guard

CHENEY - It's Frank Beede again and these are the moments Sam Adams has come to hate. Every day they've been doing this, putting Beede in front of him, pawing the ground, filled with fury.

And Adams, a defensive tackle, has come to loathe it. He had enjoyed the first few days of Seattle Seahawk training camp, plunging along with Cortez Kennedy through the offensive line. Then the coaches had enough. They put Frank Beede crouching at right guard, lunging like a chained Rottweiler.

A few plays later, Adams' jersey was shredded. A big V was cut through the middle of the No. 98, leaving his shoulder pads glistening in the sun.

"Did you see that?" Beede asked later. "That was me."

Seahawk coaches are giving him a chance to start on the offensive line. They haven't liked what they have seen at right guard. James Atkins was there at the start of training camp as they shuffled the line to adjust to the holdout by first-round draft choice Walter Jones.

Derrick Graham was shifted to take Jones' planned spot at left tackle. On the right side, Atkins has not been able to control Adams.

The coaches want the offensive line to be a unit, to work as a group for as long as it can. So Beede is getting his chance. The next couple of weeks will tell how well he can do.

"Frank's got a lot of grit to him," offensive-line coach Howard Mudd says. "You've got to recognize that quality."

Then again, the Hawks knew that. They signed him last year as an undrafted free agent. He probably would have been a great prospect at the University of California, but he tested positive for steroids and was banned by the NCAA. He wound up playing his senior season at Panhandle State. Few remembered him, then he came to Seattle and no one could forget.

He was the last of the 15 linemen they had at the start of the camp. But he kept blocking people, kept the defensive linemen from swarming past. There's little complicated about the offensive line. You either stop people or you don't, and he stopped enough to make the team as a backup at left guard and center.

"The defensive linemen don't like me too well," Beede says. "I'm going full speed in there. I'll hold if no one's looking. I'll do anything I have to."

He doesn't stop in practice. He keeps pushing Adams back. The two grunt, tug and wriggle and Beede's hands sneak in every once in a while to grab a piece of Adams' jersey. You'd think they would fight. But Adams shakes his head no.

"His biggest asset is his competitiveness," Adams says. "He's always ripping off my jersey and things. It gets me ready to play, though."

Beede knew he had a chance to do something here. Making the team last season made him realize how much he could do. He showed up at the team's headquarters in Kirkland in February. The only other player to do so was fellow offensive lineman Grant Williams. Together, they lifted weights all afternoon and ran sprints, doing everything they could to get stronger and quicker.

By the end of the winter, Beede had gone from 286 pounds to 305. All of it built with weights and vitamins, he says with a smile.

Now, he hopes it will be enough.

NOTES

-- There was no progress on negotiations between the Seahawks and their two first-round picks, Jones and cornerback Shawn Springs. But news that No. 2 pick Darrell Russell signed a seven-year, $22.05 million contract with the Oakland Raiders yesterday could force Springs to take one of the six-year deals he's been offered. Seattle is offering a $16 million deal or a $13.3 million deal with a $5.75 million bonus.

-- The Seahawks are holding a party at the Kingdome on Saturday. Fans can get into the stadium free between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. to watch the exhibition game against Minnesota on the Diamond Vision. They are also marking all seats not sold to season-ticket holders so prospective buyers can choose potential locations.

-- Linebacker Chad Brown had an MRI exam on his sprained left knee, the results were negative. Cornerback Willie Williams returned to practice despite a tight groin.