The Front Row with JASON ELLIOTT August 11, 2012

Homecomings aren't something associated with the NFL all that often in the first preseason game of the season.

For those fans with local ties, you're in luck.

Two quarterbacks with ties from Seattle make a long awaited return - while the Seahawks will show off its newest acquisition - Terrell Owens.

WHEN TONIGHT'S game between the Seattle Seahawks and Tennessee Titans kicks off, it will mark the return of Matt Hasselbeck and Jake Locker - who both earned fame in the Seattle area as quarterbacks.

Hasselbeck, who left in free agency last year, will always be remembered as the quarterback who got the Seahawks into their first and only Super Bowl to date.

Locker played at the University of Washington, leading them to a couple upset wins over Southern California and a couple of bowl games.

At times, there were rumors of Locker possibly replacing Hasslebeck in Seattle, but that didn't happen.

While I've seen the negative reception when players like Josh Brown (who left for St. Louis) and Jerramy Stevens (released and signed with Tampa Bay) return, I don't see that happening tonight.

Hasslebeck will probably be inducted into the Seahawks Ring of Honor once he retires and could be one of the top three quarterbacks in team history.

That being said - who knows what the reception will be for Steve Hutchinson, who returns to Seattle after declining an offer to rejoin the Seahawks and sign with Tennessee.

AS FAR as the addition of Owens, hopefully this works out for both sides.

To me, he will always be the receiver who beat Marcus Trufant on a touchdown pass, pulled out a Sharpie, autographed the ball and handed it to someone in the Seattle crowd.

But when he's focused on the game, Owens can make a difference and from all the reports that have came out of Renton - it sounds like his focus and speed are back.

Just as long as his antics aren't, things should be fine.

Whatever happens later tonight - win or lose, there's plenty of reasons to be optimistic if you're a Seattle fan.

If tonight's game doesn't sell you, then wait another three weeks when the preseason concludes.

The best thing that will come out of tonight is that the game gives a starting point to the season.

There's a lot of things that could go wrong between tonight and the start of the regular season in Arizona, just as a lot of things can go right.

And with this team - whether home or away - that is what needs to happen if they want to catch the rest of the NFC West.

Jason Elliott is a sports writer for the Coeur d'Alene Press. He can be reached by telephone at 664-8176, Ext. 2020 or via email at jelliott@cdapress.com.