THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: Applying expertise from former Wolf of Green Bay to Seahawks

On a normal Saturday, I’d probably be struggling to stay awake in the second quarter of a Seahawks exhibition game. 

Last week, though, the Hawks had my attention. 

More specifically, backup quarterback Sam Howell was busy displaying some useful skills that reminded me — strange as it seems — of a car ride. 

This was a few years ago, and I was traveling from Green Bay to Milwaukee to catch a flight. 

Good fortune, though. 

Ron Wolf, one of the NFL’s historically brilliant executives, was making the same trip and offered me a ride. 

That’s about a two-hour trip, and it was the equivalent of a masters class concerning decision-making in professional sports. 

It was stunning to learn how Wolf approached major moves, and I got to hear the story of perhaps his best — fleecing Atlanta out of quarterback Brett Favre in exchange for a mid-range draft pick. 

Wolf knew that Falcons coach Jerry Glanville didn’t like Favre, and at one point during their single season together, Glanville told him: “You won’t make it. You’re going to keep drinking beer and eating fried chicken, and you’ll look like a defensive lineman when you disappear from this league.” 

IT’S A great story, unless you’re Jerry Glanville and you handed away a Hall of Fame QB for a sack of kicking tees. 

Anyway, during that ride with Ron Wolf, I asked him: “How do you find a special quarterback? What do you notice that others miss? What are you looking for?” 

Wolf replied that there were several things that showed up in a potential star quarterback, but to him, it was something he’d couldn’t really explain. 

“You notice courage and self-belief,” Wolf said when I brought up our conversation several years later. 

“They’ve all got great arms. But the special guys like Favre are absolutely positive they’re going to win — and they get everyone else in the huddle to believe it, too.” 

That second discussion with Wolf about quarterbacks came up because the same magic ability to see remarkable talent before anyone else has been attributed to Seahawks president John Schneider. 

Fellow executives call Schneider “The Quarterback Whisperer,” and he still grits his teeth because he didn’t have a chance to draft Patrick Mahomes. 

He was hoping most teams would pass on the Texas Tech gunslinger, but nope — Kansas City GM Brett Veach traded up 17 spots (with Buffalo) to grab Mahomes. 

Schneider has made similar comments as Wolf when he talks about finding that “franchise quarterback” that other teams somehow miss. 

Remember, Schneider and Pete Carroll snagged Russell Wilson — and won a Super Bowl — when other executives deemed Wilson as too short to become an effective passer in the NFL. 

My gut feeling regarding quarterbacks is to trust John Schneider. 

I think he has the gift to find the truly gifted ones, and most important, the guys who are going to be long-term winners. 

OK, LET’S tie all this together. 

That means going back to Saturday’s exhibition game between the Seahawks and Titans. 

Like almost every other preseason collision involving players hoping for NFL employment, that game was basically meaningless to the general public. 

Except. 

I mentioned noticing the drive just before halftime. 

What got my attention was that Hawks backup QB Sam Howell was taking his guys to a last-second field goal — and he was doing it like a 10-year veteran. 

I’m not as shrewd as Ron Wolf or John Schneider, but I’m going to jump off the diving board on this one, and say that Howell eventually will become the Seahawks' long-term QB. 

Yes, he may sit behind Geno Smith this year (although I don’t think that’s a year-long guarantee), but then I believe this will become Sam’s team. 

Things are going to fall perfectly into place. 

Howell is just 23 and has three years of club control in Seattle, even though he played a full season last year in Washington (struggling in an offense that didn’t suit him). 

With good coaching and a scheme that fits him, Howell will be the Seahawks’ next winning quarterback. 

This sounds silly, but I saw it in an exhibition game. 

First time I’ve ever learned a thing in one of them.

Email: scameron@cdapress.com 

Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns appear in The Press four times each week, normally Tuesday through Friday unless, you know, stuff happens. 

Steve suggests you take his opinions in the spirit of a Jimmy Buffett song: “Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On.”