CheramieIII

By Greg Bishop and José M. Romero
Seattle Times staff reporters

KIRKLAND — Jay Bellamy isn't the vindictive type.

Sure, the former Seahawks and current Saints strong safety appeared destined to only warm the bench behind Mel Mitchell last season. But then Mitchell got hurt and Bellamy stepped into the starting lineup against his former team on opening day. He finished the season with a team-leading 94 tackles.

"I always felt I was a starter in this league," Bellamy said by phone this week. "The step back didn't bother me at all. It's just part of the business. I always knew I could still start."

Looking toward tomorrow's season opener, he said he doesn't recognize much of the Seahawks' roster; he last played with Seattle in 2000. But Bellamy won't be the only Saint with connections to the Seahawks or the Northwest when the teams play tomorrow in New Orleans.

There's also Ernie Conwell (Kentwood High School, University of Washington), Jerome Pathon (UW), Mickey Loomis (former Seahawks executive vice president), Rick Mueller (University of Puget Sound and a former Seahawks employee), and Winston Moss (former Seahawks linebacker and coach), among others.

"They're pretty overhauled over there," Bellamy said. "But there are connections all around."

Captains announced

Coach Mike Holmgren relayed the players' captains vote yesterday, with quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, linebacker Anthony Simmons and special-teams ace Alex Bannister receiving nods. Holmgren added offensive linemen Robbie Tobeck and Steve Hutchinson, cornerback Ken Lucas and fullback Mack Strong to his players committee, along with the captains.

"It's cool," Simmons said of receiving captaincy for the first time. "I'm honored that people look up to me as a leader."

Asked if he had any Hasselbeck-esque plans for the coin toss, Simmons laughed.

"You can never tell what Matt is going to say," he said. "I'm just there to roll with it."

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