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Jeremy Bates, the Seahawks’ new offensive coordinator, is not married and does not have children. He does, however, have three dogs – a pair of Labradors and a weineramer.

“Being a coach’s son I figured having dogs instead of kids was a good idea,” Bates said Tuesday during a Q&A sessions with reporters who cover the team. “You know what? Every time I come home, they think I won.”

Unlike political elections, being voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame is an eternal selection.

That fact was not lost on John Randle, the former defensive tackle for the Seahawks and Minnesota Vikings who was chosen to the Class of 2010 on Saturday.

“I’m excited, but not just for myself,” Randle said Monday. “As I told my wife, while this means so much to me, it’s also going to mean a lot to my grandkids and great grandkids when they can come to Canton and see their grandfather’s and great grandfather’s ugly mug enshrined there.”

That, of course, will take a while. Randle and his wife, Candace, have 5-year-old twins – son Jonathan and daughter Ryann.

Howard Mudd, who will coach the final game of his 35-year NFL career in Sunday’s Super Bowl, had two stints as the offensive line coach with the Seahawks. The first was on Jack Patera’s staff from 1978-82, the second on the staffs of Tom Flores and Dennis Erickson staff from 1993-97.

Before, in between and after, he also coached for the San Diego Chargers, San Francisco 49ers, Cleveland Browns, Kansas City Chiefs and, for the past 12 seasons, the Indianapolis Colts.

That’s a lot of years and teams, and even more linemen. But when asked at the Super Bowl this week to pick the best lineman he ever coached, Mudd told Sporting News Today, “Walter Jones. I only had him for a year (1997 with the Seahawks), but he had phenomenal abilities. He didn’t struggle ever to play. I don’t think he was ever completely challenged.”

On the field, that is. Jones, who just turned 36, is currently facing the biggest challenge of his All-Pro career that will culminate with him being voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame: Trying to return from microfracture surgery on his left knee, a procedure that cost him the final four games of the 2008 season and all of 2009.

Aaron Curry is gone, but obviously not forgotten.

The Seahawks’ linebacker will have his No. 3 jersey retired at E.E. Smith High School during a ceremony in Fayetteville, N.C., on Friday.

“I am honored to have my jersey retired,” Curry said. “It serves as proof that hard work pays off. More importantly, this give me an opportunity to get the community involved in helping E.E. Smith find success both academically and athletically.”

Curry, the Seahawks’ first-round draft choice last year, played linebacker and tight end at E.E. Smith from 2000-04. As a senior, he was selected conference defensive player of the year after registering 123 tackles and also earned all-conference and all-region honors. He played in the North Carolina-South Carolina Shrine Bowl as a tight end.

“Having his jersey retired speaks volumes of Aaron’s contributions to the school and we are extremely proud of him,” said Milton Butts, Curry’s high school coach. “He was a great athlete, not only because of his athletic ability, but because his enthusiasm radiated throughout the whole team. He’s one of those kinds who made the whole team and those around him better. He did the same thing at Wake Forest and he will do the same thing in Seattle.”

Curry went to Wake Forest after leaving E.E. Smith and was voted the Butkus Award as the nation’s top collegiate linebacker after his senior season. The Seahawks then made him the fourth pick overall in the draft and Curry finished fourth on the team with 60 tackles as a rookie, despite missing the final two games with a neck injury.

John Carlson will spend part of his Super Bowl Sunday helping Big Brothers Big Sisters of King County in a high-tech, entertaining kind of way.

Carlson and his wife, Danielle, recently became involved with the organization, and Sunday the Seahawks’ tight end will be a celebrity guest during a live presentation of the “1 vs. 100” game show on the Microsoft Campus in Redmond.

The connection for Carlson is that Xbox, with 100,000 gamers expected to participate online at http://www.xbox.com/en-US/live/1vs100/, will match the cash generated by the winner in a contribution to Big Brothers Big Sisters.

“Danielle and I are in the early stages of developing a relationship with Big Brothers Big Sisters,” Carlson said Tuesday. “So this is a great first step in that process.”

His part in the show will be appearing during the breaks from 11:30 a.m. until 2 p.m. with host Chris Cashman. Hall of Fame QB Joe Montana and soon-to-be Hall of Fame wide receiver Jerry Rice also will be interviewed on a teleconference.

“Not bad company to be in,” Carlson said with a smile. “Not bad, at all.”

Mock, mock

Who’s there? It’s open season for mock drafts, even if it is way too early to speculate on what positions a team might go for in the April NFL draft let alone which players.

But with the Senior Bowl in the bank and the scouting combine three weeks  to go, here are a half dozen projections from national media on who the Seahawks might select with the sixth and 14^th picks in the first round:

Don Banks, SI.com

• 6. Carlos Dunlap, DE, Florida – This is where this year’s first round starts to get interesting. The Seahawks desperately need an offensive tackle, but they just missed out on the draft’s best in (Oklahoma State’s Russell) Okung in this scenario (he went to the Chiefs at No. 5), and Rutgers’ Anthony Davis or Oklahoma’s Trent Williams may be slight reaches this high. We’re giving them Dunlap over Georgia Tech defensive end Derrick Morgan, because of his rare blend of size and speed.
• 14. C.J. Spiller, RB, Clemson – As noted earlier, the Seahawks need to upgrade at offensive tackle, and this round is deep in them. But Spiller is the consensus No. 1 back in the draft and Seattle’s offense needs some play-makers. In our scenario, the Seahawks just miss out on Okung at No. 6 and Trent Williams at No. 13, prompting them to think running back here and take their offensive tackle in the second round (No. 40).

Rob Rang, NFLDraftScout.com

• 6. Derrick Morgan, DE, Georgia Tech
• 14. C.J. Spiller, RB, Clemson

Chad Reuter, NFLDraftScout.com

• 6. Russell Okung, OT, Oklahoma State
• 14. C.J. Spiller, RB, Clemson

Pro Football Weekly

• 6. Russell Okung, OT, Oklahoma State
• 14. Derrick Morgan, DE, Georgia Tech

FOX Sports

• 6. Taylor Mays, S, USC
• 14. C.J. Spiller, RB, Clemson

Mel Kiper, ESPN

• 6. Derrick Morgan, DE, Georgia Tech
• 14. C.J. Spiller, RB, Clemson

Before Steve Smith became a 107-catch, 1,220-yard receiver for the New York Giants this season, he played for Pete Carroll at the University of Southern California.

Monday, Smith was asked during a TV interview in South Florida how Carroll’s act will play now that he’s coaching the Seahawks.

“I think it’s going to work well,” said Smith, a second-round draft choice by the Giants in 2007. “He’s a players’ coach. He has a lot of energy. He’s fun to play for. So I think guys are going to just get up and get really amped up and have a lot of energy when they play for him.”

Carroll, of course, is not in South Florida for this week’s Super Bowl activities leading up to Sunday’s game between the Colts and Saints. Instead, the Seahawks’ first-year coach had the first meeting of his new staff this afternoon at the team’s headquarters.

Seahawks.com asked its readers last week to select the best offensive, defensive and specials teams plays of the past decade, and the votes have been rolling in.

Balloting will continue through Wednesday, so time is running out to make your voice heard.

On offense, three members of the just-announced NFL All-Decade team for the 2000s had a hand – not to mention feet – in the top vote-getter to this point: Shaun Alexander’s 88-yard touchdown run against the Cardinals in 2005, which was aided by blocks from left tackle Walter Jones and left guard Steve Hutchinson.

Marcus Trufant’s 78-yard interception return for a touchdown in the 2007 playoff win over Redskins and Jordan Babineaux pulling down QB/holder Tony Romo after he dropped the snap on a potential game-winning field goal in the 2006 playoff win over the Cowboys have generated a higher percentage of the votes for defensive and special teams plays – if not as many votes as Alexander’s long run.

So take the time now to read the stories and cast your votes, before it’s too late.

The Seahawks had a third player selected to the NFL’s All-Decade team for the 2000s: Shaun Alexander.

Seahawks.com did a story last week about left tackle Walter Jones and left guard Steve Hutchinson being voted to the team. It was unclear at that time, however, whether Alexander or the Giants’ Tiki Barber would be the fourth running back to join the Chargers’ LaDainian Tomlinson; Edgerrin James, who played seven games last season with the Seahawks after much more productive stints with the Colts (2000-05) and Cardinals (2006-08); and Jamal Lewis, who played with the Baltimore Ravens and Cleveland Browns.

But Alexander was the choice when the team was announced Sunday, and it’s difficult to overlook just how productive he was from 2001-05: 7,504 rushing yards, including a league-leading 1,880 in 2005; and 98 touchdowns, with a then-NFL record 28 coming during his league MVP season in 2005.

Much of Alexander’s production, of course, came while running behind Jones and Hutchinson on the left side.

“One thing about Shaun, he does not want to be in a group,” former Seahawks running backs coach Stump Mitchell once said. “He wants to be a group of one. Period.”

Alexander probably won’t mind being part of this prestigious group.

The All-Decade team also included center Kevin Mawae, who was the Seahawks’ second-round draft choice in 1994 and started for four seasons before developing into an eight-time Pro Bowl player with the Jets and Titans; and Bears center Olin Kreutz, who played at the University of Washington.

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Seahawks cornerback Josh Wilson is in the business of breaking up pass plays, not landing or dodging punches, but he still looked comfortable in the ring at White Center Police Activities League (PAL) Club last week.

Wilson stopped by the club to get in a workout and visit with the 25 young men and women who train there every weeknight.

The club is run by local boxing coach and manager Tony Rago and funded by the White Center PAL.

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