What Seau, the NFL's answer to Dorian Gray, is doing is incredible. After sitting out the first 13 weeks of the season, he answered an SOS from Patriots coach Bill Belichick and signed on for a 19th season. In less than a month, he has gone from being out of the game to starting for a team that will play for a chance to make the playoffs Sunday in Buffalo against the Bills.
The Patriots (10-5) are in the playoffs if they win against the Bills and either the Dolphins or Ravens lose. New England can also get in with a tie plus a loss by Miami or Baltimore.
It's tough to say which is more unlikely, the fact that the injury-racked Patriots are in position to make the playoffs or that Seau, who before signing Dec. 5 hadn't participated in football since Super Bowl XLII last Feb. 3, is in it with them.
"A lot of people thought it was undoable," said Seau, who turns 40 Jan. 19. "A lot of my friends even called and were chuckling. They were funny about it. They thought it was funny. There were a lot of people that didn't believe it could work.
"I respect the game. The game is not something where you come off the street or come off a surfboard and jump into it and go pound your chest. To be able to have 19 years under your belt, managing the game is something I believe in, and I always tell people my experience and knowledge of the game is so much faster than my 40 time. And it's been that way for six years, so I think I'm OK."
Seau, a 12-time Pro Bowler and future Hall of Famer, wouldn't be here if it weren't for the bond he built with the Patriots during his previous two seasons in the organization and the mutual respect he and Belichick have.
When Patriots owner Robert Kraft presented Seau with his AFC Championship ring Oct. 12 at the linebacker's eponymous restaurant in San Diego, Seau stated at the time that the only team he would come back for was the Patriots.
The call came from Belichick on the night of Dec. 3. Seau checked with his 15-year-old daughter, Sydney, and two sons, Jake, 13, and Hunter, 8, all of whom told him, "Dad, go get it." He was on a plane to New England the next day.
