He won’t play this weekend, but Travis Lulay has done his best to help the Seattle Seahawks plan for Sunday’s game against the Green Bay Packers.
Lulay, a quarterback who set several team records at Montana State University, was abruptly signed to Seattle’s eight-man practice squad Thursday. It is his third stint with the team.
“It was a spur-of-the moment deal,”
Lulay said via cell phone from Seattle Friday night.
Lulay was at his home in Bozeman Wednesday night when a member of the Seahawks’ personnel department called to ask him if he could be on a 7 a.m. flight bound for Seattle the next morning. Lulay agreed, and after passing a physical upon arrival, was on the practice field later that day.
The Seahawks needed another quarterback because starter Matt Hasselbeck (knee) and backup Seneca Wallace (calf) are nursing injuries and did not practice this week. Third-stringer Charlie Frye took most of the snaps in practice and is expected to start Sunday when Seattle hosts Green Bay.
Lulay served as a scout team quarterback, meaning he ran the plays Seattle is expecting the Packers to run this weekend.
“I was basically (Green Bay starting quarterback) Aaron Rodgers this week for the defense,”
Lulay said.
Lulay, 25, is not on Seattle’s 53-man roster, but if the team’s injury woes continue, he could be signed.
“You’re not on the active roster, even though you do everything with the team, except dress on Sunday,”
he said. “It could be a short-term deal, but any time you have an opportunity to show your skills and your personality, it’s a good opportunity. Either way it’s good for me to be here. You just can’t read too much into it, but I’m excited.”
He was in talks with the New Orleans VooDoo, an Arena League team that is owned by the New Orleans Saints, who signed Lulay for a brief stint over the summer. The Arena League has a free-agent signing period coming later in the fall, but doesn’t begin play until February.
After compiling the second-most total yards (12,205) in Big Sky Conference history and leading Montana State to three wins over rival Montana and two playoff appearances, Lulay signed with Seattle as an undrafted free agent in 2006. However, he was released after training camp. He was signed by the Seahawks a second time and allocated to now-defunct NFL Europe, where he played for the Berlin (Germany) Thunder in 2007. He earned the starting job with the Thunder and was named a team captain, playing most of the season before injuring his throwing shoulder.
He later had surgery and hasn’t played a game since. Lulay signed with the Saints in May, but was released before training camp.
Lulay, whose younger brother Tyler is a senior receiver at Montana State, set MSU school records for career passing yards (10,746), single-season total offense (3,856) and total offense in a career. His 516 yards against Sacramento State as a junior and his 1,559 career passing attempts are also school marks.
