Former Seahawks fullback Mack Strong came out to practice to dodge some raindrops and take a gander at his old team. I caught up with him before practice for a few minutes. Here is the audio, which includes his explanation of why he turned down Mike Holmgren for the job of running backs coach.

Here is a link to Seahawks rookie Lawrence Jackson having his Inglewood High School jersey retired recently.

Veterans must report to training camp on July 24, and the first practice is on Friday, July 25.

The first few weeks of training camp will be held at the team's practice facility in Kirkland, but sometime after the second preseason game they will break camp and move to the new digs in Renton permanently.

Mike Holmgren once again was not at Tuesday's practice, though the Seahawks said on Monday he is expected back today following a minor medical procedure. The Seahawks refuse to say what it is that is ailing Holmgren, and are not giving a reason for his absence today. They say that Holmgren wants his privacy on the matter. No word on if he will be back tomorrow. Gil Haskell once again ran practice.

Just as an observation, I would say practice was not very crisp. There seemed to be a lot of dropped passes, though I'm sure that had something to do with the slick grass from -- yup, you guessed it -- more rain. I asked John Marshall if the rain limited the team in anything it was trying to accomplish, and he said they are trying to maintain the mindframe that regardless of what is going on, they need to prepare the same way and practice the same way.

=> Read more!

Here's the Associated Press obituary on Catlin:

TULSA, Okla. -- Tom Catlin, a longtime NFL assistant coach and a two-way star in the 1950s at the University of Oklahoma who played for Cleveland, has died. He was 76.

Catlin died Saturday at a hospice in Seattle of complications stemming from recent surgery, said his brother, Charles Catlin, who added that his brother recently had Parkinson's disease.

Catlin was assistant head coach and defensive coordinator for the Seattle Seahawks, where he coached from 1983-1995. He earlier worked as an assistant coach for the Dallas Texans and Kansas City Chiefs in the American Football League, then the Los Angeles Rams and Buffalo Bills in the NFL.

Catlin played center and linebacker at OU from 1950-1952, and was a member of the Sooners' 1950 squad that won the national championship under coach Bud Wilkinson.

Catlin was selected in the fourth round of the 1953 draft by the Baltimore Colts, and was traded to Cleveland and played for the Browns in 1953-54. He was an Air Force pilot in 1955-57, and returned to the Browns in 1957-58 before finishing his playing career a year later with the Philadelphia Eagles.

He is survived by his wife, Betty, daughter Kimberly Ekdahal and son Thomas Jr., four grandchildren and his brother.

The Seahawks said yesterday that Mike Holmgren was going to be back today following a "minor medical procedure" yesterday. Well, his car is not in the parking lot. There is a chance, perhaps, that his wife drove him to work today, which we will find out in a half hour. But it is rare to see his parking space empty, as it is this morning.