Seattle Seahawks' player leaves ICU
Football safety Ken Hamlin suffered a fractured skull and a blood clot near the left side of his brain after an assult with another individual at Larry's Nightclub in Seattle. Hospital aides say that he is in stable condition.By GREGG BELL
The Associated Press
KIRKLAND, Wash., Oct. 20 -- Seattle Seahawks safety Ken Hamlin cleared his first big medical hurdle while still lying in his hospital bed. Hamlin, severely beaten outside a Seattle nightclub early Monday morning, was moved out of intensive care and into a private room at Harborview Medical Center late Wednesday, according to the player's agent.
This an 2005 NFL hand out photo of Seattle Seahawks Ken Hamlin. Team physician Stan Herring said that Hamlin, a safety, was in the intensive care unit with a fractured skull, a small blood clot and bruising of the brain tissue. (AP Photo/NFL, HO)Joel Anderson of Capital Sports & Entertainment said in an e-mail Wednesday night that Hamlin had been moved to a regular floor, but didn't know whether doctors had upgraded the third-year veteran's condition from serious, but stable. That is the description provided since Hamlin suffered a fractured skull and a blood clot near the left side of his brain in the assault.
The medical center was not releasing any information on Hamlin.
On Monday, team physician Stan Herring said Hamlin would be in intensive care until doctors were assured the blood clot has not grown.
Several Seahawks players, including star running back Shaun Alexander, have visited Hamlin in the hospital over the last three days.
"He looked like he got in a fight with me," Alexander said, smiling. "I sat around and cracked every joke I could that I had, to make him laugh ... It was tough, but he's going to be good. He's strong. I was more emotional than he was.
"He's going to be fine. It's definitely a plus for us knowing that he's healing faster than what we thought he would."
Added quarterback Matt Hasselbeck: "It is good to know that he is heading in the right direction, and we can focus on what we need to focus on."
Hasselbeck, speaking after a team meeting earlier Wednesday in which coach Mike Holmgren told players that Hamlin seemed to be improving, was mindful of Sunday's upcoming game with fellow NFC division leader Dallas at Qwest Field.
Holmgren's meeting included an unusual edict.
The coach said all Seahawks players and coaches are now prohibited from entering Pioneer Square, the historic Seattle bar and restaurant district just north of Qwest Field. Hamlin was assaulted outside a nightclub there.
Holmgren, an NFL head coach the last 14 years, said he had never declared places off-limits to his players before. He added that he knows of at least two players who were with Hamlin at Larry's Nightclub and that he and the team's chief of security, Rick Ninomiya, have talked to those players. Holmgren would not identify them or characterize what was discussed.
"The players were very forthcoming," Holmgren said. "All that stuff will come out at the proper time."
As to the Pioneer Square restriction, Holmgren, a father of four girls, told his usual midweek news conference, "It's like dealing with your own kids in some respect. You want to trust them ...
"We didn't have a 'hit list' of places not to go. However, I did talk to the team this morning about staying away from that area down there ... This wasn't an isolated incident down in that neck of the woods."
Alexander said Holmgren's new rule "is wise."
Marquand Manuel, who is replacing Hamlin as the team's starting free safety Sunday against Dallas, said he has had coaches tell players to avoid certain parts of a town.
"In college, yes," said the 26-year-old former University of Florida player. "It's just one of those things, unfortunately."
Holmgren said the team isn't aware of any connection between Hamlin's assault and the shooting death of a man found in a Seattle park three hours later and 5 1/2 miles southwest of the nightclub, although police continued Wednesday to investigate that possibility.
"We're still looking into the possibility, following all the leads, interviewing the witnesses, doing the things detectives do to try to break a case," Seattle police spokeswoman Debra Brown said Wednesday.
A jogger found the body of Terrell Milam, 31, near a park at about 5 a.m. Monday. Tramaine Isabell, who identified himself as Milam's brother, said he recognized Milam from the security video of the scene outside the nightclub.
Holmgren said he wasn't assuming Hamlin, who has started 35 of 37 career games for the Seahawks since they drafted him in 2003, would miss the final 10 games of the regular season.
"I'm not going on any assumptions yet, as far as his health goes," Holmgren said. "I just want to take it a step at a time."
Story Produced by: Jessica Phillips
