Seau ready to tackle another season

FOXBOROUGH -- Time heals all wounds, but at a certain point in a professional football player's career, time becomes a wound itself, the accumulation of bumps and bruises, broken bones, and pulled muscles adding up to a toll that the body can no longer pay.

Junior Seau thought he had reached that point last season, his 17th in the NFL. The Patriots linebacker saw his career flash before his eyes after he suffered a stomach-churning broken right arm during the second quarter of a 17-13 win over the Chicago Bears at Gillette Stadium last Nov. 26. But nearly nine months after he waved goodbye, Seau said hello to Tennessee Titans quarterback Vince Young with a second-quarter sack Friday night, driving Young into the same turf that Seau had lain on wondering if his time was finally up.

"I try not to dramatize the situation; it is preseason and we're three weeks away from the regular season," said Seau, who returned to action for the first time since his injury in New England's 27-24 loss to the Titans. "I know the game of football. I know the logistics. I know the business side of it. When you're 37 years old and you almost compound fractured your arm, it's pretty much over. But that wasn't it. They gave me another opportunity."

So, here is Seau, 38, back for an 18th season. Or if you listen to Donte' Stallworth, it's almost twice that. Stallworth saw Seau play as a teenager when the receiver's older brother Larry, a former NFL Europe and Arena League player, was in Chargers camp.

"Junior has been in this league about 35 years," said Stallworth. "It's funny because my brother was in training camp with the Chargers back in '95 and Rodney [Harrison] was a young guy and Junior was in his super prime, so I was able as a 13- or 14-year-old able to see those guys running around.

"It's no different [now] -- it's liked I've been warped in time. They're still doing the same things."

Make no mistake, Seau is still wearing that familiar No. 55, but he is no longer the ultra-athletic, roving terror who made 12 straight Pro Bowls (1991-2002) with the Chargers. He's a situational player, picking his spots, like when he came through on a blitz and sacked Young for an 8-yard loss.

"My man was the running back and I read that he was in pass protection, so I attacked him and Vince happened to be under my arms," said Seau. "He's one of the stars in the league and he's obviously a great talent. It's always nice to be back there and being able do something good for the team."

The Patriots obviously believe that Seau, despite the tread on his tires, is still capable of contributing. That's why the team re-signed him in May, after shelling out big bucks for linebacker Adalius Thomas. Last season Seau bailed out the Patriots by coming out of semi-retirement in August to play inside linebacker. He ended up starting 10 of 11 games before getting hurt, finishing with 70 tackles, the fifth-highest total on the team.

"It's good to see all the players, especially guys that have been limited in one way or another through camp out there," said coach Bill Belichick. "Junior fits into that category. He has good leadership and energy and he's a physical player."

Until last week, Seau, who has been seeing a lot of repetitions in passing-down situations, had been sporting a red noncontact jersey.

A testament to Seau's toughness is that he is poised to overtake Bill Romanowski for the second-most NFL games played by a linebacker. Seau has played in 241, two behind Romanowski. Clay Matthews is the all-time leader at 278.

Seau would have passed Romanowski already if his last three seasons hadn't been cut short by injury. Before the broken arm last year, he played in only seven games for the Miami Dolphins in 2005 thanks to an Achilles' tendon injury. The Dolphins put him on IR after eight games in 2004 because of a torn pectoral muscle.

Who knows how long Seau's body will hold up this year? Time is no longer on his side.

"The game of football is something that I embrace and I don't take for granted," said Seau. "Coming out here with the guys and enjoying the time with them, going out there on the field and bashing heads and doing what we do and being able to enjoy it, that's the key."