That's welcome news for the Seahawks, but it's also the most pressing question facing this franchise when it casts an eye toward its future. Matt's back, or more specifically the nerve condition that caused a weakness in his leg and forced him to miss the past five games, casts the shadow of uncertainty toward the future.

A franchise quarterback carries a big burden in this business, and at some point before next season the Seahawks must consider whether Hasselbeck's back is ready to carry the load that comes along with the position.

He just turned 33 after all, and his body is a road map for the physical toll that's inevitable when you stand in the pocket for a decade in the crosshairs of NFL defenses. He has suffered broken bones in his hand, sprained knee ligaments and a torn labrum in his non-throwing shoulder. He's approaching that age when there will be questions about whether his body is breaking down.

Sounds pretty urgent, right? Well, it's also pretty rash, and before anyone starts shouting about finding someone else to fill the pocket, it's worth taking a look at that other quarterback in today's game: Arizona's Kurt Warner.

Remember him? The guy who was considered damaged goods when the Rams released him back in 2004. Warner was the same age then as Hasselbeck is now, and he had played in only nine games the previous two seasons when the Rams decided to turn the page by turning their offense over to Marc Bulger.

Well, Warner is 37, starting for the highest-scoring team in the NFL and has the league's best passer rating (106.4). Meanwhile, the Rams haven't finished better than 8-8 since then.

Does the NFL tend to give up too quickly on quarterbacks?

"No question about it," Warner said Wednesday.

The NFL is a league of attrition where the average career doesn't last more than four years, so when a player reaches his 30s, executives start getting nervous. To put it in a quarterback's terminology, they get happy feet.

"Organizations get scared because they know that there is a wall," Warner said. "It's hard to judge for each individual player as you start to prepare for the future. It's not an exact science, and I think certain teams miss out on opportunities."

There are plenty of examples that prove a passer isn't history just because he is closer to 40 than 30. The Jets have won six of their past seven games with 39-year-old Brett Favre, the Titans are undefeated with Kerry Collins, who will turn 36 this season, and while Gus Frerotte certainly hasn't set the NFL on fire, he was an upgrade from Tarvaris Jackson in Minnesota.

The age when a quarterback is in his prime varies so much by player that coach Mike Holmgren found it impossible to pinpoint an expiration date.

"Heck, there's a man in the room that played excellent Football well into his 50s," Holmgren said, nodding his head in the direction of Warren Moon during a news conference this week.

Holmgren was exaggerating, but only slightly. Moon turned 42 in his final season as the Seahawks' starting quarterback and played two seasons in Kansas City after that.

It's different at running back, something both Arizona and Seattle discovered. Each signed an established player to a big-bucks contract after the 2005 season, Seattle re-signing Shaun Alexander and Arizona bringing Edgerrin James to town. Three seasons later, Alexander is averaging 2.3 yards per carry in Washington after the Seahawks released him during the offseason while James is seeing his role decline with the emergence of rookie Tim Hightower.

But quarterback is different. There's life after 30 at that position.

"At that position, as long as you can protect them, they will continue to play at a high level for many years," said Ken Whisenhunt, Arizona's coach.

Danny O'Neil: 206-464-2364 or doneil@seattletimes.com

Life after 30 OLDER QUARTERBACKS are not a bad thing in the NFL. Here are three who are excelling this season:

Brett Favre

Age: 39

Out of retirement, has 18 TD passes for Jets.

Kurt Warner

Age: 37

Has 19 TD passes for division-leading Cards.

Kerry Collins

Age: 35

Titans undefeated this season with him at QB.