Galloway Has Catchy Debut

Imagine how good Joey Galloway is at flag football.

Galloway, Seattle’s holdout wide receiver, returned to the NFL with a splash Sunday night, making two critical catches in the second half in the Seahawks’ 20-17 victory over the Denver Broncos.

“It’s been a long week from the standpoint of trying to learn the plays,” said Galloway, who spent part of his 100-day holdout playing flag football near his home in Dublin, Ohio. “I didn’t come into the game hoping to make tough catches. I just wanted to help the team win.”

On the last play of the third quarter, Galloway caught a 39-yard pass from Jon Kitna before Todd Peterson kicked a 43-yard field goal in the first minute of the fourth quarter.

On Seattle’s winning touchdown drive, he made an acrobatic 28-yard reception that set up Kitna’s 20-yard scoring pass to Sean Dawkins with 7:10 left to play.

Galloway, who ended his holdout Tuesday and began working out with his Seahawk teammates Wednesday, made four catches for 88 yards as Seattle (7-2) stretched its lead in the AFC West to two games.

The Seahawks ended a six-game losing streak against the defending two-time Super Bowl champion Broncos (3-7).

Under new Coach Mike Holmgren, Seattle won its fourth consecutive game for the first time since 1986. Holmgren, also the Seahawks’ general manager and Galloway’s opponent during their long labor stalemate, gave credit to the receiver.

“He made two great plays and helped us win the game,” Holmgren said.