For the first four seasons of his NFL career, Jon Kitna was living his dream. Playing quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks, the team he grew up watching as both a high school and small college star in the state of Washington.
And although he went undrafted, Kitna not only latched on with the Seahawks, but became a starter for the better part of three seasons.
But when Kitna played the last game of the 2000 season, a home loss to Buffalo, he would've never dreamed it would be the last game he'd ever play in Seattle.
Nine seasons later, Kitna is still living the NFL dream, albeit now as a backup with the Cowboys. But as the Seahawks roll into Cowboys Stadium this week, it will mark just the third time Kitna has even faced the Seahawks, with all three meetings occurring at home.
The franchise that Kitna grew up watching and idolizing and even playing for, has seen such a facelift over this decade that he doubts he would even recognize anything about the organization at all.
"Everything is different. Where they practice, the uniforms, where they play, it's all different," Kitna says. "I don't know if there is anyone left when I was there. There may be some equipment guys. I don't know if anyone else is there."
In Kitna's last year with Seattle, the Seahawks played at Husky Stadium, the home of the University of Washington. These days, the club now plays home games at Qwest Field, a unique outdoor stadium that has housed the team since 2002.
"I've never even been to the new stadium," says Kitna, who still has a home in the Seattle area and plans on living there when he retires. "I've only played Seattle twice, once when I was in Cincinnati and once in Detroit. Both times it was home games."
But even though Kitna feels rather removed from the Seattle franchise, he still recalls fond memories of his days with the Seahawks, despite being there through some tumultuous times.
"There were a couple of rough years," Kitna says. "They were thinking about moving the team-they had moved the team to L.A. The league made them move back. They changed owners, and the coaching staff got fired after 1998. The new ownership came in and they've done a great job."
Even through the rough patch of ownership, Kitna says the Seahawks teams of which he was a part were never short on talent
"Aside from this (Cowboys) team, it was the most talented team I've ever been on," says Kitna, who played with guys such as Chris Warren, Shawn Springs, Michael Sinclair and Cortez Kennedy. "We had two Pro Bowl defensive tackles, a Pro Bowl defensive end, a Pro Bowl safety, corners and linebackers. We had a good offensive line and a Pro Bowl running back. We had Joey Galloway. We had players.
"In 1997, we were No. 1 in the league in passing and fourth in offense. There was a lot of good talent there."
After starting 39 games in four years, including 30 in the last two, Kitna was not re-signed by the Seahawks. He went to Cincinnati, where he started at first, but eventually gave way to Carson Palmer. Kitna ended up in Detroit, where he played three seasons as the starter before being traded to Dallas this offseason.
Still, Seattle is home for Kitna, who grew up in Tacoma and starred at Central Washington University.
"I go home every year once a year, but with my kids being in school, we're only at home a week or 10 days, just visiting," Kitna says. "But yeah, that's where I want to live and end up."
And because of that, Kitna still has a soft spot for the Seahawks, especially when they played in their first and only Super Bowl back in 2005. Even as a member of the Lions, Kitna was a Seahawks fan that day, for a couple of reasons.
"Oh yeah, definitely. I had played in the same division as Pittsburgh for a while, so I was really pulling for Seattle," he says. "It's unfortunate they got a couple of calls that could've gone either way but went against them, and really affected the outcome of the game."
But make no mistake, Kitna can separate the two. He knows his loyalties now lie with the Cowboys, where he admits his approach is much different than it used to be.
As the backup to Tony Romo, Kitna has retrained himself and his mind. While he says he will always be ready to play, he has accepted his role on the team.
"Well, you don't have reps during the week. It's mental. You try to put yourself in the situation and do it mentally off the film," Kitna says. "You can't replace not being on the film. You can't replace that. You just do what you can. Hopefully you don't have to play, but you just have to stay ready."
And how hard is that to say, considering how competitive Kitna has been throughout his career?
"It's not hard for me because I've been a starter and I understand what I would like out of a backup," Kitna says. "I want to be that for Tony-full support and never wish anything negative. Hopefully, like I said, I don't have to play. But if I do, I'll be ready."
And, Kitna will always be ready to help Romo on the sidelines during games.
"He asks questions and he'll tell me specific things he'll like me to watch for," Kitna says. "That's part of my job is to help him with anything he needs. He's a good quarterback and he knows what he's doing. But there are always things that you can learn and when he asks for help, I'm there to provide it the best I can."
Kitna would like nothing more than to see Romo and this Cowboys offense keep the success going as one of his favorite NFL teams comes to town. Regardless if he can actually recognize these Seahawks or not.
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