If only Seattle Seahawks receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh could have peered into a crystal ball to take a look at his future.

Had he had the opportunity to look forward, the talented, 32-year-old receiver might have chosen differently when he became a free agent during the offseason.

Houshmandzadeh had three main suitors courting him, Seattle, Minnesota and his former team, the Cincinnati Bengals.

Minnesota is 8-1 and leading the NFC North. The Bengals are 7-2 and atop the AFC North.

And the team Houshmandzadeh signed a five-year, $40 million deal with is 3-6, and on the outside looking in regarding the playoffs for a second straight season.

Any regrets?

"As of right now, it doesn't look like it was the best decision," Houshmandzadeh said. "But it's very early in the process, you know. I feel like I can play a lot more years, you know. I feel great, and so you can't just say one year, 'Oh it was a bad decision.' I feel like I can play a long time because I feel good. I haven't played a lot of football early in my career. Knock on wood, I've never had a major injury so I feel like I can play a lot more years to come so ask me that in some more years and we'll get an answer."

Houshmandzadeh said all three teams offered about the same amount of money, and his decision ultimately came down to choosing between Minnesota and Seattle. He chose the Seahawks because he felt the quarterback situation was better with Matt Hasselbeck at the helm.

But he signed before the Vikings finally coaxed Brett Favre out of retirement. His decision might have been different had he known Favre would wind up in Minnesota. The Seahawks travel to Minnesota to take on the Vikings on Sunday.

"Had he been there I don't know what would have happened," he said. "He wasn't there, so I felt I had to do what was best for me. And if you look at both teams, yeah I knew Minnesota was going to be good, but I thought we were going to be really good, too.

"So hindsight is better than foresight, you know? And like I say, nine games into it, it doesn't look like I made a great decision, but it's too early."

Hasselbeck is pleased Favre wasn't with Minnesota at the time Houshmandzadeh was looking for future employment.

"I'm just glad Brett didn't come out of retirement around that time because he just probably would have picked Brett," Hasselbeck told Minnesota reporters in a conference call on Wednesday.

Even though Seattle has not won as much as he would have liked, Houshmandzadeh has been productive, totaling 50 catches for 582 yards, for an 11.6 yards-per-catch average. He also has three touchdowns on the year.

"It's just one of those things," he said. "You've got to make a decision and you make the most of it. It's not going the way I would have liked, and the way I thought it would. But we'll see what happens."

SERIES HISTORY
11th regular-season meeting. Seahawks lead the series, 6-4. The two teams have split the last four games, with Minnesota winning the last contest 31-13 on Oct. 22, 2006.

Copyright (C) 2009 The Sports Xchange. All Rights Reserved.