Most of my favorite NFL memories occurred when Holmgren was the head coach of the Green Bay Packers . The Super Bowl XXXI win over the Patriots obviously ranks first, but the three straight playoff wins over the 49ers aren't far behind. I can almost guarantee nothing in the NFL will ever compare, in my following of the league, to seeing how the Packers developed from an upstart team to a Super Bowl champion with guys like Brett Favre, Reggie White, Robert Brooks, Gilbert Brown and Leroy Butler leading the way.

I am not a person who likes to live in the past, but those were my glory days of being an NFL fan. And any other fan of that team has similar fond memories of Holmgren and how he shaped the Packers' revival.

But back to present day for a moment.

Holmgren, it was announced last winter, is stepping down at the end of this season and will be replaced by current assistant and former Falcons coach Jim Mora. Holmgren's career could be over, but he hasn't officially said if he'll retire or not.

If Holmgren does say goodbye, this is not the way he should be going out. The Seahawks are 2-7 and will pretty much be playing out the string the rest of the season. Injuries have decimated Holmgren's final season in Seattle. His top quarterback, Matt Hasselbeck, has missed five games, and his receiving corps has been so banged up he's had to sign guys from the local Chevron to catch passes.

That's his line, not mine.

The Seahawks have also been without defensive standouts Patrick Kerney and Lofa Tatupu for games at a time. Even when something has gone right this season for Seattle, it has quickly turned wrong. Fullback Leonard Weaver had touchdown receptions of 42 and 63 yards in the Seahawks' 34-13 win over the 49ers in Week 8. He gave the offense a badly needed playmaker presence in that win.

But Weaver injured his foot in the victory over the 49ers and had to miss the Seahawks' following game. He returned last week against Miami but suffered a rib injury and might not play this week.

A coach can't win without players, or when his best ones are wearing street clothes on game days.

"I had a vision of my last year going a little differently," Holmgren said in a conference call this week. "I think everyone here did as well because we had a good Football team on paper coming into the season, and sometimes in this business, crazy stuff happens. And we got hit by a very unusual set of circumstances."

This unusual season won't taint Holmgren's legacy as a head coach. He has had just two losing seasons in his 16 previous years as a head coach. In the past five years, he enjoyed five straight winning seasons, won four consecutive NFC West championships, took the Seahawks to Super Bowl XL and to two divisional-round playoff games.

I've been happy to see Holmgren develop the Seahawks into a consistent winner. But part of me has always wished he had stayed in Green Bay.

I understand why he left. He wanted total control of a franchise. He wanted to make all of the personnel decisions. That wasn't possible in Green Bay with former general manager Ron Wolf entrenched at the time as the team's final decisionmaker on draft day and in free agency. The Packers also couldn't pay Holmgren the tens of millions of dollars he's cashed out from Seahawks billionaire owner Paul Allen in the 10 years he's been with Seattle.

Even after a decade, it seems strange to me that Holmgren has spent more time with the Seahawks than the Packers. When he leaves the Seahawks at the end of the season, it will be interesting to note that he never attained as much success with Seattle as he did in Green Bay , and the Packers have yet to get back to the Super Bowl without him.

You could also say Favre was never the same without Holmgren, as he won 2.5 MVP awards with Holmgren as his head coach and none without him.

Holmgren has had a lot of highlights as a head coach, and who knows, maybe there are more to come this season or with a different franchise down the road. Knowing his track record, and the fact that the Seahawks are getting healthier, it's reasonable to believe Seattle could play the role of spoiler in games down the stretch against division rival Arizona and against possible playoff teams such as Washington, Dallas, New England and the Jets.

It's been a tough season for Holmgren, but I know one thing is for sure: He's not done yet.

"We kind of got hit by the perfect storm, unfortunately," Holmgren said. "I have a good group of men playing on this team and I told them, 'You don't have to worry about me. I'm going until the last game, the last play. I'm going to be coaching the same way, so let's all have some fun down the stretch."' E-mail: aaragon@desnews.com