A healthy Engram might be better for those afflicted with sickle cell disease, and those dedicating their lives to research and awareness.

“Bobby is a complete inspiration because a lot of people think that if you carry it, you are sick,” said Dr. M.A. Bender, director of the Odessa Brown Sickle Cell Clinic and an assistant member of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, both in Seattle. “Bobby shows that if you carry it, you are completely fine. You can be this world-class athlete and get on just fine.”

Engram’s 8-year-old daughter, Bobbi, has a form of the disease. She loves to swim, but something as simple as jumping into a pool could trigger blood-cell changes that cause debilitating pain in sufferers.

About one in 300 African-American babies is born with the disease, but one in 14 is a genetic carrier. Thirty years ago, about one-fourth of sufferers died by age 6, often from common infections and usually because treatment wasn’t sought quickly enough.

Newborn screening and increased awareness have contributed to dramatic improvements in life expectancy. As many as 80,000 Americans suffer from the disease, but Engram and his wife, Deanna, are among roughly 2 million carriers.

“In terms of Bobby’s big thing, it’s trying to prevent the situation he was in, of being caught completely off-guard by this,” Dr. Bender said. “If he can be at risk, that really says anyone can be. What we want to work on together is the awareness.”

Engram missed nine games this season with an unrelated thyroid condition. He returned for the final three regular-season games before helping Seattle to a wild-card victory over Dallas on Saturday. Engram finished the game with four catches for a game-high 88 yards.

“He’s worked really, really hard to get back,” quarterback Matt Hasselbeck said. “I love Bobby. It’s no secret. I think he’s obviously a great person, but he’s a great player on our team.”

A difficult season

Millions watched Engram play in the Seahawks’ regular-season game at Chicago on Oct. 1.

The stat sheet insists he caught four passes for 33 yards during the 37-6 defeat at Soldier Field.

Reporters stood around his locker after the game, firing away.

“The bottom line,” Engram answered, “is we just did not play well, period.”

The more important bottom line was quite different. Engram was there, officially, but he wasn’t all there.

A thyroid condition was overtaking Engram’s usually indefatigable body. He struggled to function, but nobody knew what was wrong.

On the team flight back to Seattle, doctors feared that an assistant coach might be suffering from a stroke. Receiver Darrell Jackson awoke Engram with news that the plane was making an emergency landing.

“Good,” Engram replied, too tired to think straight.

And then he fell back to sleep.

“In the first Bear game, he had no energy,” coach Mike Holmgren said. “He got hit and it kind of started this process going the week before or two weeks before.

“He got in the game and didn’t know what was wrong. He didn’t know what was going on.”

The road back

Doctors diagnosed the thyroid condition within a few days. They needed additional time to find the right combination of medications.

“Before he got sick, he was like the Energizer Bunny,” Holmgren said. “He’d just go and go. Then, all of a sudden, he couldn’t. It was surprising to him. It was surprising to me. But now he’s feeling better, and it just makes us better.”

Engram isn’t the biggest receiver. He stands 5-foot-10, and the thyroid condition knocked him below his listed weight of 188 pounds.

“He plays big,” Holmgren said. “I’ve had bigger guys play little. They’re at the ball, and they lose. Bobby wins at the ball.”

Engram returned for a Dec. 14 game against San Francisco. He caught four passes against San Diego the next week and two more in the regular-season finale at Tampa Bay.

His contributions against Dallas in the wild-card game included a 36-yard reception on the opening drive and a 30-yarder in the fourth quarter.

“You don’t play this game to practice or go through training camp,” Engram said this week. “That’s the stuff they pay you for.

“To go through all of that, and then missing most of the season, you want to get back, you want to salvage the season somehow. And in my heart I knew we had an opportunity because we have a good team. We have a bunch of guys who like to play this game and really enjoy each other.

“I was just fighting to get back personally, but for the team as well.”

Eyes on the prize

Engram’s focus this week has remained on the Bears. His comments carried a slight edge as he talked about being heavy underdogs to the team that drafted him out of Penn State in 1996.

References to that Oct. 1 blowout loss got him going.

“It’s just a different time of year, it’s a different team,” he said. “That’s my focus. Give them credit for what they did the first time. Don’t take anything away from them.

“But I like the way we battled, I like the way we positioned ourselves to be in this so nobody is talking about us. We’re going to continue to fight, get a little better this week and just play hard, see what happens.”

Raising awareness

While Engram’s career regular-season numbers are impressive – 504 receptions in 142 games over 11 seasons – the playoffs are what matter to him now.

That is why Engram said he will discuss only football-related topics until after the season. He arranged for Dr. Bender to handle inquiries about his involvement in sickle cell awareness.

“I have dealt with professional athletes and others before, and a lot of people are in it for show and the PR and stuff like that,” Dr. Bender said. “I didn’t know anything about him until I met him, and the first day it’s like, ‘Dang, we need to work with this guy.’ ”

Engram, Holmgren and numerous Seattle players helped raise thousands of dollars during a recent walk-a-thon.

“He is so amazing and so sincere and is so good at speaking from his heart about his personal experience and really wanting to do good for others with that,” Dr. Bender said. “He is just an amazing guy.”

Mike Sando: 425-822-9504

http://blogs.thenewstribune.com/seahawks