DETROIT — Shaun Alexander has a feeling he will be back in Seattle.

So let the negotiations begin.

After the Seahawks lost the Super Bowl 21-10 to Pittsburgh on Sunday, the NFL MVP and rushing champion said he wants to return to the Seahawks.

This was the last game under his current contract, so Seattle must decide what to do. Alexander could command a signing bonus of up to $20 million and that might be too much for the Seahawks to pay.

"I believe that Seattle is really, really close to being a dominant football team. We can have a great tradition for a long time," Alexander said. "I want to be a part of that. But fair is fair. ... My gut tells me Seattle is going to be fair."

Last year, the Seahawks designated the running back their franchise player and paid him $6.32 million. If they don't want to franchise him again or give him a long-term deal, Alexander would become a free agent March 3.

Seattle owner Paul Allen said he also wants Alexander back.

"As I said before, I am optimistic about that," Allen said. "Obviously, there will be discussions with his agent over the coming weeks."

But of course nothing is certain. Even Alexander knows that. Though he said he "definitely" wants to come back, he added, "Who knows what's going to happen? No one's sure of anything."

Against Pittsburgh, Alexander had 95 yards on 20 carries, but there was one thing missing. Touchdowns.

In the end, that ended up hurting the Seahawks. Though Alexander set an NFL record with 28 touchdowns during the regular season and piled up 1,880 yards rushing, it was tough going against the Steelers.

Two yards here. Four yards there. Alexander had one big play, a nice 21-yard run in the third quarter that helped get the Seahawks into field-goal range. But Josh Brown missed a 50-yard field goal wide left, and Alexander did little else the rest of the game.

"You're trying to find things that could work," Pro Bowl left tackle Walter Jones said. "We had some openings, but they played us tough."

Willie Parker, turning out tobe one of the NFL's best free-agent finds in years, was signed as an undrafted rookie in 2004 at the urging of Dan Rooney Jr. — the son of Steelers owner Dan Rooney and a North Carolina-based scout.Rooney Jr. had seen Parker play in high school.Parker went to the University of North Carolina but played little, barely gaining 1,000 yards in his career. He didn't play in his Senior Day game, at which he wore a wrist band that read, "I'm gonna make it."After their Super Bowl victory over Seattle, the Steelers credited Parker's 75-yard TD run on the second play of the second half for being the turning point of the game."When I saw Willie take off down the sidelines, I was very excited," Rooney Jr. said. "There's was a lot of luck involved with Willie. We knew he had the speed and that he came from a great high school football program, but what we were worried about was would he quit. He didn't play in college and it was a tough situation. But we signed him and he took it from there."Parker's run was a Super Bowl record, breaking by a yard the record set by Marcus Allen of the Los Angeles Raiders."I'm in the record book, and who would believe it?" Parker said.

Joey Porter called Jerramy Stevens soft. Apparently, he wasn't talking about the Seattle tight end's hands.As he predicted, Porter didn't personally get victimized by Stevens in the Super Bowl on Sunday. Then again, Pittsburgh didn't exactly shut him down, either.Stevens scored Seattle's only touchdown but also dropped three catchable passes — two of which were crucial because they would've given the Seahawks terrific field position."He's good enough to play in the Super Bowl. He caught a touchdown in the Super Bowl," Porter said. "That's not the story. If you guys ask a question about Jerramy Stevens, I'm going to walk away from the podium."Porter caused the biggest stir of Super Bowl week in response to Stevens' prediction that the Seahawks would tarnish the poignant story of Jerome Bettis coming home for the Super Bowl.The Steelers had very little to do with Stevens' drops, and Stevens said the fact they were jawing at him all day didn't have anything to do with his bad hands."I just wasn't able to make the plays when called on," he said. "I just didn't make the catches. It doesn't matter why. It doesn't have anything to do with the talking."

After the game, Seahawks center Robbie Tobeck got choked up when he thought about his future. The 12-year veteran paused several times to compose himself when he talked about falling short of winning a Super Bowl for the second time.Tobeck also played for the Falcons when they lost to the Broncos in 1999. He knows the end is nearing. The Seahawks drafted center Chris Spencer in the first round last year."For me it really hurts," Tobeck said. "The last time I played in a Super Bowl we lost, but I felt like I had years ahead of me. I'll be 36 in March, I don't know how much time I have left. It's a hard pill to swallow right now."

Seattle receiver Darrell Jackson tied a Super Bowl record with five receptions in the first quarter. Then, he didn't record another catch the rest of the game.His final tally could have been much higher, too. He actually caught nine passes — two were called back on penalties, two were caught out of bounds.Jackson had a touchdown nullified when he was called for pass interference late in the first quarter. He lightly shoved Chris Hope in the end zone. Jackson said the defense played him differently after the first quarter."They started getting help, a safety over the top," Jackson said. "We had opportunities. We just missed them."