KIRKLAND, Wash. - There's a lot to love about Red Bryant, the Seahawks' fourth-round draft choice Sunday.

First, and most obviously, there's 6-feet-4 and 318 pounds of immovable mass from Texas A&M in the center of the defensive line. Seattle needed that after the loss of Chuck Darby and injuries to returning defensive tackles Marcus Tubbs and Rocky Bernard.

And he's not just big. He's feisty. Bryant decided to make a unique splash at the Senior Bowl in January by fighting offensive lineman Chris Williams, Saturday's first-round pick of the Chicago Bears, during a practice. Stunned scouts and executives from every NFL team saw that.

Was the fight out of character?

"Nah,'' Bryant said in his country twang while on the telephone Sunday from College Station, Texas.

"I was trying to break his face mask. I think I almost broke it. I know he had a headache for about two days.''

Bryant, whom Seahawks defensive coordinator John Marshall expects will instantly join Seattle's defensive line rotation, said he intended to humble Williams - no matter how many potential future employers were watching.

"I felt he was trying to take advantage of me,'' Bryant said of 14th overall pick in the draft. "I had to let him know from the get-go it wasn't going to take place.''

Williams' side of the story, as told to reporters in Chicago following the Bears taking him Saturday: "I would like to take his head off, but at the same time you have to show discipline.''

With their other four choices Sunday, the Seahawks added a rugged, reckless fullback who smashes his head with his own helmet; a long snapper who never dreamed that job could get him a college scholarship, let alone an NFL job; a tough, undersized running back; and a kicker who will challenge recently signed veteran Olindo Mare for the job of replacing Josh Brown.

Bryant graduated in December from Texas A&M with a degree in leadership and communications after bulling through dyslexia. As a teenager, he mowed lawns and mopped floors in a job with his local school district.

"He did not come from wealth,'' Seahawks vice president of player personnel Ruston Webster said. "He's kind of a self-made guy. You just like the guy.''

Besides simply liking him, the Seahawks took Bryant to replenish the offseason departure of run-stopping defensive lineman Chuck Darby. He is also insurance in case Marcus Tubbs isn't ready to return from knee surgery this season.

"Is he a ways away? Yes,'' defensive coordinator John Marshall said of Tubbs. "But he's on track with his rehab.''

Marshall also said starting defensive tackle Rocky Bernard likely will continue to be limited in the preseason by the groin injury that kept him out of practices for much of last season.

Another Seattle plus for Bryant: He has a Seahawks' pedigree - or is about to. In February, he is going to marry Janelle Green, daughter of Jacob Green. Bryant's future father-in-law starred for 12 seasons at defensive end in Seattle and is one of nine Seahawks players in the team's "Ring of Honor.''

"I was hoping so bad he would end up in Seattle. It's a dream come true,'' said Jacob Green, who heads many charitable efforts while in retirement in Texas. "I mean, I thought I got drafted today. This is an unbelievable, unbelievable day.''

The fifth-round choice was fullback Owen Schmitt from West Virginia. The 247-pound "character,'' as Seahawks president Tim Ruskell said.

He has a Mohawk haircut - "a shaved, business hawk now; it's professional now,'' Schmitt said. "I'm an ugly guy, so I don't think the Mohawk is really the thing I have to worry about.''

Schmitt is semi-famous on YouTube for a video clip of him beating himself in the forehead three times with his helmet after he shanked a trick-play punt in a nationally televised game last season. He once stuck his leg inside the wheel of the bicycle he was riding, just to see how it felt. In middle school, he broke his hip trying to hang from a basketball rim.

"It was scary. I couldn't walk for an entire summer,'' Schmitt said from his family home in Gilman, Wis., population 474.

The Seahawks found yet another new long snapper in the sixth round, Tyler Schmitt from San Diego State. Seattle went through three snappers for kicks last season.

"I haven't had any bad snaps - ever, really,'' he said.

This is the first time the Seahawks have drafted a player listed specifically as a snapper.

"Obviously we thought he was a special snapper,'' Ruskell said. "Usually you don't draft a snapper.''

Schmitt was left awed by what hiking a ball through his legs has provided him.

"I never thought that it would get me a full ride to San Diego State,'' he said. "And I never thought it would take me to the NFL.''

In the seventh round, Seattle chose 5-foot-8 running back Justin Forsett from California, whom Ruskell said is tough and could contribute immediately on special teams. The final selection was kicker Brandon Coutu of Georgia.

When asked if he was looking forward to coming to Seattle to challenge Mare, Coutu was incredulous.

"Are you kidding me?'' he said. "They are one of the best teams in the freakin' NFL every year.''

The rookies will join Seahawks veterans at a minicamp next weekend.