GRIPPING SEASON

Every time tight end Christian Fauria of the Seattle Seahawks holds tightly onto a pass, his father, Ashley, knows the reason.

“Years ago, I had a part-time masonry business,” Ashley Fauria said. “Christian and his brothers used to work with me. We used to throw him bricks when he was up on the scaffold.

“You know what would have happened to the guys below if he dropped the bricks.”

Fauria, a 28-year-old former Crespi High and Colorado standout, never fumbled a brick on anyone’s head and he’s not dropping many throws from quarterback Jon Kitna.

As the Seahawks head for an AFC wild-card game against Miami on Sunday at the Kingdome, Fauria has 35 receptions for 376 yards and countless key blocks that don’t show up in the statistics.

He ranks sixth in receptions among tight ends in the conference, which includes Kansas City’s Tony Gonzalez and Tennessee’s Frank Wycheck, the NFL leaders with 76 and 69 catches, respectively.

Fauria had three catches for 24 yards in Seattle’s 19-9 loss to the New York Jets on Sunday, when the Seahawks backed into the West Division title and their first playoff appearance in 11 years because Oakland knocked out Kansas City in overtime.

Like many of his teammates, Fauria figured the Seahawks were done after losing for the fifth time in six games.

“It was a weird feeling,” Fauria said. “I thought there was no way the Chiefs were going to lose that game.

“The [Oakland-Kansas City] game was on TV in the trainer’s room, but I couldn’t watch it. Guys kept teasing me, telling me this was happening and that was happening. They were treating me like a cat, showing me a string and then pulling it away.”

Fauria, 6 feet 4 and 245 pounds, doesn’t care how the Seahawks reached the playoffs.

“All the other teams had the same opportunity we did and they didn’t get in,” Fauria said. “To me, it’s like getting locked out of your house as a kid. Finally someone comes home and lets you in and you’re just happy.”

Although he would like to get more receptions, Fauria is not complaining about his role with the Seahawks, in their first season under Coach Mike Holmgren.

“The tight end has tons of routes in [Holmgren’s] system,” Fauria said. “It’s a hard system and I’m still learning.”

He’s doing it swiftly.

In Seattle’s 23-14 victory over Kansas City in December, Fauria had a career-high six receptions for 84 yards, half of them in crucial situations.

On first and 10 from the Kansas City 35, Kitna and Fauria connected on a 15-yard pass and the Seahawks scored on the next play for a 10-0 lead. They increased the advantage to 17-0 one play after Kitna and Fauria teamed for a 19-yard gain.

The two hooked up again for a 10-yard gain two plays before the game’s final score, a field goal by Todd Peterson in the third quarter.

“A lot of balls I caught were ‘checkdowns,’ ” Fauria said. “I was like the third or fourth option.”

Fauria was among the go-to guys at Colorado, where he was an All-American after a stellar career at Crespi.

His 98 receptions are Colorado and Big Eight Conference career bests for a tight end, and his 1,058 yards receiving rank 12th in school history. He scored a touchdown in Colorado’s 41-24 victory over Notre Dame in the 1995 Fiesta Bowl during his senior season.

After the game, the candid Fauria had a parting shot for the Fighting Irish.

“They came out in their stinking puke-green uniforms, thinking they’re going to make a statement,” Fauria said. “It got us more fired up than it did them.”

At Colorado, Fauria met his wife, Rhonda, a Hawaiian who at first didn’t know what to make of her outspoken future husband. The two, who live in Del Mar in the off-season, are expecting their first child in May.

“His roommate introduced us and I thought he was one of those football players with an attitude,” she said. “He’s a crazy man. He’s constantly on the stage.”

Fauria was in the spotlight when the Seahawks drafted him in the second round in 1995, the highest pick ever used by the team for a tight end. In his first season, he caught 17 passes, a franchise season record for a rookie tight end.

Fauria played 10 games the following season before breaking an ankle against Minnesota, finishing with 18 receptions for 214 yards.

In 1997 he played in 16 games but made only three starts and caught 10 passes for 110 yards.

He stepped it up in 1998 with a career-high 37 receptions--tying the team’s season record for a tight end--for 377 yards and two touchdowns. He positioned himself for a three-year, $5.1-million deal that he signed in March.

That’s a far cry from the money Fauria made building fireplaces or doing stakeouts for his father, a retired Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy who is now a private investigator. And the hours are much more reasonable.

“He and his sister [Julie] were doing a surveillance one night,” Ashley Fauria said. “They were supposed to follow this guy. I guess he shot out of his garage and they lost him. I could never get them to admit they fell asleep.”

Said Christian: “I never got to work for him again. I wasn’t a good candidate.”

But he’s a good bet to play an important part against the Dolphins in Seattle’s first playoff home game since 1984.

“Everyone is talking about giving a little extra [against Miami] because we got another shot,” Fauria said.

“We are really fortunate. People were getting on us pretty good, and rightfully so, for going to New York and laying an egg.”

Or falling like a ton of bricks.