Tim Hasselbeck’s analysis refreshing

This was nearly a month ago on SportsNet New York’s “Daily News Live” set. Two normally even-tempered former Giants, Brandon Short and Tim Hasselbeck, were in a heated argument over whether the Giants were better off without Jeremy Shockey.

Hasselbeck said they were. Short said they were not.

Hasselbeck, who has the physical presence of a high school librarian, turned to Short, who still looks like an NFL linebacker, and got a little too close. This was dangerous TV. It was also the first defining video moment for a backup quarterback with broadcast aspirations.

Hasselbeck knows football.

Now, he was showing personality and passion.

“I wasn’t going to just sit around and let Brandon say something that wasn’t true. Here was a guy who was in that (Giants) locker room a year ago. That was his side of it,” Hasselbeck said. “I was in that locker room as recently as training camp and had a different side of it. … I don’t know if people just think I’m trying to get attention. But everything I said (about Shockey or the Giants), there’s truth to it.”

Truth is, there’s much more to Hasselbeck, in terms of TV potential, than a candid analysis (psychological or otherwise) of Shockey. Hasselbeck, who has been in the league seven years since originally signing with Buffalo as an undrafted free agent in 2001, was cut by the Giants at the end of training camp. He began dabbling in TV (Elisabeth, his wife, is a co-host of ABC’s “The View”) – including working as an analyst for Fox Sports (Cardinals-Ravens, Sept. 23) – before signing with Arizona in October.

What Hasselbeck has shown, whether it be on SNY or on Sirius Satellite Radio, is an uncanny ability to take the audience down a different, more analytical, road than some of today’s over-exposed NFL TV analysts have traveled. Hasselbeck takes a more cerebral, thinking man’s approach to the game, which immediately disqualifies him from ever working on Fox’s “NFL Sunday” or CBS’ “The NFL Today.”

More importantly, Hasselbeck is honest. He names names. He points out mistakes. He offends, but is not obnoxious.

Many retired players who get into television still define themselves as players. They look at the world through that prism, putting past allegiances ahead of viewer interests. Hasselbeck has already crossed the line. And he’s not even retired. He wants to sign with a team next season.

Get it? He’s dissecting perspective employers.

He’s criticizing guys who could be future teammates.

“Rather than holding back I figured I’m going to jump all the way in,” he said. “I’m not going to not say something because it could jeopardize my opportunity with that team or put me in an awkward position with a guy I criticized.”

For Hasselbeck, lasting seven years in the NFL is more mental than physical. Career backups do a lot of observing. That’s an asset when it comes to analyzing the game, or situations, or players, such as Eli Manning, whom he understudied for in 2005.

“I spent a lot of time with Eli. I know some of the stuff that was said about him. I know how it affected him,” Hasselbeck said. “I know things that weren’t his fault that he was getting blamed for. Eli would just fall on his sword.”

He watched Manning deal with the media, too. In his limited role, Hasselbeck did not draw many crowds around his locker. But he watched. His observations are not limited to those who play the game.

“There are guys who cover the Giants who I wouldn’t trust from here to across the room,” Hasselbeck said. “Some of them are just bad guys. There are others who want to report the truth.”

Perhaps this dichotomy has influenced the way Hasselbeck has conducted his media business. Former Giants teammates have asked how he feels about having to watch this Super Bowl on a TV monitor. Some have even told him he should have never been cut from the team.

“Here’s the deal, I’m not the first guy in a training camp who got cut and the team went on to the Super Bowl,” Hasselbeck said. “I’ve talked to a lot of guys who are either on injured reserve or got cut in training camp. Some of them are bitter. I don’t feel that way.”

Sure, Hasselbeck would rather be on the sidelines at University of Phoenix Stadium Sunday evening than in SNY’s midtown studio preparing to again match wits with Short (who would rather be in uniform, too) on the Supe postgame. Nonetheless, Hasselbeck is planting seeds for the future.

Making it on a network TV stage won’t be easy. Unlike baseball producers, who don’t hire strictly based on a star system, those who cast national NFL shows follow a formula. Find a big-name former player with a big mouth and hire him.

Often, it’s more about the name than the brain.

For Hasselbeck, that will be a problem.

braissman@nydailynews.com