As it happens, I’m a Seattle resident and a longtime NFL reporter, which means that I got my first credential to cover a team in 2010. The team was the Seahawks, which means that I got to watch the Legion of Boom defenses get built as Seattle also stole a guy named Russell Wilson in the third round of the 2012 draft because everyone else thought he was too short. I happened to be on the field for both the Beastquake and the Fail Mary, and I’ve seen a lot in that time.
What I’ve never seen, as long as Pete Carroll has been the Seahawks’ head coach — he also started here in 2010 — was Carroll so frustrated after a loss that he simply blew off a post-game press conference. That happened Sunday night after Seattle dropped their seventh loss of the season against just three wins, and the 23-13 Cardinals win in no way represented the level of dominance Arizona displayed on the field. Seattle’s home field, to boot.
Even after Russell Wilson’s back-breaking interception at the end of Super Bowl XLIX against the Patriots, Carroll hung in with a massive cadre of reporters in front of him and answered every question posted. So, the level of hurt here had to be something else altogether.
Pete Carroll didn’t make an opening statement and cut off his postgame presser as a reporter was asking a question. First time I can remember him doing either. pic.twitter.com/eKOXgEPxFn
— Brady Henderson (@BradyHenderson) November 22, 2021
To his credit, Carroll came back, apologized to the reporters in attendance, and placed the blame for his team’s season on his own shoulders.
In his return to the podium Pete Carroll says that everything “starts with me.” pic.twitter.com/mgGeyKk662
— Bob Condotta (@bcondotta) November 22, 2021
Carroll, the eternal optimist, said that he still believes his team can turn things around, but the results on the field tell an entirely different story.
