Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll joined franchise legend Richard Sherman on his podcast on The Volume yesterday. Carroll and Sherman talked about the golden era of the Legion of Boom teams and other major turning points over the last several years – including the accursed Super Bowl ending that should never have been. Carroll admitted how upset the team was with him after Russell Wilson’s interception in the end zone and talked about the fallout.
More than eight years after that fateful, goal-line Super Bowl interception that gave the Patriots a last-second win over the Seahawks, Carroll appeared on Sherman’s podcast to discuss that infamous moment in NFL history.
It appears that Carroll and Sherman are totally cool with each other despite the moment and have an intriguing conversation about one of the most famous plays in NFL history.
“You guys were so mad at me and so pissed,” Carroll joked with Sherman on the podcast about the goal-line play call.
“We were hurt,” Sherman quipped back, which Carroll said is an emotion he may never fully be able to understand.
“I wish I could feel it the way I should feel it, but, y’know, that play just happened,” Carroll added, to which Sherman responded that “you’ve got to keep going.”
The gist of the moment is that this is just the play that Carroll felt was appropriate in the moment because of something the Patriots did, and that it just didn’t go according to plan. We’ll let them take it from here.
Pete Carroll and @RSherman_25 take us behind the scenes of the Malcolm Butler interception play call in Super Bowl XLIX.
Hey, this was such a difficult moment for both Carroll and Sherman (and the entire Seahawks) that we’d understand if things were still a little tough to talk about.
However, this snippet does help add some context into why Seattle did what it did that night and why it’s still such a point of conversation all these years later.
Count K.J. Wright on the side of those who believe that they should have run the ball with Marshawn Lynch rather than thrown it. Here’s Wright talking about the interception that tore the Legion of Boom era Seahawks teams apart and ended what should have been a new dynasty in the NFL.
“You know why.” -KJ Wright on why the LOB era couldn’t last.
Here’s what Marshawn Lynch told Kevin Hart about it in a recent episode of Cold as Balls.
The Seahawks won the previous Super Bowl by 35 points, dominating what was arguably the greatest offense of all time in one of the most embarrassing championship beatdowns ever. Too bad most people seem to forget about that based on what happened the next year.
In what was perhaps the most infamous playcall and turnover in NFL history, Seattle coughed up a Lombardi trophy to Tom Brady and the Patriots at the one-yard line in Arizona’s accursed stadium in Super Bowl 49. Even though they had much better options to choose from, Darrell Bevell’s call was for Russell Wilson to throw a quick slant to Ricardo Lockette, who was perhaps the fifth-best receiver on the roster at the time. Wilson did his best to fit his throw into a tight window, but Malcolm Butler made an incredible jump on the ball and the rest is history.
While some fans have understandably never gotten over it (we may or may not have drunk to excess every day for a week), the guy who has perhaps the most reason to feel upset laughed it off. Here’s what Marshawn Lynch told Kevin Hart about it in a recent episode of Cold as Balls.
“I come off the sideline, and in my mind, I’m confused… And I’m walking by Pete, I’m just laughing at him like, ‘Bro, what the…'”
Here’s the full show:
Most people think the mistake was not handing the ball to Lynch – but that’s missing some important context.
We could write a whole volume of books about this one play. The most important thing to remember is that New England was crashing its defense into the box – making it a very tough look to run against.
Here’s a screenshot of what Wilson was seeing just before the snap:
That’s pretty far from an ideal box to run against, no matter who was in the backfield.
While we don’t mind calling a pass there the objection should be in the details. There’s no reason why Lockette should have been on the field in the first place and in any case it would have made much more sense for the target to be somebody else, either Doug Baldwin or Chris Matthews – who was having a hell of a game to that point – posting four catches, 109 yards and a touchdown to close out the first half.
Anyway, we’ll be debating this until eternity but we prefer to focus on the fact the Seahawks at least got their ring the year before – even if nobody else remembers.
One of the key members of that peak Seattle squad was strong safety Kam Chancellor, who served as the ultimate alpha in a locker room full of them.
The 30 for 30 on this Seahawks team is really going to be something to see. For a while, Seattle was undeniably the best and coolest team in football, assembling an incredible collection of unique talents and personalities as they climbed the NFL mountain.
At their best, they won a Super Bowl by 35 points against an all-time great offense. Nobody can take that achievement away from them. However, it’s hard to escape the thought that they should have won more. At the very least, Seattle is short one Lombardi trophy thanks to the infamous end to Super Bowl 49. While the Seahawks still have an excellent team, things have never quite the same after Malcolm Butler’s heartbreaking interception at the goal line.
Now that K.J. Wright is with the Raiders, the only pieces leftover from that squad are Russell Wilson and Bobby Wagner. One of the key members of that peak Seattle squad was strong safety Kam Chancellor, who served as the ultimate alpha in a locker room full of them. Chancellor was a guest on CBS Sports radio today and talked about some of the tension following that loss. While he denies the rumored bitterness between Russell Wilson’s offense and the star-studded defense, he says there was some in other parts of the building.
“I don’t think there was any bitterness between the defense and offense. . . Maybe bitterness in other areas of the building, but there was no bitterness between the defense and offense. I don’t even know about the contract situations. I just know bitterness in other areas of the building.”
Chancellor was one of those contract situations. He held out to begin the 2015 season after playing through several brutal injuries in that fateful Super Bowl, but ultimately didn’t get the payday he was looking for. He was eventually forced to retire early after a neck injury he suffered midway through the 2017 season.
We may never know the full story of what happened internally after that devastating loss, but it’s one for the ages.
The Seattle Seahawks’ win over the Denver Broncos in SB48 tops List Wire’s Super Bowl power rankings since 2000.
Seattle Seahawks fans will be watching other teams compete for the NFL’s world championship this season in Tampa, triggering memories of years past when it was Seattle in the big game.
“A tour de force by the Seattle Seahawks as they demolished the Denver Broncos,” writes Werner. “Who can forget the opening safety as the snap flew by Peyton Manning. It was the start of one of the most dominant performances in Super Bowl history. Powerful.”
Seattle also earned a big mention in the No. 2 spot but the memory is still painful for some. Coming in at second in the rankings are the Patriots for their nail-biting victory over the Seahawks the next year in Super Bowl 49.
“A great finish to a tense game,” Werner starts. “Pete Carroll has to wish he handed off to Marshawn Lynch. Malcolm Butler with the game-saving interception and the Patriots delivered against a rugged opponent.”
Seattle’s loss to the Steelers in Super Bowl 40 was way down on the list at No. 20.
