Seahawks' Pete Carroll, Richard Sherman on Super Bowl INT: 'Worst Play Ever!'
On Feb. 1, 2015, the Seattle Seahawks were on the edge of immortality.
The Seahawks had won Super Bowl 48 the year before, and were pushing to go back-to-back in Super Bowl 49. Even after surrendering a 10-point lead to the New England Patriots in the fourth quarter, Seattle was in great position to win its second straight ring.
However, that was before one of the most infamous plays in NFL history happened. With the Seahawks on the Patriots' one-yard line, Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson looked for receiver Jermaine Kearse on a slant route when New England cornerback Malcolm Butler jumped the route for a crucial takeaway. The Seahawks chose this play despite Marshawn Lynch, arguably the best running back in the league at the time, having a great game.
Seattle's decision to pass in this situation was widely panned at the time, and still is to this day. Now almost a decade later, Seattle coach Pete Carroll finally shed light on his thought process while appearing on Seahawks legend Richard Sherman's podcast.
"When we got down there, if I remember it, we had one timeout and so as soon we got there I said, 'One of these plays we're going to have to throw it to get all four plays,' because I'm always in, make sure we get all four shots," Carroll said. "So we run the first play, and I think what happened is [Patriots coach] Bill's [Belichick] late, he sends in the goal line team, and we had already sent in 11. That went through the play callers, and that's what led them to throw it on that down. It had nothing to do with anything else.
"We had practiced it a million times. It was just the way we had prepared. So I was rock solid on the philosophy of it. It just was the worst play that could've ever happened."
Later on, Carroll made a very bold claim. He believes that if the Seahawks won this game, they would've won a third straight Super Bowl the following year. The Seahawks lost to the Carolina Panthers in the Divisional Round the following year, but if they had won Super Bowl 49, then they may have had a better result.
Regardless, Carroll and Sherman had plenty of good banter throughout the podcast, showing that they are still close after a half decade apart. Even if the subject brings back painful memories for Seahawks fans, seeing two figures from the franchise's most successful era should bring some smiles to their faces.
You can find Jonathan Alfano on Twitter @JonAlfano_News
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