Will the Players Trust Carroll in 2015?

[Siouxhawk]

Sure he wanted the ball. What player with a sense of pride and desire wouldn't want it? But there's nothing in the Lynch comments or any other player's comments that they don't have the utmost confidence in Pete and the Hawks' coaching staff.

 

[Hawks46]

This is dumb. Get over the drama. Pete Carroll has all the power and holds the hammer. Who cares who trusts who? If people dont buy in then they are gone. So guess what? They buy in. Simple.

That and Pete has shown an ability to replace damn near anyone. Thomas and Sherm are two that are tougher to replace, but players have seen guys lose their jobs constantly. Schneider is also damned good at drafting, and players know they're constantly fighting to keep their job from younger, bigger and faster guys coming out of college every year.

Social media is the Devil.

 

[Cyrus12]

...guess Michael Bennett doesn't.....

 

[kidhawk]

Earl Thomas posted this on twitter on Feb. 2nd: https://instagram.com/p/ynUHWIh1oC/

And then he wrote: "I feel like he is talking to me. I can't let politics get in the way of my love for the game."

Earl is saying it was politics that got in the way of Carroll giving the ball to Lynch. The franchise loves Russell Wilson. This is how the players feel. This discussion goes back to the Percy drama. Whatever we think about it doesn't matter. My concern is: does Earl really believe that politics got in the way of that last call?

Lynch was definitely saying a couple of weeks ago in Turkey that he felt the same way.

Bryon Maxwell was also commenting on how hurt he was that they didn't run the ball. I know that Maxwell is gone, but does he express the sentiment of other players? A lot of these guys are cynical, especially Lynch and Baldwin.

Are there other players that feel the same way on our team? And if so, will they not be playing with the same heart as we're used to?

That Instagram reads the exact polar opposite of your interpretation.

Earl was hearing all the reports of politics just like we were. This was his way of saying that he's ignoring it all because it's of no use to him and this team. I'm not sure how you got that so muddled, but it's pretty obvious, at least IMO

 

[ZagHawk]

Yes, because his overall decision making process is what got them to the SB to begin with.

 

[nanomoz]

farthat: I do not think it means what you think it means.

 

[Scottemojo]

farthat: I do not think it means what you think it means.

Inconceivable!

 

[NorCalSeahawkFan]

Mr. Paul Allen believes in Pete, and that is all that matters. Pete got it done and when he cant he will be gone. Just ask Mike Holmgren.

 

[seahawks08]

It will fall in place, great coaches make it work.

 

[Rob12]

Posts like this make it hard to move on.

 

[justafan]

If any defensive player is mad about the call they should go back and watch how the Pats scored 14 points in the 4th quarter.
Thats where the game was lost.
It is a garbage assumption that Earl is blaming anyone other than himself.

 

[hawksfansinceday1]

I think most of us thought that the loss of 49 would have "locker room" implications.
I just hope that our guys will get past it and set their sights on what the future has in store.

This is how I feel.

 

[RiverDog]

Even if Earl's comments are as they are being interpreted in the OP, it's not something that should be surprising or should necessarily set off the alarm bells. It is only natural, particularly for the guys on defense, to express some irrational comments that even they may not believe to be true. When you're a player that is laying it on the line like many of our guys did, playing through significant injuries, then just as you're on the cusp of victory and have it taken away rips your heart out. Your ego defense mechanism kicks in and you start coming up with the weirdest rationalizations.

Pete does have some bridges to rebuild. He and Bevell made a dumb ass decision, and it cost us a Lombardi. But it's nothing that can't be fixed. Get these guys on the field, win a couple of games, and this distraction will go away.

 

[drdiags]

There is talk of how the '85 Bears felt they should have won a couple more SuperBowls but that Ditka messed it up for them. Who knows? Maybe this collection of athletes will never win another Lombardi as Seahawks but they have no choice but to suck it up and do their jobs.

They can grumble, demand to be traded but if any think they are bigger than the team or decide not to be All In, I suspect they will be moving on. If their lack of "trust" in Pete has them doing things outside the system then there will be more shocking trades or cuts coming. And since I am not a player, I cannot pretend to know how they will react to their boss. You always hear about a coach losing the locker room so I suppose it can happen here. I just think the outspoken players just need to be accountable and make sure their house is in order before casting doubts on others.

 

[shawnsim]

NOPE. They will never trust him again. EVER.
Life is over. St Helens is gonna blow and bury us in a cozy death blanket.
All is lost.

 

[Bullmeister]

It didn't take me long after "that play" to think that not feeding Beast Mode the ball on that play from the one was a "politically" motivated decision. It's not like things between Lynch and the coaching staff has always been rosy.

Remember this?

[youtube]6jWytyPthDI[/youtube]

The crazy thing about it all was that it was the players in the lead up to the game that were saying they wanted to win and make Beast Mode MVP.

I am sure no player and none of us would have felt the way we did/do if Lynch was given the ball on the 1 yard line and failed to get in every time he tried. in that situation, I am sure all players and fans would have been prepared to stand by whatever would have happened win or lose. We all would have trusted Lynch and stood by him and the rest of the team. I don't think many of us would have wanted it any different.

The decision to not go with Lynch and the subsequent interception and loss of game was like a snub from the coaching staff to all the players (esp Lynch) (and fans) who wanted Lynch to not only smash the ball in for a TD Beast Mode (Seahawk) style and win the game, but to also win the MVP.

I fear something more than the SB was lost that day.

It is understandable that some players would (still) be feeling like they were duped by the coaching staff.

Will things between the coaching staff and players ever be the same? Who knows? I think if anything has been lost it needs to be won back again and have everyone back o the same page. I't sure Carroll is well aware of this.

 

[original poster]

It's a non issue as far as I'm concerned, that play has worked before and it could have worked then.

 

[Hyak]

I am sure there are some players who will always think they should have run the ball there just like plenty of fans. And I am sure some of the players were hoping for Marshawn to get the MVP, not so much as they didn't want Wilson to get it (although some will always frame it that way) but that it would be a middle finger to the hypocrisy of the NFL. If I recall, Baldwin was the one who made the comment about Lynch being MVP was a goal. He and Sherman did that skit mocking the NFL about Marshawn.

The fact that Marshawn was made the priority IMO was a calculated move to ease any lingering sore feelings. Lynch is satisfied with a deal paying him top market money and obviously was OK with the plan/coaches going forward or he would not have signed a new deal IMO. It was definitely telling that Lynch got taken care of before anyone else, including Wilson.

 

[canfan]

Brock and Salk understood Earl that way. What else would he be talking about the day after the Super Bowl in the light of the quote he referenced?

Most of you made the point: if they don't buy in, then they're out. But, that isn't going to help us. If we have to get rid of more players then we lose. We want to have less turnover at this point, not more.

Salk wears a tinfoil cap and sees conspiracies everywhere. Remember him calling BS on Marshawn having back issues? Remember how quiet he got when Pete called him out on it during a radio interview? No more references to it after that either. Salk seems to be more "shock talk" since his return from Boston. Its not an improvement.

 

[vin.couve12]

When I saw this thread my immediate reaction was that they let some intentionally inflammatory media guy in here from ESPN or some other hack factory.