Former Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck enters the franchise’s Ring of Honor on Sunday. On Friday, he spoke at length with reporters regarding his time with the team.
Near the end, Hasselbeck addressed his relationship with the coach who arrived for Hasselbeck’s final year in Seattle. The coach who would move on from Hasselbeck after a season that ended with a division title and a Beastquake playoff win.
I thought the full answer was interesting and entertaining, so I think you will, too.
“I loved it, and I didn’t want to love it,” Hasselbeck said of his relationship with Carroll. “I was about to be 35 years old, that’s all we were talking about. 35 years old. We’ve got this coach coming in from college. Everything was very upbeat, peppy, rah rah.
“He showed a video the first day of all this great stuff we had done in the franchise of Seattle, a lot of which was my era. He said, ‘All right. That’s great. It’s in the past. I don’t ever want to talk about it again. We honor it. We love it. We just spent 25 minutes watching it. We’re moving on. We’re painting every wall. We’re taking down every picture. Quarterbacks, linemen, receivers, to start every practice we’re going to do bag drills. We’re going to sprint.’
“It was all this kind of stuff. I really, at the time, expected to not like it. I absolutely loved it. I loved playing for Pete. I learned so much. The mindset that he brought to our team was really something unique and special. I remember the first team meeting where he showed a video. The very first time he showed a video was of Kobe Bryant. I grew up a Celtics fan, the last thing I wanted to do was hear from a Laker. But he just talked about mindset, and he talked about being a competitor and over trying. All of this stuff, and I’m not sure if the whole room got it, but when I listened to it, he made perfect sense.
“It actually gave me clarity with our Super Bowl, Super Bowl XL that we lost. I still hadn’t really processed it at that point, and it just clicked. I understood it. It was just things like that. He had three rules when we were there. I could still recite for you those three rules because of how clear the messaging was. How the whole building was talking the same message, growing in the same direction. My children could probably tell you the three rules because we have enjoyed them so much.
“I really appreciated the competitiveness of everything that he did. Was it always smooth and perfect? No. Did I nail it right away? No. Pete’s number one rule was it’s all about the football. We don’t turn the ball over, we win. I started turning the ball over more than I had ever turned the ball over in my entire life. Why is that? I don’t know. I told the story, it’s kind of like when you’re golfing and you’re putting, and someone says don’t leave it short. I leave it short. I don’t know if that’s just a flaw in my personality, but I started playing defensive. It took me a while to figure out how to cut it loose offensively and yet not turn the ball over. There were some growing pains, but I loved the experience. If I was coaching a team, there’s so many things that Pete did that I would steal and do it exactly the same way.”
Hasselbeck’s answer serves as a reminder of the energy and the raw, always-compete kick that Carroll brought to the Seahawks 11 years ago. It’s relevant today because the Seahawks, after going 5-1 through six games a year ago, are now 2-4 and facing at least one more game without quarterback Russell Wilson.
“Without Russell Wilson” could be a phrase they need to get used to in Seattle. Given the current state of the roster and the direction in which the team is going, it may take the same kind of shakeup that Carroll brought to the team in 2010 to get Wilson to want to stay beyond 2021.
Ultimately, Wilson wants to win. Currently, the Seahawks don’t give him the best chance to win. After everything that happened after a 12-4 season that resulted in a playoff berth, what happens if the current campaign falls short of the postseason?