A report from TheAthletic.com last week indicated Russell Wilson tried to get Seahawks coach Pete Carroll and General Manager John Schneider fired a year ago. Instead, weeks later, the Seahawks traded Wilson to the Broncos.
Carroll was asked about Wilson’s me-or-them demand to Seahawks’ ownership, and the coach didn’t deny the story.
“My response to that is a similar response that’s always been with the guys that I’ve coached,” Carroll said Tuesday. “I’m always going to hang with them, and I’m never going to leave them. I’m going to be there at the end, with all of the good stuff and all of the bad stuff. I’m going to still be there. That’s it. I’m hanging. It doesn’t matter who the guy is. If you look at all of the guys that have come to our program, not just back to the college days, but just here at Seattle, regardless of what has happened or has taken place or things that have been said at all, if you hang with them, it all comes back around. I like to demonstrate that faith in the relationship and the depth of what we did together and hang through whatever the growth challenges bring along the way, so I’m good.”
The report also said Wilson wanted the Seahawks to trade for Sean Payton to replace Carroll. The Seahawks were better off without Wilson last season as Geno Smith made the Pro Bowl, and Wilson now gets what he wants with Payton as his coach in Denver.
So, it could end up a win-win for the Seahawks and for Wilson, if Payton can get the quarterback back to being elite.
