INDIANAPOLIS — Asked about last week’s story from The Athletic reporting that quarterback Russell Wilson had gone to owner Jody Allen after the 2021 season and requested that they be fired, Seahawks coach Pete Carroll and general manager John Schneider on Tuesday both took the high road.
Or to continue with that analogy, they consider it “water under the bridge,” to quote Schneider.
What Carroll and Schneider didn’t do during their regularly scheduled sessions with the media here at the NFL combine was dispute the validity of the report.
The Athletic also reported that days after the request, the Seahawks decided instead to pursue trading Wilson, which resulted in the eventual agreement the team made to deal him to Denver in March 2022 for a package of three players and five draft picks, including first-rounders in 2022 and 2023.
When the trade was announced, the Seahawks released a strongly worded statement from Allen that said Wilson “made it clear he wanted this change.”
Asked Tuesday if the report was true, Carroll said: “There’s nothing I’m commenting about that but to say that stuff is said, it’s always been said for years, and guys come and go with their thoughts and their emotions and all that, and I ain’t worried about it.”
Schneider, when asked to comment on the report, initially deadpanned that, “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” then smiled and said, “I’m kidding. That was a joke.” He called it “honestly, like water under the bridge.”
Their responses were in contrast to that of Wilson, who on Friday took to Twitter shortly after the report to deny he had asked that both be fired, stating, “I never wanted them fired … I’ll always have respect for them and love for Seattle.”
Carroll and Schneider seemed to echo that last sentiment, both hinting that they hope to someday welcome Wilson back into the Seahawks family in one manner or another.
Schneider specifically referenced the somewhat initially uncomfortable departure of Marshawn Lynch via retirement in 2016. Lynch returned to play a year later with the Raiders before finishing his career with Seattle in 2019 as proof of how the team’s culture allows for all fences to eventually be mended.
“We’re really proud of our culture,” Schneider said. “Players when they play for us, and when they leave, and then they come back at a certain time, like, you know, I wouldn’t have told you that Marshawn would have come back and played for us. But, you know, you kind of believe it now. And you listen to people who go to other teams and have the experiences that they have. … I think they all know that at the end of the day they come back, they’re always going to be part of our family.”
Said Carroll: “My response to that is a similar response that it’s always been with, with the guys that I’ve coached, that I’m always going to hang with them, I’m never going to leave ’em, and I’m going to be there at the end of all of the good stuff and all of the bad stuff. I’m going to still be there. And so that’s it, you know? I’m hanging. And it doesn’t matter who the guy is — if you look at all of the guys that have come to our program, just not going back to the college days [at USC], but just here in Seattle, regardless of what has happened, has taken place or the things that have been said and all, if you hang with them it all comes back around, and I’d like to demonstrate that faith in the relationship and the depth of what we did together, and hang through whatever the growth challenges bring to us along the way.”
They were also asked if they were surprised by Wilson’s struggles during his first season in Denver.
“Yeah, I was,” Schneider replied, leaving it there.
Carroll, meanwhile, predicted a rebound.
“It’s been a tremendous challenge, I’m sure,” Carroll said. “There’s never been a guy that’s more strong-minded, and committed, and convicted, and all that. So he’s coming out this end of it. And it was a hard year, I’m sure. But I’m not worried about him figuring it out. He’ll come back.”