Pete Carroll answers questions by reporters. (Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports)
PHOENIX — Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll, in his rimless glasses and dark suit, looked more like a businessman than a football coach. However, the questions he was asked moments after the Seahawks arrived for next Sunday’s Super Bowl had nothing to do with finance.
Seattle’s jet arrived at Sky Harbor Airport in the early afternoon, and not long after that, after the Seahawks’ buses crept through the crowd of cheering, banner-waving fans at the motor entrance to the Arizona Grand Hotel, he was dealing with, yes, “deflategate.”
That made sense, in a way, because Seattle’s opponent in Super Bowl XLIX is the New England Patriots, who are accused of reducing the air pressure in balls for last weekend’s AFC Championship Game victory over Indianapolis.
While Seattle’s outspoken cornerback Richard Sherman was much more opinionated on the situation — insisting the Pats will avoid punishment because of team owner Robert Kraft’s close association with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell — Carroll saw the debate over the footballs as educational for him and Patriots coach Bill Belichick.
“I’m much better versed today than I was a week ago,” Carroll said. “Fans think we should have known before, but I never checked into how the process is handled. Coach Belichick, same way. But I know every step of it now.
“There are so many areas in the league, social areas, we haven’t dealt with. This is an opportunity for us to grow. We don’t have everything nailed yet, but we will eventually.”
Carroll could become the seventh coach in the 49 years to win back-to-back Super Bowls, joining Vince Lombardi, Don Shula, Chuck Noll, Jimmy Johnson, Mike Shanahan and Belichick.
“It’s something I’m aware of,” Carroll said, “more numbers, but typically, I don’t care. That doesn’t concern me.”
The direction of the NFC Championship Game, when Seattle trailed the Green Bay Packers 16-0 at one point, obviously did concern the coach. He said that entered into his decision to go for the fake field goal, which ended up as a touchdown pass.
“A lot goes into those choices,” Carroll said. “It has to do with the people on the field and the situation. We were struggling at the time. We didn’t even know if we were going to score. You try things.”
That thing worked.
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Sherman came in late. He was wearing a hoodie for no particular reason since the interview session was under a roof.
Despite his reputation for flash, Sherman was subdued. He answered questions about the injury he received to his left arm in the Packers game but not how he ranks among NFL defensive backs.
“I don’t measure myself,” he said. “My game speaks for itself.”
Asked if “deflategate” made the Patriots villains, Sherman shook his head. “Nope,” he answered. “There are no villains in this game.”
No pressure, either, he implied.
“Pressure is created by the media,” he said. “I don’t think the Patriots feel any pressure, and we don’t either.”
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The temperature was 77 degrees outside, but Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson wore a leather jacket and scarf for his interview. Maybe the air conditioning worried him. The game apparently did not.
“We found ways to make plays,” said Wilson, who threw four interceptions in the NFC Championship Game.
“This Super Bowl gives us a chance to be up there with the best in the game. Last year, we beat (Peyton) Manning, who some think is the best quarterback of all time. This Super Bowl, we have a chance to beat the second best.”
That would be the Patriots’ Tom Brady.
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Seattle defensive end Michael Bennett remains skeptical about “deflategate.”
“I think, I mean, I think it’s all propaganda, man,” Bennett said. “Just to get a chance to blow the game up, is all. Inflating the game right now. Just to make it even more … than what it really is about. And it really is just about two great teams playing. I think a lot of people are shying away from that aspect of it.”
Not the media, certainly.
“The Patriots are arguably one of the best teams of this decade,” Bennett said, “and we’re starting to — trying to — catch up to where they’re at, to what they’ve done the last 10 years. And Bill Belichick is one of the best coaches of all time, so I think people are forgetting that.
“The coaches going and the players playing — it’s too much about the balls and stuff. Hopefully, everybody starts talking about the game again.”
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Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch, not surprisingly, wasn’t among those in attendance for Sunday’s media session.
“I admire him,” Bennett said of Lynch refusing to answer questions with little more than “Thank you,” if even that.
“He’s guilty by association. That only happens to black players. I wish I didn’t have to talk.”
