In a fantastic piece of NFL schedule theater, the Seattle Seahawks will welcome back team legend Russell Wilson in Week 1 of the season and head coach Pete Carroll couldn’t be any more excited about the prospect.
One of the biggest stories of the 2022 NFL offseason was the Seahawks making the bold decision to dive head first into a rebuild and trade the franchise quarterback Wilson. Wilson and Carroll were a match made in NFL heaven. The duo helped guide the team to eight playoff appearances in 10 seasons, two trips to the Super Bowl, and one NFL championship.
They were arguably the most prolific QB and head coach duo in the NFL over the last decade outside of New England Patriots’ iconic duo Tom Brady and Bill Belichick.
However, with the team clearly in a decline, Wilson was shipped off to the Denver Broncos in March. Since the two teams are in different conferences, the assumption of Wilson coming back to Seattle any time soon seemed highly unlikely.
Yet the nine-time Pro Bowler will begin his career with his new team by playing his old team to kick off the 2022 NFL season. And the idea of matching wits with his former QB is something Carroll is very much looking forward to.
In a Monday interview with the Seattle Times, Carroll explained how he thought having the Broncos and Seahawks battle it out in Week 1 “was awesome.” And he is enthusiastic about the unique challenges and atmosphere that it will bring for him and his team.
“I do have as much information as you can have [on Wilson]," said Carroll. "I’ve probably never known a player any closer than knowing Russ, his quarterbacking, his playing, and his mentality and all of that. He knows me, too. He knows us. So, we’ll see what happens.
“… I like this game, this matchup, and this challenge to make sure we understand the principles and how you deal with it. So, this game isn’t different than any other game, yet it’s the biggest game we’ll ever play [because] it’s the only one we got. It is championship game time. The setting will be that, the players will feel that and sense that with all the buildup to the game, Monday night, and the whole thing. And we need to deal with it really well and handle it really well.”
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