Pete Carroll’s touching words about his connection with Seattle

Pete Carroll was back in a familiar position Tuesday, speaking at the podium at the annual NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis. Only he was there in an unfamiliar role – as the new Las Vegas Raiders head coach.

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Of course, Carroll spoke at plenty of NFL combines during his wildly successful tenure as Seattle Seahawks head coach from 2010 through 2023. And being back in Indy after a year away from the sidelines, the legacy he left in the Emerald City was understandably one of the questions he was asked during his media availability.

Carroll asked about what his time in Seattle meant to him, and he called them “great years” and said he’s keeping his house in the area even with a new job in a different state.

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Here’s a transcript of the rest of Carroll’s response to the question, which you can also watch in the video at this link.

Pete Carroll on Seattle

“It’s still home to me, you know. … I never would have known had I not been hanging around the area this year how much of a connection we have made with the community and the people. The fans and the people that I meet running through the airports, in the streets, wherever we’re going, have been so gracious and it’s… had an obvious effect on me of how we did relate through the time we were together. And I’m really grateful for that. I’m really grateful for that.

“I didn’t have the idea that there was that much of an exchange. Like I said, even in coming here to the Raiders, my job isn’t just the team, to me. It extends beyond that. It extends to our fans and extends to the people that support us and fill our stadium up, make it hard to play in because we’re filling every seat and all that. They’re helping us win so we’re all in this thing together.

“And in taking that effort to Seattle, we were rewarded so extraordinarily because of the the 12s and the way that they love their teams. So it’s an unforgettable relationship and I’m never going to lose connection with that. I just don’t want to and so I’m going do everything I can to stay connected as much as possible.”

By the way, Carroll had an interesting trip to the combine, as he flew on the same flight from SeaTac as Seahawks general manager John Schneider and coach Mike Macdonald. Click the link below for more on that.

Huard’s read on Pete Carroll catching up with Seahawks GM on flight

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