Redemption is Seahawks’ challenge in 2015 after Super Bowl heartbreak

Redemption.

It’s not a word that Pete Carroll would ever use. It’s not something his Seahawks are going to cite as they return to work following a year in which they finished 3 feet short of history. It is, however, the best way to describe the underlying challenge of this season.

Redemption.

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That is Seattle’s challenge after finishing 1 yard and an ill-fated pass away from becoming the first NFL team in 10 years to repeat as champions. And while Seattle begins training camp on Friday, the comeback started in the locker room down in Arizona after the Super Bowl against the Patriots.

“Right at the outset of that, the aftermath of the game,” Carroll said. “It was important to recognize that everybody is going to deal with this individually, on their own. We wanted to respect that and so we have done that, and everybody’s brought everybody back to the point where we’re thrilled with what we did this offseason.”

We’ve seen the Seahawks do just about everything over the past five years. From pulling off an improbable, unforgettable playoff upset of the Saints to playing up to the Super Bowl expectations of 2013. They rebuilt an entire roster, won a Super Bowl in Carroll’s fourth season in Seattle, and then showed the resolve to return to that title game a year later.

We’ve seen how Carroll’s Seahawks deal with success: They ask for a second helping. Now we’re going to see if they can digest a disappointment as bitter as last year’s Super Bowl loss and come back hungry for more.

Of course, Carroll would never describe it that way. The team faced obstacles this offseason just like it has before.

“Honestly, we’ve worked through it the entire offseason like we did last year,” Carroll said. “We had issues all through last offseason after winning the game that caused problems. You have to deal with them. In similar fashion, how long does it linger? How much does it stay with you? Our guys have demonstrated they’re ready to move on.”

Carroll’s entire approach asks for consistently excellent effort. You don’t prepare harder for a tough opponent nor do you try to do more in the fourth quarter of tie game. You start out trying your best and remain consistent from there, so the fact that the Seahawks lost in such a heartbreaking fashion doesn’t mean that they’ll be more determined this year.

That’s a great way to coach a football team, and maybe Carroll’s idealistic approach is so ingrained in these Seahawks that they will reboot, reset and return to the top of the standings without a second thought as to what happened against New England.

And that would the best redemption story for this team, this franchise. That this roster that general manager John Schneider constructed is deep enough to withstand the free-agent losses that are the price of success in today’s NFL, and that the culture of this team as set in place by Carroll is strong enough to absorb a blow as painful as last season’s Super Bowl defeat without breaking stride the following year.

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