National Football League

Do Pete Carroll, Seahawks have beef with Russell Wilson?

Updated Sep. 15, 2022 4:21 p.m. ET

The Seattle Seahawks pulled off a 17-16 victory against their former quarterback Russell Wilson and his Denver Broncos on Monday night.

Wilson and head coach Pete Carroll were together in Seattle for 10 years, most notably winning a Super Bowl in 2014. They traded Wilson to Denver in March and a back-and-forth ensued on who actually wanted the divorce: Wilson or the Seahawks organization as a whole?

In a Tuesday morning appearance on Seattle Sports 710 AM, Carroll said that he didn't need the "validation" of victory on Monday, rather he "just wanted it" and the win meant "a lot" to his roster. When asked about why it meant so much to the players, Carroll gave an ominous answer.

"You figure that out," Carroll said. "It was really meaningful and they really wanted it and I knew we were playing for a lot more than just the regular stuff. We have a real connection with the history. They feel it and they love the fact that they played here and they love seeing us do well. On this night, they realized there was a big opportunity and a big statement to be made. The game isn’t about an individual player here or there. It’s about team. This is the ultimate team sport, and it’s been stated so many times before. It takes everybody.

"Sometimes when so much focus goes, you know, it just rubs guys wrong I guess, or whatever. But I’m thrilled that we won that game. It was significant for a lot of reasons beyond just it’s the first game of the year and all that."

Former teammates of Wilson — and players he won a Super Bowl with — such as Richard Sherman and Doug Baldwin, made Tweets criticizing-slash-mocking the Broncos throughout the game on Monday night.

And on Wednesday, Nick Wright, cohost of "First Things First," said that in his mind, Carroll's comments and those by Wilson's former teammates confirm the speculation that the quarterback isn't universally loved by his teammates.

"You can't have it both ways. We can't talk about how important and good and helpful it is when your teammates love you and then act like it's nothing when it seems like as a man your former teammates really disliked you," Wright said of Wilson. "There was a lot of reporting on it in real time, and now Pete Carroll is confirming it.

"So we can't act like one of the best things about Lamar is those guys would run through a wall for him, and Jimmy G, for whatever his limitations are, his teammates love him, and Tom Brady gets guys to sign up to come play with him, and it doesn't matter that the moment Russell Wilson loses that football game it is just a cavalcade of Schadenfreude from former Seattle Seahawks. Like, gosh, Doug Baldwin's got a tweet. Richard Sherman's got a tweet. Pete Carroll is doing interviews about it."

Wilson finished the game with 340 passing yards, one passing touchdown and a 101.3 quarterback rating, completing 29 of 42 throws. However, Denver fumbled inside Seattle's 5-yard line twice in the second half and had a controversial final drive, which ended in the team burning substantial clock and missing a go-ahead 64-yard field goal.

Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith, who backed up Wilson from 2019-21, finished the game with 195 passing yards, two passing touchdowns and a 119.5 quarterback rating, completing 23 of 28 throws.

Seattle hits the road to take on the San Francisco 49ers, while Denver hosts the Houston Texans in Week 2 of the NFL season.