Pete Carroll was willing to do anything to win Super Bowl XLVIII, even if it meant getting down and dirty in some drills during practice.
Carroll was his usual energetic self during the Seattle Seahawks’ Super Bowl practices in the week leading up to Sunday’s game, even jumping in a few plays to help give his guys a breather. The youthful 62-year-old coach decided to give wide receiver Percy Harvin a break from fielding and returning punts on special teams at one point. It seems Seahawks players didn’t ease up on the coach during the drill, though, and Carroll has the scar to prove it.
“I did get hit returning a kickoff in practice this week,” Carroll said during a postgame interview with FOX Sports on Sunday. “I jumped in to give Percy a break … and Derrick Coleman grabs me and [Chris] Maragos comes in and gives me a shot in the head.”
The hit left Carroll in a bit of pain and with a nice long scratch across his cheek to show for it.
[tweet https://twitter.com/BuzzeronFOX/status/430222416782974978 align=center]
The flesh wound likely wasn’t what Carroll was hoping for when he decided to get in on the action, but he said he’d do it again if it meant his special teams would play as well as they did against the Denver Broncos on Sunday.
“We covered kicks like wild men tonight, so it was okay,” Carroll said. “If I contributed to that in any way, I’ll take the hit.”
Watch Carroll explain the injury and talk about the Seahawks’ big win in the video below.
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