Carroll Addresses the Tension Over Sherman's Postgame Actions

RENTON, Wash. - Before their game against the Giants on Dec. 15, the Seattle Seahawks stayed at a Westin hotel in Jersey City. That is where the N.F.C. representative will be staying for the Super Bowl, and Coach Pete Carroll wanted his players to get acclimated for their return.

'Yeah, we did,' Carroll said, smiling, on Monday.

It was a bold move. It was also pragmatic. Carroll's four-year tenure in Seattle has been defined by similar tactics that have escorted the Seahawks to the cusp of the first Super Bowl title in the franchise's 38 seasons. His players perform yoga. They meditate. They are told who they will start at quarterback, as Russell Wilson learned two training camps ago, while Carroll shoots 3-pointers.

The Seahawks are also free to express themselves, which is why Carroll on Monday found himself handling several questions about the emotional outburst tumbling from the mouth of his star cornerback, Richard Sherman, in a Fox interview immediately after their 23-17 victory over the 49ers, and later, after a cooling-off period, in the team's interview room.

Sherman, whose acrobatic tip of a Colin Kaepernick pass in the end zone led to the interception that sealed their victory, repeatedly derided the intended receiver, Michael Crabtree, in both interviews.

'I'm the best corner in the game,' Sherman said. 'When you try me with a sorry receiver like Crabtree, that's the result you're going to get. Don't you ever talk about me!'

Carroll, a father of three, said he spoke to Sherman as if he were his son.

'There's some stuff that I think you should think about,' Carroll said he told Sherman. 'Did you really want it to come out the way it did? We talked our way through it, and he didn't. He was really clear that the last thing he wanted to do was to take away from the accomplishments of the team.'

There was no player access on Monday, but Sherman, communicating to selected news media, said he apologized for funneling attention toward him instead of his team's first Super Bowl berth in eight years.

Carroll was asked whether he must handle emotional, outgoing players differently.

'Some guys have personalities that would fit in some places and they might not fit with other teams,' Carroll said.

'In our situation, we're pretty open to be flexible to the uniqueness that guys bring to our program,' he added.

'We celebrate them being themselves,' Carroll said. 'We cheerlead for them to be themselves and we try to bring out the very best that they have to offer. Sometimes, we go overboard. Sometimes they go out of bounds and you have to step back and go back in bounds. I understand that. That's how we kind of operate.'

It was how he also operated at Southern California, where Carroll led the Trojans to two national championships. This will be his first Super Bowl as a head coach, but his experience coaching in college prepared him for this opportunity. Comparing this two-week lull until Super Bowl XLVIII to the break between the end of the Trojans' season and the upper echelon of bowls, Carroll said the preparation - and anticipation - is similar. Addressing his players on Monday morning, Carroll allowed himself to linger on their accomplishments, their ascent.

'It's later than we think, than what we wanted it to be, but we're still on track for something really special,' Carroll said. 'If we had to wait a little bit, it might be worth it.'

The fans celebrated long into the Seattle night, honking their horns and chanting, 'Sea! Hawks!' through the streets of Pioneer Square. That Seattle defeated a hated rival intensified the satisfaction. Now it must muster similar emotion for the Denver Broncos, whose top-ranked offense will pose a supreme challenge for their top-ranked defense.

'If we be normal and be ourselves, I think people make the game bigger than what it is,' Seahawks safety Earl Thomas said after Sunday's game.

It is still big, very big, to Carroll, who said he grew up dreaming about reaching the Super Bowl - but as a player, not necessarily as a coach. Now he will lead what could wind up being the best team in franchise history.

'That statement that defense wins championships, it's been out there for a long time,' Carroll said. 'I don't know that it ever went away. We'll find out.'

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