Pete Carroll: Patriots' stadium is 'not a great place' because of apathetic fans
The Seahawks coach gets the last laugh after leaving Foxborough with a big win
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1 min read
Pete Carroll is not messing around. He's not sparing anybody. He's taking out everything and everybody in his path.
A day after Carroll's Seahawks went into Foxborough, beat up the Patriots and left with arguably the best win of the 2016 season, he decided that Sunday's result wasn't enough. He wanted more. So, he went after the Patriots' fan base.
Speaking with the "Brock and Salk" show on 710 ESPN Seattle, Carroll ripped Patriots fans for their lackluster showing Sunday night. Carroll said Patriots fans are so accustomed to winning that they don't show enthusiasm during the game.
"OK," Carroll said, per ESPN's Sheil Kapadia. "It's not a great place. They weren't nuts. It's because they're so used to winning. There was a time when they kicked their last field goal to go ahead, and it was like a round of applause for the nice effort. Gosh, our guys would be going berserk. We're so hungry for it. It's a gorgeous setting, beautiful arena and the fans, just the whole thing. It's really classy."
Let's check in with Carroll:
So, I went back to watch that fourth quarter field goal and, well, Carroll is kind of right about the energy level. I could definitely only hear scattered applause on the broadcast. To be fair to Patriots fans, that kick came immediately after Tom Brady was sacked on third down, so they had every right to be slightly disappointed in the result of the drive. And, hey, at least they weren't doing the wave -- or at least I hope not.
To make matters worse for the Patriots, they employed Carroll as their head coach from 1997-1999.That made Sunday night's win extra special for him.
"It was pretty fun. I've got to admit, I haven't had more fun just enjoying a win, really," Carroll said. "So there's some stuff in there somewhere. But it was a freakin' blast. The game was, the way that people were yelling at me walking on and off the field."
Maybe Patriots fans didn't cheer for Stephen Gostkowski because they wasted all of their energy heckling Carroll. Or maybe Carroll is right -- just don't shoot the messenger.
