Seahawks Coach Pete Carroll: 'Some Will Never Get Over Super Bowl Loss to Patriots'

It's been five years since Russell Wilson was picked off by Malcolm Butler. But as Pete Carroll pointed out, the memory remains vivid for many current and former Seahawks who took part in the now-infamous Super Bowl XLIX.

Five years ago, the Seahawks came up a yard short of securing their second straight Super Bowl against the New England Patriots. Seattle's brass opted to pass the ball on second and goal to go with a timeout remaining and Patriots' rookie corner Malcolm Butler intercepted Russell Wilson's pass at the goal line, sealing the Seahawks fate.

After taking some time to reflect on what happened in Super Bowl XLIX, Wilson shared his thoughts in The Players' Tribune, taking the blame for the disappointing defeat.

"The most important thing at quarterback, and a leader in general, is accountability," he said. "So what happened in Super Bowl XLIX, I take full responsibility for it."

Speaking with NFL.com's Michael Silver after the game, Seahawks coach Pete Carroll went through his thought process deciding to throw the ball in that situation instead of running the ball with their five-time Pro Bowl running back Marshawn Lynch.

"It's not like we abandoned the running game or any of that kind of stuff," Carroll said at the time. "The matchup happened. We knew that on one of those plays in there, you're going to have to throw it because you needed to stop the clock so you could get the other two plays run, and that's basically what happened. If we run it there and don't make it, then we'd have to use the time out. Then what happens on third and fourth down. Those are all the thoughts we'd already had. So we were clear as can be about it."

"It's really hard on everybody to understand that, but it had nothing to do with Marshawn, it had nothing to do with all the yards we'd rushed for. It was to make sure we had all three plays that we could execute at the end of the game, and not everybody gets that."

In a follow-up interview with Silver last month, Carroll was asked again about getting over the heartbreaking loss Patriots in Super Bowl XLIX. The sting remains and the seasoned coach admitted some may never be able to move on fully from it.

"It was such an emotional way to lose for everybody, and we had to rebuild everybody's brain. We just bludgeoned our way through that. I tried to just make sure that I was unwavering. So, that was the challenge: to allow for the grieving and all of that, and then see what the issues were, and then put it back together," said Carroll. 

Since that gut-wrenching moment, both the Patriots and Seahawks have still been amongst the league's best, with each franchise making the playoffs every year since with the exception of Seattle's 9-7 2017 campaign.

However, the Seahawks have not advanced past the second round of the playoffs since that fateful finish, while the Patriots have gone on to win two more Super Bowls and lose in a third one since Butler's game-saving interception.

It remains unclear how much of an impact that loss had on the major roster turnover that took place after the 2017 season, as Seattle jettisoned several star players such as cornerback Richard Sherman and defensive end Michael Bennett. But based on Carroll's recent commentary, it's clearly a cloud still hovering over many who participated in the game half a decade later.

"Yeah, that was hard. It was a hard challenge. It was really hard on some players. And some of us will never get over it."