Immediately after the Seahawks’ decision to throw the ball at the goal line resulted in a Super Bowl loss instead of a Super Bowl win, it became obvious that multiple Seahawks players would have a hard time getting over it. Three years later, the Seahawks have finally cleared out anyone who couldn’t forget about the decision that kept Seattle from launching a bona fide football dynasty.
Defensive end Frank Clark, who arrived after Super Bowl XLIX, said after Monday’s win over the Vikings that “we’ve had this spirit over us, that Super Bowl lingering from 2015,” and that “I feel like for the longest [time] we had that cloud over us, like people wouldn’t get over it.”
Pete Carroll didn’t dispute Clark’s assessment when meeting with reporters on Wednesday.
“He gets to say whatever he wants to say,” Carroll said. “I trust Frank. I didn’t read it, but if Frank feels that way then there’s probably something to it in Frank’s mind. There aren’t many guys around here that wouldn’t understand that or have any reference to that. . . . It’s a pretty good thought.”
Clark had more thoughts about the Seahawks post-Super Bowl XLIX era, and regarding one of the most important players on those great Seattle teams.
“When I showed up in 2015, the first [draft] coming after that year, it was hectic around here,” Clark said. “You had a lot of guys that still felt their [negative] ways and stuff like that. But at the end of the day it was just a lingering effect. You could tell. You could tell the whole vibe. I don’t want to dwell into the past too much because I didn’t have anything to do with that. Most of the players here didn’t have nothing to do with that. That’s how crazy it is. Change happens so fast in the NFL. . . . But the difference from then to now is we’re finally starting to let that off, we’re finally starting to let that off our shoulders and take that weight off.”
The departure of any players who would still be feeling salty about Super Bowl XLIX helps, and Clark is salty about former Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman calling the new Seahawks a “middle of the road” team.
“At the end of the day, ‘middle of the road,’ that’s Richard Sherman being Richard Sherman,” Clark said. “He’s not in this locker room anymore, so his opinion really doesn’t matter. You know what I mean? They’ve got problems over there in San Fran that he needs to be worried about. At the end of the day, this is my team now. This is my defense. Richard Sherman and his era is over here.”
It’s indeed a new era in Seattle, and as quarterback Russell Wilson said earlier in the year, the 2012 vibe has returned to the franchise. With the fumes of Super Bowl XLIX finally gone, maybe these new Seahawks will end up playing in Super Bowl LIII, LIV, and/or LV.