Pete Carroll Reviews the Season Thus Far

Hey guys!!! I hope you're loving your bye week as much as I am!  I spent all of Thursday doing hot yoga with Percy and the rest of the weekend chewing gum and high-fiving everyone I saw on the way home from yoga.  FYI, Percy broke both legs at yoga and is out for the year.  I'm just kidding!  We like to have fun here!

"There may be people who have more talent than you, but there's no excuse for anyone to work harder than you." -Derek Jeter

Golden Memories

During his time in Seattle Tate had a very up and down relationship with the local fan base. We questioned the front office when he was picked, saw moments of brilliance during his rookie season and found ourselves very frustrated during his second year. However, with the arrival of Russell Wilson, Golden seemed to find a connection and began to blossom. 

Heading into the eventual Super Bowl Championship season of 2014, Golden Tate was on many people's radar as a player to watch. Despite not even having a 1000 yds receiving, Tate had what has to be considered a very successful 2014 campaign. He led his pass averse, but eventual Super Bowl Champion, team  in targets, catches and yards and was tied for the lead in TD. Many local fans saw resigning him as an important, if not crucial, part of the off season plans. 

Apparently, the Detroit Lions also saw value in Golden Tate. They recently inked him to a 5 year, $31 million dollar contracts. In Detroit, Tate will be replacing departing WR Nate Burleson (coincidentally also an ex-Seahawks) as the number two target for QB Matt Stafford. 

So, to honor Super Bowl Champion Golden Tate, I have compiled a list of my four favorite memories from his playing time here in Seattle. 

The Fail Mary 
A top Golden Tate moment countdown just wouldn't be complete with reference to this play. In week 3 of the 2012 season, on Monday Night Football, with time expiring in the fourth quarter Russell Wilson threw a deep pass into the corner of the endzone. A scrum of about 6 players, both Seahawks and Packers, jumped up for the ball. The initial outcome of the pass appeared to be an interception and a Packers win. However, the officiating staff instead called it a TD and the Seahawks won. As you probably remember a media madhouse ensured and the play was dubbed the Fail Mary.

http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-cant-miss-plays/0ap2000000066000/Hail-Mary-for-Hawks

Atlanta Falcons One Handed TD

This play would definitely be higher on the list if it came in an important game or for that matter a close game. Instead it came in week 10, against a 2-7 Falcons team with the Seahawks already up 16-3. Even so, it was a down right amazing play. With time expiring in the first half Golden Tate pulled in an amazing one handed grab for a touchdown.

http://www.seahawks.com/videos-photos/videos/Golden-Tate-one-handed-touchdown-catch/73bce04c-0f09-40f9-9732-b0e79571e594

Over the Top Grab Against the Jets

In week 10 of the 2012 season, Tate made an acrobatic catch over NY Jets defensive back  Kyle Wilson to start the scoring in what would end up a Seahawks led blow out. The catch was amazing for Tate's ability to bring it in, but also his ability to stay on his feet and walk into the endzone.

http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-game-highlights/0ap2000000093119/Golden-Tate-38-yard-touchdown-catch

Sean Lee Gets Blocked

It says something about Tate that he didn't even catch a pass during one of my favorite and most memorable plays that he was involved in. In a September 2009 game against the Dallas Cowboys Seattle QB Russell Wilson took off running. Dallas's star LB Sean Lee started pursuing. Golden Tate saw the run and decided to do his part and put a block on the unsuspecting LB. It resulted in a downright awesome play to watch and a $21,000 fine. You can watch the full video clip here.

http://www.seahawks.com/videos-photos/videos/Highlight-Golden-Tates-block-on-Sean-Lee/bcc80495-0e64-4b9a-bf27-aeedeb854556

Super Bowl Champion Factoids

The Super Bowl has been over for a week now and I am still relishing what was the best professional sports victory in the history of Seattle. The good feelings hopefully wont leave for a really long time. To help you all keep the awesomeness flowing, I compiled a list of interesting Super Bowl XLVIII factoids.

• Russell Wilson is only the second black quarterback to ever win the Super Bowl. The first was Doug Williams.
• Pete Carroll is only the third football coach to ever win an NCAA national championship and an NFL championship.
• There has only been one repeat independent 12th man flag raiser in Seahawks history, team owner, Paul Allen (technically Warren Moon has done it twice, but he was part of a duo the first time). Both times Allen raised it the Seahawks won the NFC championship game and went to the Super Bowl.
• Approximately 700,000 fans showed up for the Seattle victory parade. Seattle has a population of 608,000.
• The Seahawks scored 36 unanswered points to start Super Bowl XLVIII, the most in Super Bowl history.
• The 43 points that the Seahawks scored in the Super Bowl was the second highest total of the season. The only time they scored more was against the Jaguars, when they scored 45.
• The 35 point part differential in the Super Bowl was the biggest blow out of the season for the Seahawks.
• The Super Bowl was the first time all season that the Broncos scored in the single digits.
• This season, at MetLife Stadium, in New Jersey the Seahawks were 2-0. They outscored their opponents 66-8.

Sources: Yahoo Sports, Wolfram Alpha, The Seattle Times, Seahawks.com

The Number 12

I am not a very superstitious person. I dont really believe in good luck charms or bad luck charms. My mind works very analytically. It is probably why I studied engineering in college. So, I am not your usual candidate for numerology. However, my favorite football team just won the Super Bowl and is now the NFL Champions. THE SEATTLE SEAHAWKS ARE THE NFL CHAMPIONS! So, I decided to have a little fun with numbers.

The number 12 is especially important to Seahawks fans as it represents us as a group. The Seahawks even retired the number in 1984 to honor the best fans in the NFL. So, here is a list of all the places 12 shows up related to the epic Super Bowl win. If you think of others leave a comment.

• The sum of the two digits in the Super Bowl number gives you 4+8=12
• The safety happened 12 sec after the opening kickoff.
• Marshawn Lynch's TD was in the 12th minute of the 2nd quarter.
• The Percy Harvin kickoff return TD happened 12 sec after the second half kickoff.
• Percy Harvin's kick return TD was originally credited as 88 yards, which means it started from the 12 yard line (it was later changed to 87 yards).
• Multiplying the two digits in the Seahawks final score gives you 4x3=12.
• The Super Bowl victory was the 12th playoff win in Seahawks team history.
• The Super Bowl loss was Peyton Manning's 12th career playoff loss.