RENTON, Wash. — If you've been watching or listening to Seahawks coverage this week, you know the entire team has been enjoying the first few days of their postseason ride, which included Pete Carroll's scooter ride through headquarters in a video that went viral this week.
The head coach joined KING 5's weekly show, Seahawks Central, to talk about the upcoming playoff matchup with the 49ers, but first and foremost, why a 71 year-old man is buzzing around headquarters on a scooter.
"I ride a scooter all the time, every week," said Carroll. "Geno's dancing all the time, so I don't know. They caught us, though, so it's a good image to go out. We'll live with that. We had fun in this preparation. The guys worked really hard. If you don't work hard, you can't enjoy it. And these guys did that, so we're ready to go."
The Seahawks have been practicing outdoors this week, trying to get used to the elements they will likely have to deal with Saturday in Santa Clara. The forecast is for rain, and plenty of it, all game long. Carroll said you can't really game plan for inclement weather, but he admits those conditions can actually lend an advantage to the team that protects the football.
"We've been working at it all week and it's been really something we need to deal with because it's going to be an obvious factor in the game," said Carroll. "We took it on early and started talking about the attitude in the way we're going to approach it. And the harder it rains, the faster we're going to run, the tougher we're going to play. The more the wind blows, the faster we're going to run and the harder we're going to play. We're going to ride that and do all the things that you have to do in those conditions."
The 49ers have beaten the Seahawks twice this season. In their first meeting back in September, the Hawks failed to score an offensive point in what was arguably the most forgettable game of the regular season - a 27-7 loss. Carroll said there's nothing extra challenging about playing a team for a third time in one season.
"They have the same exact issues we have. We have a lot of information to work through which I love because it just makes it more interesting and more intricate in the preparation and the strategy of it and the planning and all of that."
Saturday's game marks the 20th playoff appearance in Seahawks history. Carroll and his players are looking forward to their shot at making it memorable.
"Let's keep right. Let's go," said Carroll. "We came off a big win last weekend, our big win and then the big win by Detroit. I hope everybody had a blast with that. I know we did as a team and all, but it just kicked us into a really good mode here for this week, and we're ready to roll."