BELLEVUE, Wash. — Pete Carroll appeared to have gotten together with quite a few former and current Seahawks players on Wednesday night to toast the coach's historic run as the franchise's head coach.
One of those players might surprise Seahawks fans, as former longtime quarterback Russell Wilson shared images of himself with Carroll as well as many of his former teammates at what looked to be a dinner celebration.
Wilson could be seen in a group photo with Carroll alongside Kam Chancellor, Richard Sherman, Bobby Wagner, Sidney Rice, Tyler Lockett and DeShawn Shead. Chancellor tagged on his Instagram story Legion Sports Bar, which is co-owned by him and Sherman, as the apparent location for the dinner.
The Seahawks and Carroll announced Wednesday that the 72-year-old would be transitioning into an advisory role within the organization and that Seattle would be looking for a new head coach.
Wilson spent his entire NFL career under Carroll until his controversial trade to the Denver Broncos in March of 2022. Reports after the trade from The Athletic said Wilson approached ownership and requested that Carroll and Seahawks General Manager John Schneider be fired in February 2022. When that was not agreed to, Wilson is said to have requested a trade.
Carroll and Schneider both danced around the report when asked about it at the NFL scouting combine, but Wilson came out and vehemently denied the report, saying on social media: "I love Pete and he was a father figure to me and John believed in me and drafted me as well. I never wanted them fired. All any of us wanted was to win," Wilson wrote on Feb. 24. "I’ll always have respect for them and love for Seattle."
It is unclear whether Wilson was already in the Seattle area Wednesday or if he made a quick trip over from the Denver area to celebrate Carroll. Wilson's Broncos did not make the NFL playoffs for the second consecutive season, although Wilson was benched several weeks before the season ended amid rumors Denver may want to move on from the quarterback.
No matter what was said in the past, it appeared to be all love between Wilson, Carroll and the rest of the Seahawks in attendance on Wednesday night.