Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson denied a report that he asked Seattle Seahawks ownership to fire head coach Pete Carroll and general manager John Schneider before he was traded to Denver in March 2022.
Wilson said via Twitter on Friday morning that a report from The Athletic detailing an alleged plot of have Carroll and Schneider fired to bring in Sean Payton as head coach wasn’t accurate.
“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. “l’ll always have respect for them and love for Seattle.”
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.
l’ll always have respect for them and love for Seattle.
— Russell Wilson (@DangeRussWilson) February 24, 2023
Wilson and Carroll embraced on the field after Seattle’s 17-16 win on Sept. 12, when the Seahawks edged the Broncos in Wilson’s return.
A lawyer for Wilson sent a letter to The Athletic, saying the report published Friday that the quarterback wanted Carroll and Schneider fired was “entirely fabricated.”
Wilson now plays for Payton, who was hired this month as head coach of the Broncos. He spent last season working for FOX as an NFL studio analyst after stepping away from coaching the New Orleans Saints.
Carroll, 71, has been with the Seahawks since 2010 and was part of the braintrust that drafted Wilson 75th overall in the 2012 NFL Draft. Schneider also was hired in 2010 and signed a contract extension in 2021.
Wilson, 34, spent 10 seasons with the Seahawks and guided the team to a Super Bowl XLVIII win (February 2014) over the Broncos, 43-8. He also threw a goal-line interception in Super Bowl XLIX (February 2015) with 20 seconds remaining in a painful Seattle defeat, 28-24, at the hands of Tom Brady and the New England Patriots.
Denver went 5-12 in Wilson’s first season with the Broncos in 2022, which included the firing of first-year coach Nathaniel Hackett in December.
–Field Level Media