Luke Wilson takes a dig at Pete Carroll recalling 'worst practice' before Russell Wilson's Seahawks exit
Pete Carroll, Russell Wilson and Luke Wilson may have once combined to win a Super Bowl. But by the end, things seem to have taken a turn for the worse if recent comments by the tight end are to be believed.
To jog our memories, Luke Wilson signed on August 24, 2021 to play in the upcoming season for the Seattle Seahawks. Astonishing everyone, he retired the next day.
Now, he has come clean about what fully happened. He had then said that the issue was with a heart-related condition, having battled severe pericardial effusion during the offseason. It causes excess fluid buildup around the heart stopping it from pumping normally.
However, he has revealed that while it definitely factored into his decision, he had signed on the dotted line intending to play that season. He said,
"I've never said this. I was fully intended on playing. I had a bit of a health scare, which played into it. Going 2021. Really a freak ordeal, had some heart issues, was in the ER, but it did put a different perspective in my head. That was playing on my mind."
He even explained the deal between him and the team. It involved the Seattle Seahawks cutting Luke Wilson and resigning him on the COVID practice squad, before making him active in the first week of the season.
"I get the call from Seattle and they're like, 'Hey, here's the deal! You gotta come in today, sign the papers, do the whole, like, physical, come to practice. You're gonna do this preseason game, we're gonna cut you, we're then gonna sign you on the COVID practice squad, expect to be active Week 1.'"
However, when he attended his first practice, helmed by Pete Carroll and led by Russell Wilson, he found it be the worst he had ever attended. That made him sure that he was not going to risk his health for a team that would finish 7-10 that season.
"I stroll into that practice, and this is the part I never told anyone, that was the worst practice I had ever seen, anywhere I've been... At this point in my life, I was not gonna put, like, my body, mind and soul for a team that eventually went 7-10 but had the attitude of a 4-12 team."
Walking away from the game is not easy. I’m glad my guy could hang up the cleats on his term
youtu.be/XWnS-Teih_E https://t.co/eASyZRSBD4
Luke Wilson's statements may explain Russell Wilson and Pete Carroll breakup
One season on from this damning revelation, Pete Carroll had decided he had seen enough of Russell Wilson and allowed him to be traded to the Denver Broncos. With Geno Smith, who was named the NFL Comeback Player of the Year, they recovered last season to make it to the playoffs again.
Russell Wilson, meanwhile, struggled mightily with the Denver Broncos. They finished with 12 losses, just like Luke Wilson had said about the team's attitude during his last season in Seattle. It seems like the tight end knew before anyone else what was cooking with the quarterback at the time.