Pete Carroll Can GTFOH Whining About the Refs

Pete Carroll had issues with the officiating in Sunday night’s loss to the Packers. In the post-game, he griped about the controversial fourth quarter call where the Packers were awarded the ball on a fumble where Seahawks tackle Justin Britt emerged from the pile with the ball. The Seattle coach had more complaints in a spot on ESPN 710 this afternoon.

“Remember when they got us to jump offsides and then they get the 53-yard pass interference penalty?” Carroll said, via ESPN’s Sheil Kapadia. “That’s a total mistake on the officials’ part. We jump offsides, their offensive line, the right guard and tackle stand up, the play’s dead. That play never happened. It never should have happened. It would have been a 5-yard penalty. It would have been second-and-12 backed up with 30 seconds left. That was a huge deal to us. It never should have gotten to that point. … That was the biggest play of the game for them, really.”

Carroll, who walked back his initial fumble complaints in this interview, also took issue with linebacker KJ Wright getting tossed after a scuffle in which no Packers were ejected. “K.J. didn’t swing back or nothing, so I don’t know,” he said. “I don’t know what to tell you on that one. I can see if they could have called it both ways, but for him to get thrown out when the other guy threw the punch, I don’t know.”

I’m not going to sit here and debate the merits of any of Carroll’s individual points on these calls. They happened a day ago now, and I’m certain you don’t care. But, it must be pointed out that Carroll is the about the least sympathetic figure I can think of in kvetching about the officiating. Remember when he kept insisting with a straight face that the Fail Mary was properly ruled a touchdown?

As a Packers fan, it would be naive to say that Sunday night’s win exorcised the demons from the Fail Mary or NFC Championship Game collapse, but it was a nice start. Rational or not, from now to perpetuity I’ll always feel that any call that goes against Pete Carroll is his just dessert.