Cliff Avril definitely isn’t alone on this one.
In a recent interview with The Dave Dameshek Football Program, former Seattle Seahawks defensive end Cliff Avril said some of his former Seahawks teammates “began questioning” head coach Pete Carroll after Seattle’s last minute Super Bowl loss to the New England Patriots.
Avril, who was released by the team earlier this team, discussed the ending of Super Bowl XLIX, adding that Seattle would have won at least one more championship under Carroll if Seattle had handed the ball off to Marshawn Lynch, instead of throwing it on the goal-line:
“I do think the team would have bought in more to what Coach Carroll was saying, instead of going the opposite way of, ‘Hey, this is what we thought the foundation of the team was.’ That’s not what happened in that particular play.
So I think guys started questioning him more, more so than actually following his lead if we would have won that Super Bowl.”
The Seahawks were closing in on their second straight Super Bowl victory, when trailing by four points, they were able to get the ball tot he Patriots 1-yard line with 26 seconds left.
But rather than running the ball with their five-time Pro Bowl RB Marshawn Lynch, Carroll decided to throw a pass with Russell Wilson, who was then picked off by Malcolm Butler in one of the greatest plays in Super Bowl history.
To add more juice to Avril’s comments, another ex-Seahawks stepped up to the plate and vouched for Avirl — Bruce Irving, tweeting this in response:
Big facts! https://t.co/3nHWRmNVim
— Bruce Irvin (@BIrvin_WVU11) May 26, 2018
Irvin left the Seahawks, via free agency in 2016 and signed with the Oakland Raiders.
Avril was released by the Seahawks earlier this month with a failed physical designation. His football career is very much in doubt since he suffered a career-threatening neck/spine injury last October, causing him to miss the team’s final 12 games.
