Spotlight on Seahawks: Pete Carroll

Tuesday marked the one-year anniversary of Pete Carroll being named head coach of the Seahawks, and he feels as though he's finally starting to figure things out.

“It took me a lot of years in coaching — I don't know how many it was — but it took a lot of years in coaching before I kicked myself in the butt and got my act together and figured it out. I thought I was figuring it out,” Carroll told the Seahawks' website. “I thought I knew. But I didn't really know until the year that I was out (2000) between New England and going to USC. That was the time things changed and I haven't been the same since.

“The message is more clear, because it's more clear to me. That's kind of the essence of the whole thing. I figured it out better so that I could teach it and explain it better, and stand for it more consistently.”

Amazing what getting fired will do to a guy.

“Sometimes you have to feel the pain, and after the last time of getting fired I don't want to do that anymore,” Carroll said.

The Predictors:

Here's what Terrell Owens said on the “T.Ocho Show” on Versus earlier this week when asked whether the Seahawks can beat the Bears on Sunday:

“Of course they can. They just won. They have all the confidence, all the momentum on their side.”

On the other side of the fence is NBC studio analyst Rodney Harrison, who had this to say on “Waddle and Silvy” on WMVP AM-1000:

“If the Bears lose this one, I am through with the Bears. This should be at least a 10-point victory for the Bears.”

Show them the money:

According to Ross Tucker at ESPN.com, NFL players receive $21,000 for each of the first two rounds of the playoffs.

That seems like a nice check until you factor in the proposed 66 percent increase in the income tax rate for players who live in Illinois.

Clearing up The View:

Keeping your Hasselbecks straight isn't easy. Elisabeth Hasselbeck of “The View” isn't married to Matt, the quarterback for Seattle. Matt is her brother-in-law. She married his younger brother, Tim, after they met in college. Tim also was an NFL quarterback for the Giants, Redskins, Eagles and Bills, and now works for ESPN.

The quote

“Every game, no matter how much the people on the outside say that we have no chance, he makes sure that we know that we have a chance.”

— Seattle TE John Carlson on coach Pete Carroll's motivational tactics