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The Carroll Code

Deciphering Pete Carroll's pre-draft twitter clues as to the Seahawks' draft plans.

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Look into my eyes...you're getting very sleepy...
Look into my eyes...you're getting very sleepy...
Rob Foldy-USA TODAY Sports

I remember two drafts ago Pete Carroll did his draft clues on twitter. Included in that batch of clues was a clip from the first "Hangover" movie in which Alan was talking about the Wolf Pack. I didn’t get it at the time but, in hindsight, Carroll was tipping off the selection of former NC State Wolfpack QB Russell Wilson. Yep. At the time it was a brilliant clue because Russell was more commonly thought of at that time as a Wisconsin Badger. Shortly after the draft though, lightbulb moment.

A similar thing happened to me this morning. Only this time ALL of the lightbulbs came on. All of the dots connected. It turns out those clues that Pete Carroll tweeted out last Thursday before the start of the draft…they ALL meant something. In fact, Caroll essentially pre-tweeted the Seahawks ENTIRE draft.

In the order he tweeted them:

My initial thought was that the clues were: 1) Matt Foley, 2) Van, 3) down by the river and that these all represented Jordan MATThews from VANderbilt, a school  that is located approximately 2 miles from Tennessee’s Cumberland River. And this still may be correct.

In John Schneider’s post-draft press conferences and radio appearances he seems to have expressed that the Hawks were also interested in Matthews (drafted #42 to Philadelphia) and Cody Latimer (drafted #56 to Denver).

But this morning I found a longer version of the Matt Foley clip, and it contains an additional bit of dialogue that could lead us in a different direction:

http://www.hulu.com/watch/4183

Did you catch it? "We’re not here to ‘come down’ on you…" Even without that bit of dialogue, the youtube version still has the word "down" in it. Either way, this clue is likely representing the trade-down the Seahawks made out of the 1st round.

So much to dissect there. But, for me, in hindsight the part of this we need to key in on is John C Reilly’s mention of Muhammad Ali. Ali was formerly known as Cassius Clay…our 4th round pick at #108 overall is Cassius Marsh.

I had to watch that a 3rd time today to pick out a few things. 1) There IS a mention of an alligator = possibly confirms the rumors of Seahawk interest in Florida Gator Dom Easley. 2) But then at 3:44, Robin Williams boldly declares, "TIGER", and later talks about the BRITish open. This is my guess for the moment Carroll references Missouri Tiger Justin Britt. 3) The fact there are two interesting/valid possibilities here makes me wonder if this isn’t true for ALL of these clues. And THAT would be some serious Jedi-mind-trick shit.

One of the two SUPER obvious clues, in retrospect. We drafted two players of first name Kevin, so a Kevin Hart clue represents either Kevin Norwood or Kevin Pierre-Louis. We’ll narrow this down in a moment.

This one is the most abstract, and the one I struggled with, until Chris Sullivan mentioned this to me:

I quickly put one and one together…Will Ferrell’s father in "Step Brothers" was played by Oscar nominated actor RICHARD Jenkins…Ferrell was Richard’s stepson…Richardson…Paul Richardson.

Buuuut…in full disclosure…Ferrell’s character in that was Brennan Huff, which could easily have represented Oregon WR and VMAC visitor Josh Huff. Again, another instance of the clues possibly, intentionally containing two answers. So as not to tip the Seahawks’ hand entirely.

Ferrell’s costar in this clip is, of course, Sean William Scott. Scott represents 6th round pick Garrett Scott.

Another clue that becomes so obvious in hindsight…Louis CK = Kevin Pierre-Louis. This means the Kevin Hart clue was for Kevin Norwood. Done and done.

Heading in to the draft, the Seahawks held 6 draftpicks. Pete Carroll gave 7 clues. Assuming the 1st clue was in fact to tip off the trade down, the other six clues would represent the 6 draftpicks the Seahawks held at that time. And those six clues end up representing picks: 2a, 2b, 4a, 4b, 4c, and 6a. The only players not represented by clues were pick 5b (Jimmy Staten), 6b (Eric Pinkins), and 7 (Kiero Small). But, like I suggested, those weren’t necessarily players they knew they could get on Thursday.

Love to hear any comments, contrary theories, or alternate suggestions you may have!