Part 7: A Knock At The Door

Englewood, CO – December 27, 2022

The housekeeping was of a very frugal kind, but 5 & 12 will do that to an organization. A franchise that had been swift to remove all traces of the prior previous regime had worked double time to delete any and all signs of the past immediate tenant. After all, it’s not like they didn’t have experience in this field.

Christmas Day had delivered to the Broncos a large lump of coal in the form of a 51-14 loss to the Rams. It was a complete embarrassment for the franchise, as it appeared the team had quit live on the field & during the game. Two interceptions inside four minutes helped build a 17-point deficit before the First Quarter had even ended, and the game just trundled along from that point. A 31-6 score at the half had the broadcasters openly speculating about Nathaniel Hackett’s continuing viability in the position.

By the next morning, they would have his head.

It had been hoped that they might escape the season without having to do the deed so publicly. In fact, no Broncos head coach had ever gone one-and-done in their history. But the team had lost five straight coming out of their bye, and this third-straight losing season was the first such stretch for the team dating back to 1971. Even at that, going for “half a loaf” in the 1971 home opener cost Lou Saban his job eight games into his fifth season as head coach. He’d had two winners before starting his losing streak. They got Nate Hackett after just 15 games.

Further sullying the situation was that Hackett had been replaced by Jerry Rosburg, who had been hired in Week 3 to assist him because of his “game management issues” – like attempting field goals from outside the kicker’s range – that had become apparent to anyone who was paying attention. This was the first time his competency for the position had been called out during a broadcast. But what happened in Los Angeles on Christmas Day, and the public way his decisions were questioned, forced the team’s hand.

Rosburg took the head job knowing he would also be done by the end of the season. He didn’t need to worry about auditioning for another team. He had been in comfortable retirement when the Broncos came calling to help bail out their mistake, so he knew that whatever happened during the season wasn’t going to be laid at his feet. If he had been a younger man, people might have thought him in a dangerous position; but he had already retired from The League once before, so all he was looking to do with this house money he’d been gifted was end this relationship on a positive note,

The Broncos managed to give an old man his dying final wish, as they were presented a 31-28 win over a Chargers team that had their own dangerous combination of nothing to play for – because their playoff position had been locked up before the game – and a head coach that was trying to show the world how smart he was. Brandon Staley was tired of the conversation not being about him, so he decided to change the narrative by playing starters long after it was necessary. While it didn’t result in a victory or anything they could use a week later in Jacksonville, it did result in them losing WR Mike Williams to a back fracture, reducing the number of targets Justin Herbert would have the following week – just the kind of challenge Staley cherished, Chargers curse be damned.

Back at his desk in Denver, George Paton knew there was no advantage to having a head start on Black Monday, as most of the good candidates were still under contract and still actively working. Hell, he was lucky to have survived the purge himself, having been able to put this most obvious failure down as the last gasp of the Elway regime. But now here was no turning back. He had fired Nathaniel Hackett knowing that his next choice would make or break both him and the franchise. He had to get this one right, or he’d be no better than the guy who drafted Tim Tebow; worse off, even, because Charlie Church at least won a playoff game.

As he sat alone in his office, poring over the mountain of resumes and recommendations, he opened the bottle of Johnny Red he kept in his secret drawer. None of the assembled names made any marketing sense. Tumbler after tumbler, he wasn’t seeing anything that would let the fanbase know that the team was serious about retaining the glory of even the early-10s teams. He just sat at his desk, looking at papers but also staring into oblivion.

As he drifted off into unconsciousness, a vision popped into his head. It was blurry, but it was the first real idea he’d had all week. Maybe if he concentrated, he could make out what his subconscious was telling him.

He knew it was a harbinger, but was it an angel or a demon? He hoped to know more in the morning. That Johnny Red sure brought the pain.

Renton, WA – January 16, 2023

Not since the “Beastquake” season has Pete Carroll felt such a rush. Sure, they didn’t go as far into the playoffs as that memorable first year, but what it took to get there was the whole reason he stuck around.

They certainly didn’t make it easy on themselves. The run defence cost them otherwise winnable games against the Raiders and Carolina. The Raiders game, coming right after the bye, should have been their chance to shake off the doldrums of the loss to Tampa Bay. But 300-yards of rushing is not something that can be ignored for long, unlike emails about black players and cheerleaders.

But the NFL did the Seahawks dirty in Week 18, scheduling them for mid-afternoon and making the Packers vs Lions the night game. The bulletin board message was made crystal clear – if the Seahawks lost, then the night game was the marquee matchup for the wild card. He knew the league barely tolerated the franchise at all. They came into existence partly to offset the addition of another team in Florida. Al Davis even tried to object to the franchise’s creation because of his “geographical protections” – a laughable claim given the distance between the cities and the fact that San Francisco didn’t have any objections, even though both new franchises would be joining the Niners division. So to see them scheduled for the afternoon seat, and given the league’s expectation that they would lose, didn’t concern Pete Carroll one bit.

Given that he knew they would win the game – well, that validated everything that happened. But the outpouring that followed? That wasn’t his problem.

Now, Pete Carroll had been present for the “Fail Mary” game, and the locals still won’t shut up about Super Bowl XL, so he doubted that the game against the Rams was actually “the worst officiated game of the season”. Besides, it had gone in their favor, so the tally was 2-1 in their favor. Who was he to bring up any complaints? He was getting a playoff check AND a performance bonus just for getting the team to San Francisco.

^{He had been looking forward to the drive south.}

Now, the game against San Francisco – that was really a foregone conclusion before it even kicked off. Again, the NFL had no interest in seeing the Seahawks advance, so they made them – once again – the first game of the weekend. Much like their mom, the league office was telling the fans what they wanted to hear. Never mind steel beams, THIS was the investigation Pete Carroll felt needed to be undertaken.

But that conspiracy was for another day. He was packing up his desk for a couple of weeks. He knew he’d be back February 1st to start the process again, a situation which gave him great relief especially given how the 2021 season had ended. What the team had done in 2022 was nothing short of a miracle. The franchise’s greatest-ever quarterback had left in acrimony, and the team somehow improved. They had made the playoffs, which took the heat off the franchise as a whole. The Broncos had shit the bed, which added some flavor to the draft. All that needed to be done was to sign who needed to be signed before Free Agency started on March 15th, and then they could begin planning for the upcoming season. He knew nothing was guaranteed, but he was due to be around until 2025, and he had $11 million reason to ensure he saw that through. And as he worked his way through his passionfruit iced tea, his thoughts turned to the brighter days ahead,