The Las Vegas Raiders have enjoyed a successful offseason in the first year of the Pete Carroll experience. Whether that will translate into success on the field is still yet to be determined, but the optimism surrounding the franchise is the highest it has been in years.
Carroll and general manager John Spytek made tons of changes to the roster during free agency and the draft, and Raider Nation is chomping at the bit to see the team's new players in a game setting, even if it is just the preseason.
As fate would have it, the Raiders are traveling to play the Seattle Seahawks in their first preseason game on Thursday evening. This is where Carroll spent the bulk of his NFL coaching career and crossed paths with players like Geno Smith and Jamal Adams, who are both now in Las Vegas as well.
Mike Macdonald expects Seahawks fans to cheer for Pete Carroll and Geno Smith
Earlier this week, Mike Macdonald, Carroll's successor as the head coach of the Seahawks, spoke to the media about the potentially heightened emotions as Carroll and Smith return to Seattle. He said what all Raiders fans expected him to say about Carroll's first game at Lumen Field as the opposing coach.
"We should be cheering Pete when he gets here, we should be cheering Geno, how can we not? We should be cheering those guys," Macdonald said. "I hope Pete gets a great ovation; he deserves it."
This is a classy thing for Macdonald to say, but it is also the proper way to honor arguably the most legendary figure in the franchise's history. Carroll brought the Seahawks their only Super Bowl victory and helped the team become a mainstay in the playoffs for 14 years.
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Various reports have indicated that the Seahawks intend to honor Carroll, Smith and Adams with a tribute video before the game. Returning to their former homes should be emotional enough, but it is nice to know that the Silver and Black have people in the building worth honoring.
Carroll, however, downplayed the supposed tribute video in Tuesday's media availability. The Raiders' new coach is attempting to take the emotion out of the game and focus all of his energy on the Silver and Black.
"It's the only game we got. (It) happens to be in Seattle," Carroll said. "I loved my time in Seattle, and (I) love the fans and the people that we met and dealt with and competed with. But it's a game for us. We're going to go play ball."