Chris Carson loves dogs, running through defenders, and the new direction of the Seahawks

Field Gulls had the opportunity to interview Seattle Seahawks running back Chris Carson, hosted by our own Brandan Schulze alongside Clinton Bonner. The full interview is available on our usual Field Gulls podcast, but here is an immediate reaction to what we discussed.

The question everybody wants to know, is whether we’ll even see Carson on the field this year. Pete Carroll has indicated some things in recent days, and unfortunately we’ll still have to wait and see. Carson said he’s “taking it slow and trying to get my body right. I know there’s a lot of reports out there.”

We were never going to get anything new about his neck injury.

You may have seen Carson talk about his Cane Corso from the Seahawks social media last month, and he was excited to talk about his dog Sosa.

“I just love dogs. A Corso is an Italian Mastiff, they get to 130-150 lbs, but they’re super gentle. They’re gentle giants. I fell in love when I seen my first one up in Seattle.”

We also asked about the new look of the team, specifically Russell Wilson and the rest of the departures. The response here was interesting.

“Everybody’s young. They’re coming in trying to learn, trying to get better. And it’s starting to show. It’s still early, what you see until you put pads on. But everything is moving in the right direction.”

Take what you will about the concept that everything is moving in the right direction. It could simply be about young players going to practice and learning things. But that’s a less likely option in my mind than an overall indication about the team. I’d be curious whether that’s about this offseason alone, or a deeper reference to some of the suboptimal communication, friction, and philosophy that has leaked out for a couple of years.

This summer, the team has had a chance to breathe after hitting the full restart button with the trade and some huge free agent departures. Or it could be a simple acknowledgement to things like when all three top leaders in the Seattle organization released official statements that Russell Wilson wanted something different than the current trajectory of the team. With so few veterans remaining it’s unavoidable that camp this year feels newer, hungrier, different.

Clinton asked Carson about his favorite game or play. You might think the flip against the Carolina Panthers, but no, he was most proud of bulldozing a double team against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Beyond that, he indicated the team trip out to London to play the Oakland Raiders was one of the highlights of his career. He said it’s a way to bond with teammates like no other experience.

And then at the end of the day this interview was set up with USAA, and as part of the deal Chris Carson gave tight end Noah Fant a tour of Seattle. So we asked about Fant as a new teammate:

“He is crazy athletic. Noah loves to work, he’s going to continue get better. He’s somebody who likes to study. He’s a good guy.”

As the highest pick of the players that came to the Seahawks in the trade, Fant has been a reputable tight end already in his early career, and I’m sure Pete Carroll had an eye on his drive and work ethic.

Carson did not reveal his secret favorite spots that he showed Fant, but did agree that the Pike Place fish throwing is very cool.

Full interview below!