Getty Jamal Adams received a rare game ball from the Seahawks.
Pete Carroll broke one of his own rules to hand out a rare game ball after the Seattle Seahawks’ blowout win over the New York Jets. During his post-game press conference, Carroll revealed the team awarded a game ball to Jamal Adams after the safety broke the NFL regular season sack record for a defensive back. Adams notched his 8.5 sack of the season by taking down former teammate Sam Darnold to break the previous NFL record of eight.
“We don’t give game balls around here,” Carroll explained. “We just haven’t done that, we do other things, but we don’t do that. But today, with the record that Jamal Adams set with being the all-time ever sacker as a defensive back, it was just worthy of a game ball to commemorate it. What a fantastic football player. He is just an incredible player and, you know, he’s not done yet. He’s going to get some more numbers before the season’s over.”
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Carroll Cited the Significance of Adams Breaking the Record Against His Former Team
Carroll added that the achievement held extra significance since Adams was able to break the record against his former team. Adams accomplished the sack record despite spending a good portion of the early part of the season sidelined with a groin injury.
“There’s a little emotional side of it too, because it’s against the Jets and just the team he played for,” Carroll continued. “It’s not a big deal, but there’s something when you play for another club and all that there’s something special. I know I feel it all the time, too. So, I’m really proud for him and happy for him. The first thing he did was thank everybody and give credit to everybody around him which is the humble guy he’s been ever since he got here.”
Adams on Breaking the Record: ‘We’re All in It Together’
Adams was asked about the significance of earning the game ball since it does not happen often for the franchise. During his media session, the Seahawks star safety expressed gratitude and emphasized how important it is to recognize milestones throughout the season.
“Yeah, that was pretty cool just to receive that, but again that just shows the class of this organization and how much they support me and vice-versa,” Adams said of the gesture. “We’re all in it together, right and when someone achieves something pretty big, makes history. We always show love to that person, because we play this game, the game that we love, [and it] is not always promised. We don’t know when our last game or play is going to be. It’s a short window so we have to maximize every opportunity that we get when we’re on the field.”
Adams has only played in nine games this season, and it will be interesting to see just how much the safety can add to the record. More important than the feat, the Seahawks bounced back from a poor performance in Week 13 to get another victory.
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