No Surprise Pete Carroll’s Seahawks 1st Team Visiting LA

RENTON (AP) — During his decade in Los Angeles, Pete Carroll felt the void.

Even though USC football was the biggest thing in the Los Angeles area during the 2000s and Carroll was the architect behind the dominant Trojans, there was something missing in the football community without the NFL.

"It just didn't feel right," Carroll said. "There was a hole there that was so obvious. That's why the league was so adamant and so diligent about staying with it and eventually getting it done."

Perhaps it's just coincidence — but most likely not — that Carroll's Seattle Seahawks will be the first visiting NFL team to play in Los Angeles in 22 years when they face the Rams on Sunday. Six other teams will visit the Coliseum this season. Many of those will have a number of players from California, typically one of the top states for producing NFL players.

But few of those will match the connections and history that the Seahawks have.

Carroll has the most obvious history from his nine years as the head coach at USC. He arrived at USC under heavy scrutiny as a twice-fired NFL reject and made the Trojans champions again.