Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll responds to Jamal Adams mocking reporter's wife
Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll commented on the controversy surrounding safety Jamal Adams, saying the franchise doesn't "want to be a part of" Adams mocking the wife of a reporter who was critical of him.
"We’ve already addressed it with him," Carroll said during a press conference on Wednesday. "I don’t know if it was a great decision at the time. I’m not sure about the details of it but I know that he realized that he needed to take it down."
Adams might have deleted his post, which mocked the appearance of a New York journalist's wife, but he didn't appear remorseful or offer an apology on Wednesday. Instead, he doubled down on his social media post and said: "I hate that I had to bring her into the situation, but at the end of the day, the ultimate goal was to get at him."
Here's everything to know:
What happened?
The incident started when SNYtv journalist Connor Hughes reshared a video on X, formerly Twitter, of Adams allowing Dallas Cowboys tight end Jake Ferguson to score a go-ahead touchdown in the Cowboys' 41-35 win over the Seahawks on "Thursday Night Football." Hughes captioned the video, "Yikes." Adams responded by captioning a picture of Hughes and his wife "Yikes." Adams' social media post, which was later deleted, instantly sparked backlash.
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"We don't want to be part of that," Carroll said on Wednesday.
Jamal Adams: 'When others go low, I go lower'
Despite Carroll saying he addressed the post with Adams, the three-time Pro Bowler doubled down on his social media exchange with the reporter and said "when others go low, I go lower."
"Oh, it's always the athlete crossed the line when he responds," Adams said Wednesday, according to ESPN. "But at the end of the day, disrespect is disrespect. However you want to take it. So I responded. I knew when I did hit that tweet, I wasn't in it to win it. At the end of the day, it was to get him to understand to leave me the hell alone."
Jamal Adams says he has 'history' with reporter
Adams said he and Hughes "have history" and that the two "never liked each other."
Adams was selected out of LSU by the New York Jets with the sixth overall pick in the 2017 NFL draft and played three seasons in New York before he was traded to Seattle in July 2020. Hughes has covered the Jets since 2014, most recently for The Athletic and SNY, according to his LinkedIn profile.
"It's been personal with him and I ever since I've been with the Jets," Adams said. "I just got fed up with it, bro. It was just the end of it, and I knew this only thing right here that I was going to tweet was going to hurt him. Anything else I would have said wouldn't have hurt him, but he got my point and he knows not to continue to mess with me."
Jamal Adams' latest controversy
Adams has been involved in on- and off-field incidents this season. In October, he was fined $50,000 for inappropriate conduct toward a doctor, his second incident with a league doctor in as many games.
According to CSB Sports, Adams "directed verbal remarks and made inappropriate physical contact" with an unaffiliated neurotrauma consultant (UNC) who was walking Seattle receiver Jake Bobo toward the blue medical tent for evaluation during the Seahawks' 17-13 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 6.
The incident followed Adams' sideline outburst directed at a doctor after he sustained a concussion in his return to the football field in the Seahawks' Week 4 "Monday Night Football" win over the New York Giants after he missed nearly all of 2022 with a quadriceps injury.