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NFL: How did rivalry between San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks begin
- The San Francisco 49ers will face Seattle Seahawks in week 2 of 2022 NFL season
- Their rivalry began with the appointments of Jim Harbaugh and Pete Carroll
- The 49ers were defeated in the opening week of the 2022 season while the Seahawks won
The San Francisco 49ers will face arch-rivals Seattle Seahawks in week 2 of 2022 NFL season. The 49ers were beaten by the Chicago Bears in their 2022 season opener, while the Seahawks defeated the Denver Broncos in their opening game. Their next game will be one of the most anticipated matches of the new season and both teams are looking forward to register a win. Let’s take a look at how their rivalry began.
The earliest introduction to the rivalry between the 49ers and the Seahawks started with their coaches, Jim Harbaugh and Pete Carroll. The 49ers and Seahawks, while they did not like each other much, appointed them in 2011 and 2010 respectively.
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The two teams shared the same division and tension existed between them since the early 2000s. They were also never title contenders at the same time and the difference of quality was huge. Harbaugh and Carroll brought a sense of rivalry from Stanford and USC.
Some say that the rivalry began with a heated exchange between the two coaches after a game in 2009, when they last played college football. Harbaugh went up 48-21 in that match and approached Carroll for a conversation. The conversation attempt was unsuccessful but it did not go well with Carroll, and resulted in a strange handshake after the match.
Teams coached by Harbaugh have defeated Carroll’s teams six times in the Pac-12 division and NFC West, compared to the three wins of the latter. Harbaugh has also won four times against Carroll in the NFL, compared to the latter’s two victories. However, the 49ers’ boss has not won in his previous two visits in Seattle, which are also his only two defeats against Carroll in the NFL.
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Both the coaches have poached players from the other’s team regularly. It started with the 49ers, whose GM Scot McCloughan and tailback Michael Robinson were poached by Seattle. Defensive lineman and former first-round pick Kentwan Balmer is another player who has been poached by Seattle in the past.
In the 2011 NFL draft, Harbaugh passed on his former player Richard Sherman for Chris Culliver. Carroll drafted him in the fifth round.
Meanwhile, the 49ers’ approach has become more aggressive since 2011 in the NFL draft. They have drafted second wide receivers Braylon Edwards, to Randy Moss to Anquan Boldin, always paying more than the previous time. They also went head to head for rookie wide receiver Chris Harper, who is currently playing for Green Bay Packers.
The two coaches have also taken the occasional jab at each other since they were appointed. However, it has been the Seahawks who have borne the brunt of it as many of their players were handed suspensions for violation of NFL’s substance abuse policy.
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Jim Harbaugh spoke on the issue, saying he “definitely noticed” it. He also went on to say that he wanted his team’s players to be “above reproach.”
“If you cheat to win, then you’ve already lost,” Harbaugh said to Matt Maiocco of CSN Bay Area.
The two coaches have been at each other’s throats for more than a decade. The addition of personal history, high-voltage games and quirky interactions has now resulted in animosity. One way or the other, the upcoming game between the 49ers and the Seahawks will certainly write the next chapter of their rivalry.
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