The Seattle Seahawks are a mess and Pete Carroll is ‘Mr. Fix It.’ For Carroll it’s a third chance to try and prove his head coaching skills at the next level. But don’t expect the speedy turnaround he accomplished at USC. It won’t be that easy. Seattle’s got more holes than Pete’s got draft picks. None the less, Carroll was on the lookout at this past week’s minicamp to fill some of those gaps. Out of the 17 players to attend the minicamp on a tryout basis, only two have so far been signed by the team. Both former USC Trojans. And they may sound familiar: wide reciever Mike Williams and fullback Ryan Powdrell.

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Yes, THAT Mike Williams. The 10th pick overall in the 2010 draft. He still exists. Only he’s not the Williams we’ve grown to expect, that overweight, washed up statistic with a chip on his shoulder. He’s dropped nearly 40 pounds off his body and shed even more off his attitude. He almost looks and acts like the player we once all believed he could be. For Williams it’s a fourth chance. A chance to show he has something left in the tank, that his college brilliance was more than just a fluke. And the truth is no one but Carroll would have given it to him. Not after the way he’s performed. Do I expect much from Williams? -No. He hasn’t given me a reason to. But I’m open to being surprised.

And Ryan Powdrell? If it rings a bell, let me refresh your memory. The guy with the sideways foot. For Powdrell it’s his fourth chance too, after stints with the Packers the Bucs and the Steelers. 5th chance if you consider what looked like a career ending injury against Nebraska 2006, re-establishing the definition of a twisted ankle. So far Powdrell hasn’t had any NFL touches. But Carroll could change that. He’s not afraid to throw the fullback into the mix, and the Seahawks only have one other on the roster: Owen Schmitt. No mind Schmitt’s one psycho SOB, known to smack his own face in until it bleeds.

So Carroll’s filling his ragtag team with some ragtag ex-USC players. Yeah, everyone else gave up on them. Yeah, they were left for dead. Yeah, Carroll’s probably crazy to sign them. But to quote Hunter S. Thompson, “If you’re going to be crazy, you have to get paid for it or else you’re going to be locked up.” And that’s what they’re paying for up in Seattle. Carroll’s crazy.

So lift your glasses to second chances. And fifth chances too. This is America. Where the underdog is king. Where everyone loves a comeback. All I know is Mike Williams is probably asleep in bed right now, dreaming of some trick play in some not so distant future, a Williams touchdown pass to Matt Hasselback to win the 2011 Super Bowl. It could happen…

It wont.

But it could…

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