With one truly bad decision in one game, he's become the national symbol for screwing up on the job, a human version of New Coke.
"Yeah, our company was doing pretty well, but then they hired a new manager and he Pete Carroll-ed us right into Chapter 11."
Even non-football fans know who Carroll is, for the wrong reason.
It can't be easy. You can bet that Carroll is meeting with PR experts on the best way to handle this sudden unwelcome notoriety. He had a sit-down with Matt Lauer on NBC's "Today Show," by midweek, probably the first step in the effort to rehab the image that took a hit when his boneheaded call led to losing the Super Bowl.
The ultimate fix would be winning Super Bowl 50, but that's far from a sure thing and it's still 51 weeks away anyway.
Sometimes when your biggest mistake comes on the biggest stage, you wind up wearing it.
Bill Buckner played 22 seasons in the major leagues, hit .289 in that career and even won a batting title. But he's forever the guy who let the ground ball go through his legs to turn the tide in the 1986 World Series.
Ralph Branca appeared in 322 major league games, but it all comes down a single pitch, the one that Bobby Thomson hit to win the 1951 playoff for the Giants.
The 133 field goals that Scott Norwood kicked for the Bills don't matter. The attempt that's remembered is the one from 47 yards that sailed wide right in Super Bowl XXV.
That single moment can provide a spotlight that warms for a lifetime. Just ask Bill Mazeroski and Franco Harris.
But if your signature moment is a blunder, it can be an albatross that never quite goes away.
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--ON FURTHER REVIEW...
While there's no denying the pass vs. run decision was awful, let's also remember that quarterback Russell Wilson had no business throwing the ball into traffic.
If the play wasn't going to unfold with an uncontested game of catch between the quarterback and receiver, the ball needed to be thrown where no one could get it. Stop the clock, regroup and try again.
Let's also acknowledge that Patriots rookie Malcolm Butler made an excellent play. It seemed as though "undrafted" was threatening to become his new first name, attached to him as though that status made the play call even more egregious.
Donnie Shell was also undrafted. He played in five Pro Bowls, and has been in the final 15 for Hall of Fame consideration.
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--OH, BEAU
Beau Bennett finally got his name off the Penguins' injury list and then managed to work his way into Mike Johnston's doghouse in no time.
It's probably this simple for Bennett: He has to find a way to be more conspicuous on the ice.
If that doesn't happen, they'll probably wind up trading him. If that happens, it will continue the Penguins' lousy record of finding and developing forwards.
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--MISSED OPPORTUNITY
The easiest thing in the world is spending someone else's money. So here goes.
You may be aware of Mayor Bill Peduto's participation in the hokey but popular CBS-TV show "Undercover Boss." The formula is employees who have been overlooked or undervalued get some bonus to either further their education or get some necessity they couldn't otherwise afford.
The Pittsburgh episode led to a stink over who was providing the $155,000 to make the dreams come true. The specific sticking point was the $25,000 given by Visit Pittsburgh, a tourism agency that may have been paying its share with tax dollars.
When that happened, it would have been a noble gesture if any (or all) of the local sports franchises had offered to cover that modest shortfall. After all, what's 25 grand when you sell water for $3 a bottle?
The local teams all have very profitable venues that were funded largely with public money, buildings that are not on the local tax rolls.
Offering to cover the payment would have been the kind of image bolstering that the teams usually embrace.
For either $25,000, or some share of that amount, they could have purchased a million dollars worth of good publicity.
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