NFL

Carroll: Marino’s fake spike was season-killer for Jets

As the Seahawks charter flight made its way across the country and landed in Newark, coach Pete Carroll said he did not think about his personal return to a region where he forged his NFL résumé, until football disaster struck.

But Carroll, the former Jets defensive coordinator and, briefly, their head coach, has considered this improbable journey from where he was to where he now is, less than a week away from leading his team into Super Bowl XLVIII.

“I have thought about it quite a bit,’’ said Carroll, looking relaxed, wearing a beige patterned sports jacket as the Seahawks met the media in Jersey City. “I always loved playing in New York, I had a chance to be here for five years. Having a chance to be a head coach in New York is extraordinary because of the history and the following and all that goes along with that. Unfortunately it didn’t last very long. It was a great experience. I’m proud to come back here and coach in a game like this with this status. It’s a special honor to do that.’’

Carroll served as Bruce Coslet’s defensive coordinator with the Jets for four years before he was promoted in 1994 to head coach. The boyish Carroll had the Jets at 6-5 and in the playoff hunt until that fateful Nov. 17 game against the Dolphins at the Meadowlands. The Jets held a 24-21 lead when, with 30 seconds remaining, it looked as if Dan Marino would spike the ball to stop the clock with the Dolphins on the Jets’ 8-yard line. Marino yelled “Clock, clock, clock’’ and motioned he was going to spike the ball. What followed was why this game is forever called “The Spike Game.’’

Instead of spiking the ball, Marino shocked the Jets by throwing a pass to a wide-open Mark Ingram, as the Jets defense, including rookie cornerback Aaron Glenn, relaxed. The Dolphins won 28-24 and the Jets did not win another game the rest of the season. It was the impetus for Carroll’s departure, as he was fired after the season, replaced by the ill-fated Rich Kotite.

“When you look back at it, that’s what you would point to because we lost four games after that as well,’’ said Carroll, who seemed to expect a question about The Spike Game. “There was a time in that game we were ahead and doing great and it just kind of went south on us. That play has been a pretty famous play. I’m glad for Dan. But it was a moment where things turned. I didn’t feel it turn but the next couple of weeks we just couldn’t get it right. It could have been entirely different if we could have hung on and won that game. It was one of the seasons I recall we didn’t finish very well and we’ve gotten a little better than that in the years since then.’’