SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES
Pete Carroll recounts one of his favorite pranks
Oct 10, 2014, 12:25 PM | Updated: 12:48 pm
Legendary singer Bill Withers addresses Pete Carroll and the USC Trojans in one of Carroll's favorite pranks of all-time. (USC image)
(USC image)
When the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced Bill Withers was among the nominees for next year’s induction class this week, it brought back memories for Pete Carroll of one of his favorite pranks.
The Seahawks’ head coach recounted the story in his weekly visit with KIRO Radio’s Dori Monson.
It happened when Carroll was coaching at USC. His players – including Seahawks linebacker Malcolm Smith – were joyfully singing Withers’ classic “Lean on Me” in the locker room.
“It’s kind of a good team bonding type song. We were just having a good time with it,” Carroll says.
“I knew that Bill was in town, so I just put a call out to him and told him ‘hey our guys are singing your song, I think it’s pretty cool.'”
Carroll invited Withers to swing by the team facility, and the singer jumped at the chance.
Ever the prankster, Carroll figured it was a great chance to “punk” the players.
The team facilities at the time “were kind of nasty,” with standing water in the showers, Carroll says.
So Carroll and Withers cooked up a scheme, telling the team that an NCAA official was coming in to warn them about the dangers of foot fungus.
“So he comes in and just gives them this terrible speech, how he had been afflicted with the same kind of fungus when he was growing up as a young man, and so he set his whole life in order to work to try to better the situation for other people, just went on and on and on,” Carroll laughs.
Withers told the team they would need to be fitted with hip boots they’d have to wear whenever they showered, and his daughter brought along some boots to demonstrate.
They had no idea who Withers actually was, and bought it hook, line and sinker until the singer couldn’t keep it up any longer. He disclosed his true identify, telling them they’d been “punked.”
The team gave him a rousing welcome after learning his true identity.
Withers no longer sings because of a medical condition, so the players wheeled over an old piano in the team room. They pulled up some of his hits on YouTube and sang to him, including a rousing rendition of “Lean on Me,” Carroll says.
“It was really an incredible event for us and we had a great time. He’s been a great fan of ours for a long time,” Carroll says.
