Pete Carroll: Officials will use 'new' signal to indicate ineligible receivers

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Bill Belichick has frustrated many an opponent by sneakily substituting ineligible receivers in and out of offensive plays this postseason. But Pete Carroll has done his part to make sure his counterpart with the Patriots can't pull a fast one on the Seahawks in the Super Bowl.

Carroll told reporters Thursday that he called the NFL office after the AFC championship game to make sure the Seahawks would be given proper notification of such substitutions. He said he was assured that the officiating crew will make clear which receivers are ineligible on a given play by using a specific hand signal.

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"They're going to have a new signal that designates when a player is, with an ineligible number, will be eligible — that's the same," Carroll said. "But when an eligible number is now ineligible, they're going to make a new declaration to the players on the field, so that you'll clearly identify that. I know the league is absolutely committed to getting that right and doing that well. The Patriots have brought that to the forefront, because they've been using some stuff like that lately."

Carroll noted that officials made a mistake during the game when an ineligible Patriots receiver remained in the game on a two-play sequence when Nate Solder broke free for a wide-open touchdown catch. The touchdown should have been called back.

NFL vice president of officiating Dean Blandino conceded that the officating crew made an error on the play. He also said that the signals, which will be an arm-crossing motion at the knees for a player reporting as ineligible, are not new for the Super Bowl like Carroll said. He said officials also used them during the AFC championship.

Nevertheless, Carroll and the Seahawks have been preparing all week to make sure they don't become the latest to look foolish in the face of Belichick's schemes.

"We've been preparing for it every day, because we don't want to be caught in a mishandling on our end," Carroll said. "So it's really on us to see it — the officials do what they do — but we still have to find it, because it could happen like it did to the Colts.

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Brandon Schlager is an assistant managing editor at The Sporting News.