In May 2024, the cost of an NHS prescription in England rose to £9.90 per item – and if you’re on multiple forms of medication that can result in a hefty payment each time you vist the pharmacy.
But did you know there’s a way of potentially cutting costs dramatically? Laura Potts, who suffers from a number of health ailments and has several prescription items herself, explains what you can do to save money.
“I take a lot of medication so I get a lot of prescription medication from the pharmacy each month,” she began in a TikTok video. “We’re talking seven or eight different boxes at a time.”
However, Laura pointed out: “You can actually get something called a prepayment certificate (PPC) where you can pay monthly, three-monthly or yearly at a set price.” Of course, this doesn’t apply to those that are exempt from payment for a variety of reasons.
“So if I was to pay for my seven or eight items every month, that would add up quite quickly,” Laura continued. “What I do now though is pay £11 per month and I get unlimited prescriptions with my PPC. It saves so much money as a chronically ill girl and that is a life-saver for me.”
Laura closed by revealing that a lot of people had “reached out to her” admitting they weren’t aware of PPCs, so she thought her video may prove useful to many others. “So if you’re someone that has to pay for prescriptions, look up NHS prepayment certificates,” she said.
“As a poor chronically ill person it’s incredible,” one TikTok user enthused. “You can also let your doctor know so they can prescribe things you may be able to get over the counter.”
A second person added: “Even for two boxes of medicine it saves you a lot. Some conditions you can also get exemptions such as diabetes for but you have to apply through the GP.” A third reacted in shock: “Wait, I never knew this – my cost of inhalers each month is like £54!”
A fourth penned: “I’m on Universal Credit due to multiple disabilities – I honestly couldn’t afford my meds without it.” Whilst a fifth hailed: “I have a prepaid certificate, my husband does too! Saving us together about £60-80/month!”
The NHS website advises:
“A PPC covers all your NHS prescriptions, including NHS dental prescriptions, no matter how many items you need. A PPC does not cover the cost of other health items, such as wigs and fabric supports.
There are 3 PPC options:
a 3-month PPC costs £32.05 and will save you money if you need more than 3 prescribed items in 3 months
a 12-month PPC costs £114.50 and will save you money if you need more than 11 prescribed items in a year
a hormone replacement therapy (HRT) PPC costs £19.80 and will save you money if you need more than 2 prescribed qualifying HRT items in a year.”
For further information, see the NHS’ PPC website here.
All NHS prescription charges abolished in Wales in 2007, followed by Northern Ireland in 2010 and Scotland in 2011.
Katy Perryis holding on to a core memory from her pregnancy journey. Four years after giving birth to her daughter, Daisy Dove Bloom, whom she shares with fiancé Orlando Bloom, the singer shared an interesting secret. In a recent interview with Capital FM, Perry revealed that she still keeps her pregnancy test stick from when she found out she was expecting her daughter. Furthermore, the star revealed that she kept it in a unique spot and it has something to do with Bloom.
Katy Perry keeps her pregnancy test stick with Orlando Bloom’s Legolas ears
On Wednesday, Katy Perry sat down with Capital FM to reflect on some of her “iconic” social media posts. Sharing a photo of her pregnancy test stick, the singer revealed that it dates back to when she discovered she was pregnant with Daisy. Perry further detailed how she informed fiancé Orlando Bloom of the news.
Perry recalled that Bloom wasn’t with her when she found out about her pregnancy. She remembered Facetiming him while she was on a hike to give him the good news. The singer then confessed to holding the pregnancy test stick close to her. When the host asked where she had kept it, the star revealed that it was in a “drawer with lots of things.”
Katy Perry further detailed about the spot, saying, “You know what else is in a drawer? It’s probably right next to Orlando’s Legolas ears.” The mother of one quipped that the stick and Bloom’s movie prop from “Lord of the Rings” were with all of their other important things. Meanwhile, fans could relate to Perry’s new revelation. Many took to the comments section of Captial FM’s post to confess that they too had kept their pregnancy test stick safely.
Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom welcomed their daughter, Daisy Dove Bloom, in August 2020. The singer announced her pregnancy as a surprise to her fans. She flaunted her baby bump in the music video for her song “Never Worn White” in March of the same year.
Originally reported by Varsha Narayanan on Momtastic.
CBS uses Sunday’s highly anticipated AFC Championship game to launch its prime-time midseason lineup, led by the premiere of Watson, starring Morris Chestnut as Sherlock Holmes’ sidekick, who returns stateside to solve contemporary medical mysteries. Sunday TV will be dominated by the NFC and AFC Championship games on Fox and CBS. BBC America launches a nature series exploring the wildlife and terrains of Asia. Turner Classic Movies marks the 100th birthday of screen legend Paul Newman.
Sergei Bachlakov / CBS
Watson
SUNDAY: There’s nothing elementary about the medical mysteries tackled by a certain Dr. John Watson (Morris Chestnut) and his young team of crack specialists at a Pittsburgh clinic named after Watson’s mentor, the presumably late (and unseen) Sherlock Holmes. The procedural series (unrelated to the CBS hit Elementary) opens with Holmes’ apparent death at Reichenbach Falls—you know what they say about TV shows where you never see the body—and six months later, Watson is back in doctor mode, unknowingly still a target of arch-villain Moriarty’s malign influence. Watson hopes to win back his soon-to-be ex-wife and medical director Mary (Rochelle Aytes), but first, there’s a puzzling case of a patient suffering with potentially fatal familial insomnia.
Sarah Stier/Getty Images
NFL Playoffs
SUNDAY: NFL Conference Championships, the games deciding who moves on to the Super Bowl in two weeks present classic matchups. First, on Fox, NFC East rivals No. 2 Philadelphia Eagles take on the resurgent No. 6 Washington Commanders, their third contest this year (each won their respective home game during the regular season). Then on CBS, the AFC’s No. 1 Kansas City Chiefs aims for a three-peat, once again facing No. 2 Buffalo Bills, their fourth post-season battle in the last five years, with the Bills hoping once and for all to take down the elusive Chiefs. (We know who Taylor Swift will be rooting for.)
BBC America
Planet Earth: Asia
SATURDAY: The vast continent of Asia offers an equally sprawling array of fascinating wildlife in an eight-part nature series narrated by the indefatigable Sir David Attenborough, who promises, “There’s nowhere else on earth with so many untold stories.” Adorable red pandas, Arctic polar bears, Himalayan wolves and Nepalese tigers are just a few of the marvels on display, but the series kicks off “Beneath the Waves” of the planet’s longest coastline, with highlights including glow-in-the-dark squid and relentless sharks hunting a school of Moorish idols in the Western Pacific.
EVERETT
Rachel, Rachel
SUNDAY: Paul Newman 100th Birthday Tribute starts at noon/11c, Turner Classic Movies. Few movie stars of the 20th century had the charisma and staying power of Paul Newman (1925-2008), celebrated on his 100th birthday with a daylong marathon that begins with his 1968 feature-film directorial debut, Rachel, Rachel, starring his wife Joanne Woodward. The lineup includes Newman’s breakthrough role as boxer Rocky Graziano in the 1956 biopic Somebody Up There Likes Me (2 pm/1c) and iconic Oscar-nominated performances in 1958’s Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (4 pm/3c), 1963’s Hud (6 pm/5c), and 1967’s Cool Hand Luke (8 pm/7c).
Helen Williams / Playground Entertainment and Masterpiece
All Creatures Great and Small
SUNDAY: The heartwarming drama’s latest episode is titled “Homecoming,” which tips off the unexpected return of a beloved character just in time for baby Jimmy’s christening. It’s an especially emotional episode for Siegfried (Samuel West), the infant’s godfather, who mitigates his joy with irritation over a particularly aggravating client. And Helen (Rachel Shenton) hopes to use the happy occasion to win over her mother-in-law (Imogen Clawson), a challenge that requires some canine intervention.
INSIDE WEEKEND TV:
From Roger Moore with Love (Saturday, 8/7c, The CW): Friends, family, and co-stars salute the former James Bond in a biographical portrait.
Mary J. Blige’s Family Affair (Saturday, 8/7c, Lifetime): The third installment of the Blige-produced movie series follows Kendra (Ajiona Alexus) and Ben (Da’Vinchi) as they face new relationship challenges after moving out of the city for a fresh start.
True Crime Watch: Oxygen True Crime’s Prosecuting Evil with Kelly Siegler (Saturday, 8/7c) returns for a second season, with the former Texas prosecutor revisiting one of her most difficult cases, involving the 1999 murder of Belinda Temple and her unborn child. On 48 Hours (10/9c, CBS), Anne-Marie Green reports on the 2021 “Ivy League Murder” of Yale grad student Kevin Jiang.
Saturday Night Live (Saturday, 11:30/10:30c, 8:30 pm/PT, NBC): Don’t be surprised if Timothée Chalamet lookalikes invade the Studio 8H stage when the Oscar-nominated star of A Complete Unknown returns for his third time as guest host and first time as musical guest, presumably channeling Bob Dylan. (The feature film Saturday Night, dramatizing the launch of the late-night series in 1975, begins streaming on Netflix on Saturday.)
The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper (Sunday, 8/7c, CNN): In “Operation Panda,” senior national correspondent David Culver goes behind the scenes with giant pandas Bao Li and Qing Bao as they leave China for the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington, D.C.
But while the company and its suitors (from Kevin O’Leary to Elon Musk to an AI company) try to work something out, in following the law, the short video social media platform is not yet back in app stores.
This means TikTokers, who either deleted the app beforehand or bought a new phone since then, are going cold turkey (or using the desktop version). And several forward-thinking entrepreneurs thought maybe they could make a buck.
The New York Times found some “unlocked with TikTok” listings for thousands—even tens of thousands on resale sites including Poshmark and eBay.
One eBay listing says “iPhone 14 Pro UNLOCKED! W/ TikTok” and is priced at $3,000. (Unlocked iPhone 14s are currently at Walmart and Best Buy for around $300 to $500.)
Poshmark, meanwhile, has an iPhone 13 Pro Max “with TikTok and Capcut” for $3,500.
Some listings are most likely a joke like this “cracked” iPhone on Facebook Marketplace with “TikTok never deleted” for $10,000 (down from its original $30,000).
Still, if anyone is buying the phones at these prices, they’re not admitting it—yet. If you’ve purchased one, please reach out. In the meantime, a new iPhone 16 (without TikTok) starts at $799.
U.Today – Samson Mow, maximalist and the chief executive officer at JAN3 and a few other companies, has addressed the debate of whether the cryptocurrency stockpile that the U.S. government may hold in the future should include any other cryptos except Bitcoin. He definitely believes it should hold nothing but BTC.
In particular, the JAN3 boss took aim at and the XRP cryptocurrency affiliated with this blockchain company. He also commented on multiple X posts criticizing Ripple and XRP and added fuel to that issue.
“There are still way more reasons” to hate XRP: Mow
Samson Mow is a renowned Bitcoin maxi who is often spotted criticizing major altcoins, like ETH and XRP, while calling altcoins “s-coins.” This time he has poured criticism on the Ripple-affiliated crypto.
In a recent tweet, Mow wrote that he has been seeing a lot of posts that list out reasons “why you should hate Ripple/XRP” and stated he wanted to add some perspective. His “perspective,” expectedly, was to solidify those reasons for hating the company and the token it works with.
The JAN3 boss tweeted: “You still don’t hate them enough and there are still way more reasons why you should hate them.”
Mow’s key argument against XRP in potential U.S. reserve
Samson Mow also touched on the debate that has recently emerged on the X platform on whether or not any cryptocurrencies apart from Bitcoin, such as XRP, should be added to the potential U.S. strategic crypto reserve.
Mow believes that adding anything else except Bitcoin to it means giving taxpayers’ money to companies and individuals that “printed their own token out of thin air.” Mow used Elon Musk’s D.O.G.E. rhetoric here since Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency are trying to reduce the excessive and wrongful spending of money paid into the budget by U.S. taxpayers.
As an example of such a company that prints tokens, Mow gave Ripple, saying that at the start of their career its founders “just pushed a button to make 100B tokens.”
On Friday, the founder Charles Hoskinson also stated that nothing except Bitcoin will be added to the U.S. strategic crypto reserve. He did not criticize Ripple or XRP, though. Lately, Hoskinson has been working with the Ripple team closely to launch their RLUSD stablecoin on Cardano.
Certain Walmart managers are getting a pay bump, pushing their total compensation, including stock grants and bonuses, to well over $600,000.
The nation’s largest private employer is raising the salary range for its market managers, who supervise store managers in about a dozen locations, from $130,000–$260,000 to $160,000–$260,000.
However, Walmart said that the majority of the 440 market managers across the US already fall within the new pay range.
The company is also raising its annual stock grant from $75,000 to $100,000 and increasing its bonus potential to up to 100% of their salary. That’s up from 90%.
Altogether, that totals around $620,000.
“Walmart is increasing base pay, bonus opportunity and annual stock awards for our Market Managers,” Walmart said in a statement, adding that the role is “key for our business and for serving our customers however they shop.”
The changes will take effect at the start of fiscal year 2026, which means the 100% bonus potential will be reflected in their March 2025 payout.
Employees will also get the $100,000 stock grant in April 2025, according to Walmart.
Certain Walmart managers are getting a pay bump, pushing their total compensation, including stock grants and bonuses, to well over $600,000. AP
This marks the latest in a series of investments the company has made in its hourly and salaried roles that began in 2015.
It also comes after a solid rise in wages and strong retail sales growth in December, as US employers hired more workers in a generally tight labor market.
Earlier this week, the company announced that US store managers would get a raise in February.
Beginning on Feb. 1, the current average salary for store managers of $117,000 will be raised to $128,000, the retail giant said.
Additionally, the annual bonus could be as high as 200% of base salary, if managers meet certain targets and profit metrics.
The company also launched a new bonus program for store hourly associates.
Walmart employees help customers at a self-service checkout kiosk in Miami, Florida store. Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Walmart’s minimum wage across the company is $14 an hour, although starting pay can be as high as $19 an hour depending on the store location.
FOX Business’ Chris Pandolfo contributed to this report.
Both the left and some Jewish leaders have expressed concern over an awkward gesture made by Elon Musk during a moment of exhilaration (“Nazi Fetish,” PostOpinion, Jonathan Turley, Jan. 23).
Critics interpreted the salute as an intentional depiction of a hateful Nazi gesture. However, this reaction seems politically motivated. The left continues to reel from the definitive loss of President Trump’s victory and appears willing to seize any opportunity to undermine an administration focused on carrying out the will of the people. This “salute” controversy seems to be the latest in a series of overblown reactions.
It is unfortunate that the same level of scrutiny was not directed toward the blatantly antisemitic mobs that disrupted college campuses and streets just a few months prior.
Anthony Bruno, Smithtown
NYPD AWOL
So it has come to light that some NYPD vehicles had their GPS systems unplugged (“Losing track of cops,” Jan. 19).
Officers came and went and no one knows what they were up to. It’s an amazing action of potential criminality from those that expected to follow the law.
There are other ways to track a car: Type the plate into the plate-reader network and presto. Let the subpoenas fly and get all of their phone records to track their whereabouts. Shame on them.
Mike Lapinga, Staten Island
Adams’ ICE stance
Hopefully Donald Trump showed Mayor Adams the door once the mayor indicated he wouldn’t able to assist the Feds in removing criminal immigrants living here illegally (“Eric: Trump’s ICE is on its own in Gotham,” Jan. 19).
All Adams and Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch are doing is using a bogus law as an excuse not to take action against these out-of-control thugs, who have brought mayhem across the city. President Trump is concerned about the safety of the American people and he will find a way to clean up the nation. In turn, it is time for New Yorkers to get this mayor out of Gracie Mansion.
Nicholas Maffei, Yonkers
Big frozen apple
New York has been engulfed by a polar vortex, with temperatures dropping into the single digits and wind chill factors well below zero (“Get ready for frozen Apple,” Jan. 20).
Just imagine if the Green New Deal zealots had their way and the residents and businesses of the city had no recourse to heating oil, natural gas or coal — all fossil fuels which in the eyes of the fanatics need to be eliminated. Of course, the most reliable non-fossil fuel, nuclear power, would not be available either since the “No Nukes” mob successfully pressured former Gov. Andrew Cuomo to force the shutdown of the Indian Point plant. The notion that solar and wind power alone could provide heat and electricity for the entire city is a pipe dream.
Dennis Middlebrooks, Brooklyn
Stringer’s vision
Mayoral hopeful Scott Stringer wants to hire 3,000 cops to make up for the loss of many officers retiring, quitting, or transferring to other police agencies (“Stringer: I’d hire 3K cops,” Jan. 17).
Good luck. New York is now down several thousand cops from years ago, despite Adams hiring 1,600 recently. Not surprisingly, new recruits are not flocking to become cops. The starting salary is approximately $58K in a city with the highest taxes and high rents. Can you blame people for not wanting to risk their lives that?
Joseph Valente, Staten Island
Want to weigh in on today’s stories? Send your thoughts (along with your full name and city of residence) to letters@nypost.com. Letters are subject to editing for clarity, length, accuracy, and style.
One of the attractions of investing through a Stocks and Shares ISA is the ability to pile up dividend income tax-free. Here is how an investor could use an ISA to target annual dividend income of over a thousand pounds.
Please note that tax treatment depends on the individual circumstances of each client and may be subject to change in future. The content in this article is provided for information purposes only. It is not intended to be, neither does it constitute, any form of tax advice. Readers are responsible for carrying out their own due diligence and for obtaining professional advice before making any investment decisions.
Taking a smart-yet-simple approach to investing
An amount like £20K is enough to diversify comfortably over, say, five to 10 shares. Rather than trying to find little-known growth shares, I generally (not always admittedly) prefer to stick to large, proven, blue-chip shares.
A proven business model and willingness to use free cash flows to pay dividends can be a positive indicator when it comes to setting up passive income streams from an ISA.
So I think the savvy investor could stick to companies they know in industries they understand.
By trying to buy when great shares look cheap then holding them for the long term, they could leave their Stocks and Shares ISA untouched for months and sometimes even years at a time while the income hopefully rolls in.
Time to think about asset allocation
There are different ways to diversify.
One would be to invest no more than, say, a quarter of the ISA in a single industry, even though some (such as tobacco and financial services) may be especially tempting because of their high yields.
Starting with a target yield in mind can be a dangerous game as it can lead the tail to wag the dog.
After all, no dividend is ever guaranteed and sometimes a high yield is a sign that the City expects a dividend cut — Vodafone (LSE: VOD) is a prominent example from the past year.
Rather, I think it makes sense to look at the likely long-term value of a share, versus its current valuation.
Lots of possible choices in the current market
Right now, I think there are quite a few strong, proven blue-chip companies in the London market selling for attractive valuations and with yields of 5%, 6%, 7% and even as high as 10% in some cases.
One example I think investors should consider for their Stocks and Shares ISA is, in fact,… Vodafone!
Why? The dividend cut may seem like bad news. But even after it, the telecoms share would still currently offer a prospective yield of around 5.6%.
Reducing the dividend also eases some cash flow pressures on the company. That could allow it to pay down more debt, something it has been making good progress on in recent years, although I still see its net debt of around £27bn as a risk — servicing, let alone repaying it, eats into profits.
The market for telecoms is huge and likely to stay that way — and mobile money is an additional growth driver.
Vodafone has a massive customer base and powerful brand. It is the market leader in multiple European and African markets and recently became the largest fibre provider in Germany.
Setting realistic expectations
As I said, I see quite a few shares to consider in the FTSE 100 with yields around that of Vodafone’s, or higher.
Sticking to that 5.6% as an average yield across the portfolio though, a £20K Stocks and Shares ISA could produce £1,120 of dividends each year.
The ISA is an excellent vehicle for building wealth and then generating a tax-free passive income. And this is something I plan to use to the fullest extent.
But using an ISA to generate £10,000 per month or £120,000 a year sounds hard, right? In the current market — given that an average 5% dividend yield is very achievable — this passive income target could be reached with £2.4m invested in stocks and shares.
That’s a lot of money. But it may surprise many investors to know that it’s also achievable. In fact, with 4,850 ISA millionaires in the UK in 2023, thousands of Britons could already be generating the type of passive income we’re talking about.
Please note that tax treatment depends on the individual circumstances of each client and may be subject to change in future. The content in this article is provided for information purposes only. It is not intended to be, neither does it constitute, any form of tax advice. Readers are responsible for carrying out their own due diligence and for obtaining professional advice before making any investment decisions.
Stock markets beat savings accounts time after time
Stock markets have consistently outperformed savings accounts over the long term, with several major indexes demonstrating this trend. The S&P 500, a benchmark for the US stock market, has delivered an average annual return of 10.13% since 1957. Even when adjusted for inflation, the real return remains impressive at 6.37%. This significant difference in returns can lead to substantial wealth accumulation over time.
Even though the FTSE 100 hasn’t performed that well over the past decade, long-term total returns are rather encouraging. In the 20 years from 2003 to 2023, FTSE 100 total shareholder returns came in at 241%, while the FTSE 250 has outperformed that — almost 600%.
In short, even when investing in relatively unexciting index-tracking funds, stocks and shares vastly outperform savings over the long run (although savings accounts are safer). And while past performance is no guarantee of future success, the track record of stock markets in developed economies — especially the US and UK — is very strong.
How the maths adds up
There are various ways to make the maths work and hit £2.4m. One way, as shown below, would be to max out the ISA contribution — £20,000 per year — for 23 years, and average 12% annualised returns. Some people may say 12% is ambitious and they’re right. But it’s still far below the Nasdaq’s total returns for the last decade — around 20%.
thecalculatorsite.com
One stock for the growth phase
Investors may want to look at some of my favourite stocks, including Celestica, Credo, and DXP Enterprise. However, novice investors may prefer to consider funds or trusts like Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust (LSE:SMT) for easy diversification.
The FTSE 100-listed investment trust typically invests in growth-oriented companies with Elon Musk’s SpaceX now representing the largest holding at 7.5%. This is followed by Amazon and MercadoLibre, among other big tech companies.
What’s more, the Baillie Gifford-managed fund has a reputation for picking these tech winners before they become household names. It’s a great track record and it’s one that has seen them deliver approximately 333% share price growth over the past decade.
Things to worry about? Well, some of its biggest holdings are Magnificent Seven stocks, which may underperform the market this year and beyond following terrific growth in previous years. That could, however, be mitigated by stronger performing mid-caps lower down in the portfolio. It’s a stock I hold, and I recently bought more for my daughter’s SIPP.
Pete Carroll is going to change the culture of the Las Vegas Raiders.
He’s going to make them competitive.
He’s going to make it all about the football.
What does any of that mean? It sounds like gobbledygook. After all, culture is nebulous, everyone in the NFL is competitive or they wouldn’t be there, and of course the game is about the football. So how is Carroll, new coach of the Raiders, going to change the trajectory of a franchise that hasn’t won a playoff game in 22 years?
Let’s look at what he did when he took over in Seattle in 2010. First of all, the “he’s going to change the culture” stuff didn’t sit well with those Seahawks who were there during the Mike Holmgren days. Those teams had good cultures too, winning five division titles between 1999 and 2007, and reaching the Super Bowl.
Holmgren retired after the 2008 season, Jim Mora was coach for a year, then the Seahawks brought in Carroll, who despite the dark clouds that had gathered at USC was still hugely in demand.
One of the first things he did with his new players is show them a film touching on the highlights of Seahawks history, from Steve Largent to Jim Zorn to the team that played Pittsburgh in the Super Bowl. (He’ll have plenty of footage of old Raiders highlights.) When the movie ended and the lights came up, he essentially told his players, “Hey, that’s great. We’re going to celebrate that history. But it’s over.” He took down the old pictures at the facility and started fresh.
That’s going to be sobering for the Raiders, who have so much reverence for their history. But this is a new era, and it has to be. With Tom Brady in ownership and Pete Carroll at the helm, this franchise is going to look different.
The message Carroll was sending: Honor the past, but for us to get where we’re going, it’s got to be about the future. We have a new way of thinking here. We have a new way of talking. We have a new way of doing everything.
Carroll explained to his players his path to this point and how it honed his philosophies. He talked about what he learned as coach of the New York Jets and New England Patriots, where he went a combined 33-31. He talked about the winning formula he developed at USC, how he embraced competitiveness at every turn.
“He did a great job of coming in and giving us his formula, his vision, his rules, what really mattered to him,” said Matt Hasselbeck, Seahawks quarterback at the time. “He brought enough guys with him that all spoke the same language. Even though we didn’t get a ton of one-on-one time with Pete, by the start of the season they could start a sentence and we could all finish the sentence. We knew what the right answer was.”
USC coach Pete Carroll holds up the national championship trophy after beating Oklahoma 55-19 in 2005.
(Al Messerschmidt / WireImage)
The deadwood was cleared off the roster. Nostalgia didn’t save anyone. If they embraced the program, carried the flag and helped the team, they would stay. Otherwise, there’s the door. There were definitely growing pains.
“I actually enjoyed it,” Hasselbeck said. “I wanted to hate it. I was turning 35 that year and here comes some college coach that’s having us do bag drills to start practice.”
There was an overhead sign on the way out to the practice field that read, “ALL IN.” Carroll positioned two strength coaches with clipboards and rosters, and they made note of which players jumped up to slap the sign with vigor, who barely tapped it, who ignored it.
“I thought it was great,” the quarterback said. “What I learned was the culture he was trying to instill was not that dissimilar to the culture we had. But it was much more clearly defined. And there was a clear emphasis on certain things.”
The phrase Carroll repeated was, “It’s all about the ball.”
At an early team meeting, he called up a defensive player and asked, “Are we going to have the hardest-hitting, most physical defense in the entire league?”
“Yes, Coach,” the player said. That’s an easy one.
“No,” the quarterback remembers Carroll saying. “I don’t give a damn about that. That’s not the formula. It’s all about the ball. I want the ball back.”
The mindset was, I don’t care how hard you hit someone. A tackle is a tackle. A six-yard gain is a six-yard gain. I want that football.
Dan Quinn, now head coach of the Washington Commanders, was in charge of the Seahawks defensive line at the time. Every Thursday, he would show the team still shots of that week’s opposing quarterback, running backs, receivers. How did they hold the football? Was their elbow above their wrist when they were cradling the ball? Was the ball low? Was there a gap in the armpit area where you could punch the ball loose?
Carroll didn’t put stock in having the roughest, toughest defense. He wanted the football.
Whenever there was a scrum for the ball in practice, everyone — players and coaches — would chant, “Dogpile! Dogpile! Dogpile!” Whoever emerged from that with the ball was treated like a conquering hero. It didn’t matter if that player dived in without the ball. All the better.
“He just created this atmosphere where in everything we were doing — everything — it was all about competition,” Hasselbeck said. “Everything is a competition. Literally everything.”
Seattle coach Pete Carroll celebrates during a game between the Seahawks and Chargers.
(Kyusung Gong / Associated Press)
That took some getting used to, as did the maniacal focus on stripping the ball and protecting the ball.
“The irony for me is that I really struggled with playing this version of, `Don’t turn the ball over. Don’t turn the ball over,’” Hasselbeck said. “It’s like when you’re in a golf match and someone says, `Hey, don’t leave it short.’ I wind up leaving it short.”
He said that early in the season he wound up playing like a teenager behind the wheel in driver’s ed. Tentative. Risk averse. And ultimately more prone to turnovers.
That’s the year the Seahawks won their division at 7-9. They were the first losing team to reach the postseason having played a full slate of games. They wound up beating New Orleans in the Beast Quake game, when the fan reaction to Marshawn Lynch’s touchdown run jiggled the seismology needles.
But it was in the lead-up to that game that Hasselbeck began to unclench. He had a conversation with position coach Jedd Fisch that went something like this:
“Hey, Matt, I saw you driving on the highway the other day, the 405. You’re an aggressive driver.”
“I grew up in Boston. It’s actually the safest way to drive. Better to be aggressive.”
“Exactly. That’s how you need to play quarterback. Play it aggressive. It’s the safer way to do it.”
Time will tell if the Raiders are making the right move with Carroll. He has a track record for turning around the fortunes of franchises. He has the experience, and a clearly defined formula that he trusts.
Hasselbeck, for one, wanted to hate the system.
That didn’t happen.
“It was fun,” he said. “I enjoyed it. It was so refreshing. Let’s just compete. The best will be the best. Let’s go.”
