When Seahawks senior personnel executive Scott McCloughan told Michael Silver of Yahoo! Sports that his team would "beat the hell out of" the 49ers on Saturday, he was only kidding.
Or so he says.
"It was done in a joking manner," McCloughan told CSNBayArea.com.
Apparently, McCloughan was laughing when he made the statement to Silver, who didn't note that detail but has since revised his story.
So, it turns out he isn't as bitter as originally thought, but if you read Silver's piece it's clear that McCloughan still feels a little raw about the 49ers abruptly firing him as general manager in March 2010. Even if the "beat the hell out of 'em" remark was meant in jest, the words still came out of McCloughan's mouth.
Knowing Jim Harbaugh, one would think the 49ers' coach will use those word to show the Seahawks no mercy in a game San Francisco must win to remain in line for the No. 2 seed in the NFC playoffs. Then again, Seattle is fighting for its own playoff life, and the team's famed 12th Man will have something to say about that.
