WHY THE SEAHAWKS????

An often asked (and totally appropriate) question asked me is :

WHY THE SEAHAWKS?

Here I am. A guy living thousands of miles away from Seattle, no relatives in Seattle, no ties whatsoever to Seattle, and until I was 36 I had never even BEEN to Seattle.

HOW DO YOU BECOME A SEAHAWK FAN?

Up to 1976, I had been a fan of the local Bengals (living within 25 miles of Riverfront Stadium), and the Steelers. Being a Steeler fan, I could not root for their arch enemies at the time, the Cowboys, even though the Cowboys wore my blue.

I can remember when the Seahawks came into the league with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1976. I was only eight years old, but I was starting to follow football. I thought the new NFL teams were both pretty cool. The Buccaneers wore orange (the color of my future local high school), and the Seahawks wore my favorite color blue. Finally, a team that wore blue that I could follow.

And then, the defining moment in my life as a Seahawk fan.

A pair of 1979 Topps cards…

I can narrow down the first time I thought that the Seahawks were pretty cool to a pair of random cards placed in my hands at the same time. From the same pack? I do not know. I DO know this. The pair of cards that I first noticed the Seahawks were 1979 Topps football cards of Steve Largent and Jim Zorn. Both players are wearing their road whites. They look to both be involved in the same play, Zorn floating back into the pocket, left hand at his chest, and possibly looking for Largent, who on his card, is crossing the field uncovered coming towards you with a look like he is waiting for a bullet from Zorn.

I noticed Zorn was a southpaw, and that was great for me, a young preteen who was also a southpaw. Left-handed quarterbacks were RARE in the NFL at the time.

I would take these cards out on a daily basis and think: “Wow. COOL uniforms.” Of course, they kind of LOOKED like the Cowboys uniforms, but did not have that disgusting star. On the side, there was a cool looking bird. A bird that looked like it was FIERCE and ready for battle. And just a touch of green.

Time passed. I always watched the Seahawks when I could (which was not very often). I would check the box scores to see how they did. For a while, it was much like stamp or card collecting. It was a hobby of sorts. I would try to find Seahawk shirts (which in Cincinnati came about 1 every million or so). I would collect Seahawk cards.

I began to notice that the Seahawks had a pretty cool team. There was the southpaw quarterback, and there was this other guy named Largent. I began to find out neat stuff about him. He would be the last to leave the practice field. He would never be the fastest or the strongest but he had GREAT HANDS and he was one of the hardest working players in football. The kind of guy kids should look up to.

As my respect for Largent as a player grew, so did my respect for him as a family man and a person. I read about his devotion to his family and the “family nights” he shared with his children. Soon, I began to really follow his career.

I also noticed the fans themselves. In the early to mid 80’s, the Seahawks began to get better than ever. They were in the playoffs and even hosted some playoff games.

It was in these nationally televised games that I got to see the fans of Seattle. They always seemed to know when and how to cheer. They would stay incredibly quiet when the Seahawks were on offense, and when the Seahawks were on defense, they were DEAFENING in the Kingdome. They were so notoriously loud that teams practicing in weeks before playing Seattle in the Kingdome would BLAST NOISE in speakers at their practices. This I also found VERY cool.

I will also say that I first noticed “the wave” in a Seahawk game on television. Did it originate in Seattle? Who knows. But I do know what I saw, and the first time I EVER SAW ONE was in the Kingdome. I can remember they even had cards one time that were clue on one side and white on the other just for the wave.

So, first the uniforms. Then the players. Then the fans. Before I knew it, a “hobby” had become a full fledge part of my life.

The first time I REALLY JUMPED INTO BEING A SEAHAWK FAN WITH BOTH FEET and got FANATICAL was probably after a Cincinnati Bengal game in 1993. I was working in a local savings and loan where my boss had season tickets to the Bengals. I was quite a fan of the Seahawks, and he knew that. The week before the Bengal/Seahawk game, all of my fellow workers kept telling me to hit my boss up for tickets.

Saturday morning came, and still no tickets. Then, my boss called me into his office. Apparently, his daughter had some soccer game or something on Sunday and he could not go to the Bengal game. He wanted to know if I wanted the tickets.

I knew my boss was just handing me a story about the soccer game. He was a really kind and friendly guy not only with the community but with his staff. He knew I wanted to see that game. He was giving me the tickets. I took them.

I had been to a Seahawk game before. My first Seahawk game in person was the 1989 Bengals / Seahawks game in Cincinnati. The Seahawks won THAT game 24-17. It was also the game that my childhood idol Steve Largent caught his 100^th touchdown pass breaking the final record that eluded him before retirement right before my eyes.

The Seahawks won the 1993 game 19-10. But more important was what happened after the game. I sat next to a guy who was a regular at the savings and loan I worked at. He would always go down by the team busses after games and get autographs. He took me with him down to meet the Seahawks.

But the 1993 game showed me what I found out was this team I had watched from a distance was filled with great PEOPLE. I got a ton of autographs and was NEVER turned down. I talked with Rick Mirer’s mother.

Perhaps the one moment that did me in was getting Brian Blades’s autograph. He came by us and was wearing leather from head to toe. He looked at me and said, “ Let me put my stuff on the bus and I will be right back.”  I thought, “Yeah, right….” And figured I would not see him again.

Then, here he came off the bus. He looked around for ME, found me, and signed my book. That kind of clinched it.  I was shocked. I was amazed. And, I was a HOOKED FAN FOR LIFE!