Seattle Seahawks

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Seattle Seahawks
Current season
Established June 4, 1974
Play in CenturyLink Field
Seattle, Washington
Headquartered in the Virginia Mason Athletic Center
Renton, Washington
Seattle Seahawks logo
Logo
League/conference affiliations

National Football League (1976–present)

Current uniform
NFCW-Uniform-SEA2.png
Team colors

College Navy, Action Green, Wolf Grey[1]

              
Mascot Blitz and Taima the Hawk (since 2007)
Personnel
Owner(s) Paul Allen
Chairman Paul Allen
CEO Peter McLoughlin
General manager John Schneider
Head coach Pete Carroll
Team history
  • Seattle Seahawks (1976–present)
Team nicknames
  • The 'Hawks
  • The Blue Wave (1984–1986)
  • The Legion of Boom (Secondary, 2010–present)
Championships

League championships (1)

Conference championships (2)

Division championships (8)

Playoff appearances (13)
  • NFL: 1983, 1984, 1987, 1988, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2012, 2013
Home fields
  • a.k.a. Seahawks Stadium (2002–2003)
  • a.k.a. Qwest Field (2004–2010)

The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football franchise in the National Football League (NFL) based in Seattle, Washington. They are members of the West Division of the National Football Conference (NFC). The Seahawks joined the NFL in 1976 as an expansion team along with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Seahawks are owned by Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft, and are currently coached by Pete Carroll. Since 2002 the Seahawks have played their home games at CenturyLink Field near downtown Seattle after previously playing home games in the Kingdome (1976–1999) and Husky Stadium (1994, 2000-2001).

The Seahawks are the only NFL franchise located in the Pacific Northwest region of North America and thus attract support from a wide geographical area, including Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and Alaska, as well as Canadian fans in British Columbia and Alberta. Seahawks fans are known collectively as the "12th Man" and have set numerous international stadium sound records.

The Seahawks have won eight division titles and appeared in Super Bowl XL after the 2005 season, and won the NFL Championship at Super Bowl XLVIII. Seattle is the only team to have played in both the AFC and NFC Championship Games, having relocated from the AFC to the NFC during league realignment prior to the 2002 season.

Over the years the Seahawks have had some notable players on the team, such as Steve Largent, Jim Zorn, Dave Krieg, Kenny Easley, Curt Warner, Joe Nash, Brian Blades, Cortez Kennedy, Joey Galloway, Warren Moon, Walter Jones, Shaun Alexander, Matt Hasselbeck, Marcus Trufant, Marshawn Lynch, Percy Harvin, Earl Thomas, Richard Sherman, and Russell Wilson. Largent, Kennedy, and Moon have been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, with Jones' 2014 induction having been announced.[2] Easley, Jones, Kennedy, Krieg, Largent, Warner, and Zorn have been inducted into the Seahawks Ring of Honor, along with cornerback Dave Brown and defensive end Jacob Green.

Franchise history[edit]

As per one of the agreed parts of the 1970 AFL-NFL Merger, the NFL began planning to expand from 26 to 28 teams.[3] In June 1972, Seattle Professional Football Inc., a group of Seattle business and community leaders, announced its intention to acquire an NFL franchise for the city of Seattle.[4] In June 1974, the NFL gave the city an expansion franchise. That December, NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle announced the official signing of the franchise agreement by Lloyd W. Nordstrom, representing the Nordstrom family as majority partners for the consortium.[5]

In March 1975, John Thompson, former Executive Director of the NFL Management Council and a former Washington Husky executive, was hired as the general manager of the new team. The team was originally going to be called the Seattle Kings, but the name Seattle Seahawks ("Seahawk" is another name for Osprey) was selected on June 17, 1975 after a public naming contest which drew more than 20,000 entries and over 1,700 different names.

Thompson recruited and hired Jack Patera, a Minnesota Vikings assistant coach, to be the first head coach of the Seahawks; the hiring was announced on January 3, 1976. The expansion draft was held March 30–31, 1976, with Seattle and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers alternating picks for rounds selecting unprotected players from the other 26 teams in the league.[6] The Seahawks were awarded the 2nd overall pick in the 1976 draft, a pick they used on defensive tackle Steve Niehaus. The team took the field for the first time on August 1, 1976 in a pre-season game against the San Francisco 49ers in the then newly constructed Kingdome.

Members of the Seahawks special teams blocking a point-after-touchdown

The Seahawks are the only NFL team to switch conferences twice in the post-merger era. The franchise began play in 1976 in the NFC West division but switched conferences with the Buccaneers after one season and joined the AFC West. This realignment was dictated by the league as part of the 1976 expansion plan, so that both expansion teams could play each other twice and every other NFL franchise once during their first two seasons.

In 1983, the Seahawks hired Chuck Knox as head coach. Finishing with a 9–7 record, the Seahawks made their first post-season appearance, defeating the Denver Broncos in the Wild Card Round, and then the Miami Dolphins, before losing in the AFC Championship. The following season, the Seahawks had their best season to date, finishing 12–4. Knox won the NFL Coach of the Year Award.

The Seahawks won their first division title in 1988, but from 1989 to 1998 had poor records and did not play in the post-season. The team almost relocated, and was in bankruptcy for a short period. In 1997, Microsoft co-creator Paul Allen purchased the team, and in 1999 Mike Holmgren was hired as head coach. He would coach for 10 seasons. The Seahawks won their second division title, as well as a wild card berth in the playoffs.

In 2002, the Seahawks returned to the NFC West as part of an NFL realignment plan that gave each conference four balanced divisions of four teams each. This realignment restored the AFC West to its initial post-merger roster of original AFL teams Denver, San Diego, Kansas City, and Oakland.

Matt Hasselbeck played as the Seahawks quarterback from 2001–2010 and led the team to six postseason appearances and a 2005 Super Bowl appearance.

In the 2005 season, the Seahawks had their best season in franchise history with a record of 13–3. That record earned them the #1 seed in the NFC. They won the NFC Championship Game in 2005, then lost in Super Bowl XL against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The loss was controversial; NFL Films has Super Bowl XL at number 8 on its top ten list of games with controversial referee calls.[7] Before 2005, Seattle had the longest drought of playoff victories of any NFL team, dating back to the 1984 season. That drought was ended with a 20–10 win over the Washington Redskins in the 2005 playoffs.

Starting in the 1998 season, Blitz has been the Seahawks' official mascot. In the 2003 and 2004 seasons, a hawk named Faith would fly around the stadium just before the team came out of the tunnel. However, because of her relative small size and an inability to be trained to lead the team out of a tunnel, Faith was replaced by an augur hawk named Taima before the start of the 2005 season. Taima started leading the team out of the tunnel in September 2006.[8] Beginning in 2004, the Seahawks introduced their drum line, the Blue Thunder. The group plays at every home game as well as over 100 events in the Seattle community.[9]

In the 2010 NFL season, the Seahawks made history by making it into the playoffs despite having a 7–9 record. They had the best record in the worst division at the time (Seahawks 7–9, Rams 7–9, 49ers 6–10, Cardinals 5–11) and won the decisive season finale against the Rams. In the playoffs, the Seahawks won in their first game against the then-defending Super Bowl champs, the New Orleans Saints, 41–36. The Seahawks made even more history during the game with Marshawn Lynch's 67-yard run, breaking 7 or so tackles, to clinch the victory.[10] The Seahawks lost to the Bears in their second game, 35–24.

Marshawn Lynch scored on a 67-yard touchdown run in the NFC Wild-Card Playoff Game against the New Orleans Saints in 2011.

The 2012 NFL Season started with doubt, as the Seahawks lost their season opener against the Arizona Cardinals, after the highly touted Seattle defense gave up a go-ahead score late in the fourth quarter, and rookie quarterback Russell Wilson failed to throw the game winning touchdown after multiple attempts in the red-zone. However, Russell Wilson and the Seahawks went 4–1 in their next five games en route to an 11–5 overall record (their first winning record since 2007). Their 2012 campaign included big wins over the Green Bay Packers, New England Patriots, and San Francisco 49ers. The Seahawks went into the playoffs as the #5 seed and the only team that season to go undefeated at home. In the Wild Card Round, the Seahawks overcame a 14-point deficit to defeat the Washington Redskins. This was the first time since the 1983 Divisional Round that the Seahawks won a playoff game on the road. However, in the 2013 Divisional Round, overcoming a 20 point, fourth quarter deficit wouldn't be enough to defeat the #1 seed Atlanta Falcons. An ill-advised timeout and a defensive breakdown late in the game cost the Seahawks their season, as they lost, 30–28. QB Russell Wilson won the 2012 Pepsi Max Rookie of the Year award.

First Super Bowl championship[edit]

In 2013, the Seahawks continued their momentum from the previous season, finishing the regular season an NFL-best 13-3, earning the NFC's #1 seed. Six Seahawks players were named to the Pro Bowl: Quarterback Russell Wilson, center Max Unger, running back Marshawn Lynch, cornerback Richard Sherman, free safety Earl Thomas, and strong safety Kam Chancellor. However, none of them were able to play in the Pro Bowl, as the Seahawks defeated the New Orleans Saints, 23–15, and the San Francisco 49ers, 23–17, in the playoffs to advance to Super Bowl XLVIII against the Denver Broncos. On February 2, 2014, the Seahawks won their first Super Bowl Championship, defeating Denver 43-8.[11]

Rivalries[edit]

San Francisco 49ers[edit]

Most recently, the Seattle Seahawks and the San Francisco 49ers have begun to develop a fierce rivalry, starting with the 49ers hiring of coach Jim Harbaugh in 2011. Harbaugh had coached against Seahawks coach Pete Carroll before in college at Stanford and USC, respectively. The 49ers took the 1st contest between the coaches at the NFL level then proceeded to win a close game at CenturyLink field to eliminate the Seahawks from playoff contention. 2012 brought a new season and another Seahawks loss, Week 7 on Thursday Night Football at San Francisco as they dropped a 13–6 game where the offense failed to score a touchdown and 49ers quarterback Alex Smith did just enough to survive. Week 16 brought a fever anxiety as the Seahawks and 49ers prepared to face off in prime time on Sunday Night Football. Seattle came in at 9–5 with back to back blowouts in which the team scored more than 50 points both games. Quickly, the Seahawks imposed their will with a Marshawn Lynch 24 yard touchdown run, two of quarterback Russell Wilson's touchdown passes and a blocked field goal return had the Seahawks halftime lead at 28–6. The Hawks continued in the 2nd half eventually winning 42–13 capped off by Seahawks strong safety Kam Chancellor's hit on 49ers tight end Vernon Davis. The 49ers however won the following week, locking up the division title for the 2nd consecutive year. Since rejoining the NFC West, the Hawks are tied 15–15 versus the 49ers. Colin Kaepernick and the Niners lost their first 2013 season matchup against their NFC West rivals 29–3, with the help of Marshawn Lynch's three touchdowns, with the fans setting a new Guinness World Record for the loudest crowd roar at 136.6 decibels.[12] However, the Seahawks were defeated 19–17 in their second 2013 game with the 49ers at Candlestick Park. This was largely due to a late game 51 yard run by Frank Gore. The Seahawks have not won in Candlestick Park since 2008. In the NFC Championship game, the Seahawks took down the 49ers, thanks to Malcolm Smith's interception, which was tipped by Richard Sherman.

St. Louis Rams[edit]

One of the more memorable games against St. Louis was in Week 6, 2006. The Hawks were ineffective for much of the first half. Trailing 21–7, Mike Holmgren blistered the paint in the locker room and a different Hawks team took the field in the second half. Seattle scored 20 unanswered points to lead 27–21 and looked to have put the game away after a Lofa Tatupu interception late in the game. However, RB Maurice Morris fumbled on the Ram 7-yard line with 2:48 left. A few plays later Ram QB Marc Bulger hit Torry Holt with a 67-yard TD pass to give the Rams a 28–27 lead with 1:38 remaining. Matt Hasselbeck engineered a final drive from the Seahawks' 17-yard line and led the team to the Rams' 31-yard line. A premature celebration erupted on the Rams' sideline as the Seahawks were called for an illegal formation after Hasselbeck spiked the ball to stop the clock with four seconds left in the game. The Rams believed the Seahawks had committed a false start which would have resulted in a ten-second runoff on the clock that would have ended the game. Instead, the Seahawks were penalized five yards, pushing them back to the 36-yard line. Despite the setback, Josh Brown still kicked a 54-yard field goal to win the game, 30–28.

Denver Broncos[edit]

From the 1980s to the 2002 reshuffle, the Denver Broncos were a major rival for the Seahawks. With John Elway, the Broncos were one of the better teams of the NFL, and through this time period, were 32-18 against the Seahawks. Since 2002, Seattle has won once out of three interconference meetings, and the teams met in Super Bowl XLVIII on February 2, 2014, where the Seahawks won 43-8.[13]

Super Bowl appearances[edit]

The Seattle Seahawks have won one Super Bowl in the 2013 season under Pete Carroll.

Season Coach Location Stadium Opponent Result Record
2005 Mike Holmgren Detroit, MI Ford Field Pittsburgh Steelers L, 21-10 15-4
2013 Pete Carroll East Rutherford, NJ MetLife Stadium Denver Broncos W, 43-8 16-3
Total Super Bowls won: 1

Headquarters and training camps[edit]

During the Seahawks' first ten seasons (197685), the team's headquarters was at Carillon Point on the shores of Lake Washington. The summer training camps were initially held at Eastern Washington University in Cheney, just southwest of Spokane. When the team's new headquarters across town in Kirkland were completed in 1986, the Seahawks held training camp at home for the next eleven seasons (1986–96), staying in the dormitories of the adjacent Northwest College. In Dennis Erickson's third season as head coach, the team returned to the hotter and more isolated Cheney in 1997, where they held training camp through 2006. In 2007, training camp returned to their Kirkland facility, because of the scheduled China Bowl game that was later canceled. In 2008, the Seahawks held the first three weeks of camp in Kirkland, then moved to the new 19-acre (77,000 m2) Virginia Mason Athletic Center (VMAC) on August 18 for the final week of training camp. The new facility, adjacent to Lake Washington in Renton, has four full-size practice fields: three natural grass outdoors and one FieldTurf indoors.[14][15]

Logos and uniforms[edit]

Russell Wilson wearing the current Seahawks home uniform.
Seattle Seahawks uniform combinations, 2002–2011. A green alternate jersey was used, but only for one game of the 2009 season.
Seattle Seahawks uniform, 1976–1982
Seattle Seahawks uniform, 1983–2001. The number font was changed to Pro Block in 1994.
Seahawks players wearing green jerseys in 2009

When the Seahawks debuted in 1976, the team's logo was a stylized royal blue and forest green osprey's head based on Northwestern tribal art.[16] The helmet and pants were silver while the home uniforms were royal blue with white, blue and green arm stripes. The road uniform was white with blue and green arm stripes. Black shoes were worn for the first four seasons, one of the few NFL teams that did in the late 1970s. They then changed to white shoes in 1980.[17]

In 1983, coinciding with the arrival of Chuck Knox as head coach, the uniforms were updated slightly. The striping on the arms now incorporated the Seahawks logo, and the TV numbers moved onto the shoulders. Helmet facemasks changed from gray to blue. Also, the socks went solid blue at the top, and white on bottom.[18] In the 1985 season, the team wore 10th Anniversary patches on the right side of their pants. It had the Seahawks logo streaking through the number 10. Starting in the 1989 NFL season, jerseys were no longer sand-knit. In 1994, the year of the NFL's 75th Anniversary, the Seahawks changed the style of their numbering to something more suitable for the team; Pro Block from then until 2001. That same year, the Seahawks wore a vintage jersey for select games resembling the 1976–82 uniforms. However the helmet facemasks remained blue. The logos also became sewn on instead of being screen-printed. In 2000, Shaun Alexander's rookie year and Cortez Kennedy's last, the Seattle Seahawks celebrated their 25th Anniversary; the logo was worn on the upper left chest of the jersey. In 2001, the Seahawks switched to the new Reebok uniform system still in their current uniforms, but it would be their last in this uniform after the season ended. Previously, the team's uniforms were made by Wilson, Wilson/Staff, Russell Athletics, Logo Athletics, and Puma.

In March 1, 2002, to coincide with the team moving to the NFC as well as the opening of Seahawks Stadium (which would later be renamed Qwest Field, then CenturyLink Field), both the logo and the uniforms were heavily redesigned. The Wordmark was designed by Mark Verlander and the logo was designed by NFL Properties in-house design team. The colors were modified to a lighter "Seahawks Blue", a darker "Seahawks Navy" and lime green piping. The helmets also were changed from silver to the lighter "Seahawks Blue" color after a fan poll was conducted. Silver would not be seen again until 2012. The logo artwork was also subtly altered, with an arched eyebrow and a forward-facing pupil suggesting a more aggressive-looking bird. At first, the team had planned to wear silver helmets at home and blue helmets on the road, but since NFL rules forbid the use of multiple helmets, the team held the fan poll to decide which color helmet would be worn. The team has usually worn all blue at home and all white on the road since 2003, but late in the 2009 season, the Seahawks wore the white jersey-blue pants combo. The blue jersey and white pants combo has been worn for only one regular season game, the 2005 season opener at the Jacksonville Jaguars, while the white jersey and blue pants combination has not been worn regularly since late in the 2002 season, with the exception of late in the 2009 season. In 2009, the Seahawks once again wore the white jersey and blue pants combination for road games against Minnesota (November 22), St. Louis (November 29), Houston (December 13) and Green Bay (December 27).

The Seahawks wore their home blue jerseys during Super Bowl XL despite being designated as the visitor, since the Pittsburgh Steelers, the designated home team, elected to wear their white jerseys.

With the Oakland Raiders wearing their white jerseys at home for the first time ever in a game against the San Diego Chargers on September 28, 2008, the Seahawks have become the only NFL team to have never worn their white jerseys at home, not even against the Dallas Cowboys whose blue jerseys are said to be "jinxed", causing many teams to wear white when hosting the Cowboys on several occasions.

On September 27, 2009, the Seahawks wore lime green jerseys for the first time, paired with new dark navy blue pants in a game against the Chicago Bears. The jerseys matched their new sister team, the expansion Seattle Sounders FC of Major League Soccer who wear green jerseys with blue pants. On December 6, 2009, the Seahawks wore their Seahawks blue jersey with the new dark navy blue pants for the first time, in a game against the San Francisco 49ers. The Seahawks broke out the same combo two weeks later against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and two weeks after that in the 2009 regular season finale against the Tennessee Titans. In December 2009, then-coach Jim Mora announced that the new lime green jerseys were being retired because the team did not win in them, because he liked the home jerseys better, and added that the home jersey is a better match for the navy pants.[19] In the same press conference, he stated that the new navy pants "felt better" on players as opposed to the Seahawks blue pants. For the 2010 season, Seattle returned to the traditional all "Seahawks Blue" at home and all white on the road.

On April 3, 2012, Nike, which took over as the official uniform supplier for the league from Reebok, unveiled new uniform and logo designs for the Seahawks for the 2012 season. The new designs incorporate a new accent color, "Wolf Grey", and the main colors are "College Navy" and "Action Green". The uniforms incorporate "feather trims", multiple feathers on the crown of the helmet, twelve feathers printed on the neckline and down each pant leg to represent the "12th Man", referring to the team's fans.[20] The Seahawks have three different jersey colors: navy blue, white, and an alternate grey jersey. The Seahawks will have three different pants: navy blue with green stripes, gray with navy blue stripes, and white with navy blue stripes. Their new logo replaces the Seahawk blue with gray.

The Seahawks wore their Nike home blue jerseys for the first regular season game on September 16, 2012 against the Dallas Cowboys. The uniform Marshawn Lynch wore in that game is preserved at the Pro Football Hall of Fame.[21] On September 9, 2012, the Seahawks wore their Nike white away jerseys for the first regular season game against the Arizona Cardinals; on October 14, 2012, with the Carolina Panthers wearing white at home, they wore their blue jerseys with gray pants (and would do so again against the Miami Dolphins seven weeks later); and on December 16, 2012 they wore their Alternate Wolf Grey jerseys for the first time against the Buffalo Bills.

Seasons[edit]

As of the end of the 2013 season, the Seattle Seahawks have competed in 38 NFL seasons, dating back to their expansion year of 1976. The team has compiled a 293–303 record (305–315 counting the playoffs) for a .492 winning percentage (.492 counting the playoffs). Seattle has reached the playoffs in thirteen separate seasons, including in the 2005 season when they lost Super Bowl XL to the Pittsburgh Steelers, and in the 2013 season when they defeated the Denver Broncos to win Super Bowl XLVIII. In the 2010 season, the Seahawks became the first team in NFL history to earn a spot in the playoffs with a losing record (7–9, .438); that year, 7 teams in the NFL with a record of 7–9 or better did not make the playoffs, including two 10–6 teams. However, the Seahawks would go on to defeat the reigning Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints in the Wild Card round, becoming the first team ever to win a playoff game with a losing record. They are also the oldest existing team in the NFL to never have had a tie game, not even in the preseason. The Seattle Seahawks won the 2013-2014 Super Bowl against the Denver Broncos with a stunning score of 43-8 for their first Super Bowl win.

Team records[edit]

Players of note[edit]

35th Anniversary Team (2010)[edit]

The 35th Anniversary team was voted upon by users on Seahawks.com and announced in 2010.[22]

Seahawks 35th Anniversary Team (2010)
Team Position Players
Offense Quarterback
Running Back
Wide Receiver
Tight End
Offensive Line
Defense Defensive Line
Linebacker
Cornerback
Safety
Special Teams Kicker
Returner
Coverage


Current roster[edit]

Seattle Seahawks roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

Reserve lists
  • Currently empty

Unrestricted FAs

Restricted FAs

Rookies in italics
Roster updated February 2, 2014
Depth ChartTransactions

46 Active, 0 Inactive, 19 FAs

More rosters

Retired numbers[edit]

Seahawks' retired numbers at CenturyLink Field.
Seattle Seahawks retired numbers
Player Position Tenure N° Retirem.
12 Fans (12th Man) 1976–present 1984 [23]
71 Walter Jones OT 1997–2009 2010
80 1 Steve Largent WR 1976–1989 1996
96 Cortez Kennedy DT 1990–2000 2012 [24]
  • 1 Jerry Rice wore #80 for his 2004 stint with the Seahawks. According to Rice, it was the team that offered him to wear the #80, with Largent's permission.[25]
  • Several other players and individuals related to the team have been honored by their induction into the Seattle Seahawks Ring of Honor

Pro Football Hall of Famers[edit]

Seattle Seahawks Pro Football Hall of Famers
Player Position Tenure Inducted
34 Franco Harris FB 1984 1990
80 Steve Largent WR 1976 to 1989 1995
81 Carl Eller DE 1979 2004
1 Warren Moon QB 1997 to 1998 2006
93 John Randle DT 2001 to 2003 2010
80 Jerry Rice WR 2004 2010
96 Cortez Kennedy DT 1990 to 2000 2012
71 Walter Jones OT 1997 to 2009 2014[26]
Names in bold spent their entire career with the Seattle Seahawks


Note: Although Mike McCormack served as head coach, president, and general manager for the Seahawks, he is only listed in the Pro Football Hall of Fame for his contributions as a tackle for the New York Yanks and the Cleveland Browns.

Front office and coaching staff[edit]

Current staff[edit]

Seattle Seahawks staff
Front Office

Head Coaches

  • Executive Vice President of Football Operations/Head Coach – Pete Carroll
  • Assistant Head Coach/Offensive Line – Tom Cable

Offensive Coaches

 

Defensive Coaches

Special Teams Coaches

Strength and Conditioning


Coaching Staff
Management
More NFL staffs

AFC East
BUF
MIA
NE
NYJ
North
BAL
CIN
CLE
PIT
South
HOU
IND
JAX
TEN
West
DEN
KC
OAK
SD
NFC East
DAL
NYG
PHI
WAS
North
CHI
DET
GB
MIN
South
ATL
CAR
NO
TB
West
ARI
STL
SF
SEA

Previous head coaches[edit]

Sea Gals (cheerleaders)[edit]

The Seahawks cheerleaders are called the Sea Gals.[27] During the off-season, a select performing group from the Sea Gals travel parades and with other NFL Cheerleaders on the road.

12th Man[edit]

The 12th Man refers to the fan support of the Seahawks. In the early years of the franchise, the number 12 jersey with "Fan" across back, was popular with supporters of the expansion franchise. The team's first home stadium, the Kingdome, was a particularly loud and disruptive environment, with fans priding themselves for their ability to disrupt opposing offenses by yelling in key moments. Opposing teams were known to practice with rock music blaring at full blast to prepare for the often painfully high decibel levels generated at games in the Kingdome.

In 2002, the Seahawks began playing at what is now CenturyLink Field. Every regular season and playoff game at CenturyLink Field since the 2nd week of the 2003 season has been played before a sellout crowd.[28] The raucous environment at the Kingdome has continued at CenturyLink Field. The stadium's partial roof and seating decks trap and amplify the noise and bang it back down to the field. This noise has caused problems for opposing teams, causing them to commit numerous false-start penalties. From 2002 through 2012, there have been 143 false-start penalties on visiting teams in Seattle, second only to the Minnesota Vikings.[29] On December 2, 2013, fans inside CenturyLink Field successfully set a new world record for loudest stadium noise when they generated a 137.6 dB audio measurement.[30]

Prior to kickoff of each home game, the Seahawks salute their fans in the NFL by raising the 12th man flag at the south end of the stadium. Current and former players, coaches, local celebrities, prominent fans, Seattle-area athletes, and current owner Paul Allen have raised the flag. Earlier, the Seahawks retired the number #12 jersey on December 15, 1984 as a tribute to their fans.[31]

In September 1990, Texas A&M filed, and was later granted, a trademark application for the "12th Man" term, based on their continual usage of the term since the 1920s. In January 2006, Texas A&M filed suit against the Seattle Seahawks to protect the trademark and in May 2006, the dispute was settled out of court. In the agreement, Texas A&M licensed the Seahawks to continue using the phrase, in exchange for a licensing fee, public acknowledgement of A&M's trademark when using the term, and a restriction in usage of the term to seven states in the Northwest United States.[32][33]

Team owners[edit]

Radio and television[edit]

As of 2009, the Seahawks' flagship station is KIRO (AM) 710 kHzKIRO-FM 97.3 MHz. Games are heard on 47 stations in five western states and Canada. Microsoft holds naming rights for the broadcasts for their search engine under the moniker of the "Bing Radio Network." The current announcers are former Seahawks players Steve Raible (who was the team's color commentator from 1982 to 2003) and Warren Moon. The Raible-Moon regular season pairing has been together since 2004 (during the preseason Moon works for the local television broadcast so the color commentary is split between former Seahawks Paul Moyer, Sam Adkins, and Brock Huard). Pete Gross, who called the games from 1976 until just days before his death from cancer in 1992, is a member of the team's Ring of Honor. Other past announcers include: Steve Thomas 1992 to 1997, Lee Hamilton also known as "Hacksaw" 1998 to 1999, and Brian Davis 2000 to 2003.

Preseason games not shown on national networks were produced by Seahawks Broadcasting and televised by KING-TV, channel 5 (and, in 2008, also on sister station KONG-TV since KING, an NBC affiliate, was committed to the Summer Olympics in China). Seahawks Broadcasting is the Emmy Award Winning in-house production and syndication unit for the Seattle Seahawks. Curt Menefee (the host of Fox NFL Sunday) has been the Seahawks TV voice since the 2009 preseason. Starting in the 2012 season, KCPQ-TV, which airs most of the Seahawks regular season games (as the Seattle-Tacoma area's Fox affiliate), will be the new television partner for the team, while simulcasts of any Seahawks games on Monday Night Football or NFL Network will air on KONG-TV. In addition, any Saturday or Sunday afternoon games broadcast by CBS (with the Seahawks hosting an AFC opponent) will air on local CBS affiliate KIRO-TV.

Radio affiliates[edit]

Seahawks Radio Affiliates

Washington[edit]

City Call Sign Frequency
Aberdeen KWOK 1490 kHz
Bellingham KPUG-AM 1170 kHz
Centralia KMNT 104.3 MHz
Colfax KMAX (AM) 840 kHz
Colville KCRK-FM 92.1 MHz
Ellensburg KXLE (AM) 1240 kHz
Forks KRKZ (AM) 1490 kHz
Grand Coulee KEYG-FM 98.5 MHz
Longview KEDO (AM) 1400 kHz
Moses Lake KBSN 1470 kHz
Mount Vernon KAPS (AM) 660 kHz
Olympia KGY (AM) 1240 kHz
Olympia KXXO 96.9 MHz
Omak KNCW-FM 92.7 MHz
Port Angeles KONP (AM) 1450 kHz
Seattle (Flagship station) KIRO (AM) 710 kHz
Seattle (Flagship station) KIRO-FM 97.3 MHz
Shelton KMAS (AM) 1030 kHz
Spokane KHTQ 94.5 MHz
Tri-Cities KONA (AM) 610 MHz
Walla Walla KUJ (AM) 1420 kHz
Wenatchee KPQ (AM) 560 kHz
Yakima KIT (AM) 1280 kHz
Yakima KIT-FM 99.3 MHz

Alaska[edit]

City Call Sign Frequency
Anchorage KOAN 1080 kHz
Anchorage KZND-FM 94.7 MHz
Cordova KLAM (AM) 1450 kHz
Juneau KINY 800 kHz
Kodiak KVOK (AM) 560 kHz

Idaho[edit]

City Call Sign Frequency
Boise KTIK (AM) 1350 kHz
Boise KTIK-FM 93.1 MHz
Lewiston KCLK (AM) 1430 kHz
Pocatello KSEI 930 kHz
St. Maries KOFE 1240 kHz

Montana[edit]

City Call Sign Frequency
Missoula KGRZ 1450 kHz
Missoula KYLT 1340 kHz

Oregon[edit]

City Call Sign Frequency
Astoria KEHK 102.3 MHz
Baker City KKBC-FM 95.3 MHz
Bend KWLZ-FM 96.5 MHz
Eugene KUJZ-FM MHz {{{2}}}
La Grande KRJT 105.9 MHz
Lebanon KGAL 1580 kHz
Medford KTMT (AM) 580 kHz
Newport KCUP 1230 kHz
Pendleton KTIX (AM) 1240 kHz
Portland KUFO (AM) 970 kHz
The Dalles KODL 1440 kHz

British Columbia[edit]

City Call Sign Frequency
Vancouver CFTE 1410 kHz

See also[edit]

Notes and references[edit]

  1. ^ "Seattle Seahawks Logo Slick". Retrieved 29 April 2013. 
  2. ^ Condotta, Bob (February 1, 2014). "Seahawk Walter Jones is a first-ballot Hall of Famer". Seattle Times. Retrieved February 1, 2014. 
  3. ^ "NFL History: 1961–1970". Retrieved September 8, 2013. 
  4. ^ "Look Back". Seattlepi.com. 2006-06-14. Retrieved 2013-08-10. 
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External links[edit]