In the Pete Carroll era (2010-present), The Seattle Seahawks have enjoyed their best run since, well, ever.
And sure, a run as good as they’ve had is going to cause the occasional “I bleed blue and green!!” bandwagon fan to pop up that you didn’t even know was interested in sports, and their hats and jerseys mysteriously disappeared for Patriots and/or 49ers gear as recently as Monday last. For the people doing that sorry act, this isn’t for you.
This is for the fans who have stuck by the Seahawks, through everything, and they deserve to celebrate and be celebrated. February 1st 2015 was not the falling out or the end of the world, but it assuredly stung far more than the die-hard ‘Hawks fans were prepared to endure.
But the Seahawks climb up the mountain was long, troubling, and left scars, so of course it‘s going to be easy to mistake a finger slipping at the top of the rock for an actual free-fall. It happens, don’t get too down and don’t let others get you down. This one loss isn’t going to wipeout the win above all wins they earned last year, or any of the other victories they claimed along the way. This is a bump in the road. Once a champion, always a champion.
This is a fork in the road, the team can keep climbing, or they can start to slide down. With the rate at which Seattle has been ascending the NFL mountain, I would be very surprised to see them lose their grip, if not climb faster.
The Seahawks have made the playoffs in four of the five years Carroll has been at the reigns, won at least one playoff game in all four postseason trips, been to two Super Bowls, and brought home one Lombardi Trophy. They have won 11 or more games in three straight seasons, and boast a 57-33 record including the playoffs, not to mention their 26-2 home record over the last three seasons, currently unrivaled in the NFL.
Carroll came to Seattle just over 5 years ago with a vision to establish a positive attitude and a winning culture in a land that had not seen much of either when it came to professional sports. With four postseason appearances, two conference championships, and one glorious year in the sun as World Champions, I’d say that Pete got the fans exactly what he promised and then some.
During the fallout of Mike Holmgren’s regime and before the start of Carroll’s climb to the top of the NFL mountain, and the disaster of the Jim Mora experiment in-between; it would not have been far-fetched to see “Abandon all hope, ye who enter here” signage hung over the gateway to Qwest Field (as their home turf was known in those days), even if that sign is more fitting in the visitor locker room these days.
No sir, not that long ago, the Emerald City wasn’t much of a spectacle, and cheering on Charlie Frye, Maurice Morris, and Kelvin Robinson wasn’t all the rage, either. Carroll’s regime didn’t start off much better, initially fielding teams led by an injured Matt Hasselbeck and Frye, Marshawn Lynch, and Mike Williams; virtually an offensive wasteland mostly built around players who had worn out their welcome in other cities and came to Seattle looking for a second chance, and perhaps their last. For those that remember Lynch as an instant success in Seattle, he hardly showed early signs of turning in the career numbers he’s become known for, rushing for more than 50 yards just 5 times in his first 12 games with the Seahawks, and never breaking 100 yards.
It wasn’t until BeastQuake 1.0 in the 2010/11 playoffs that things really started to take form. That huge upset over the defending champion New Orleans Saints didn’t exactly light the fire that ignited the city and the team, but it did put the NFL on notice that things were changing in the NW. That took another year to really get in to motion, as the next season saw much of Tarvaris Jackson and Charlie Whitehurst at QB filling in for Hasselbeck, and the two journeymen backups took turns proving who was the lesser of deals that never really panned out. Lynch had his first true breakout season with the team, but could not do more than limp to a 7-9 record and did not qualify for the postseason, the only such occurrence in Carroll’s term as HC.
What happened next was a whirlwind. Matt Flynn was signed to a huge deal in the offseason, Russell Wilson was drafted in the 3rd round, and Wilson would win the starting job late in the preseason over Flynn and Jackson. The team went 11-5, won their wild card playoff game, and narrowly lost in the divisional round. The next season, you know the story. 13-3, nearly invincible at home, a wrecking ball through the playoffs that included a 43-8 victory over Denver in the Super Bowl.
What’s the point of all this? Well, it’s simple. If you‘re a Seahawk fan and proud to be, don‘t let this loss define your season or make you fret over the future because of the past. The present and future are as bright as the any of the past was dark. Not to worry, all the research is covered in this piece here. However, if you just picked up Seattle in the last 2-3 years, you probably don’t know about their dark and tough to stomach past. You don’t know about the four decades long climb out of the basement, or how their fans have dealt with backlash for “choosing” to be a fan when times were tough, or the “playful” chiding they get now that their team has finally established themselves as an elite team. If you just picked up the team in the last 36 months, I seriously doubt you remember the dark days. That doesn’t mean you’re a fair-weather fan, it just means that you better bleed those same colors if the team loses steam or key parts or both.
The Seahawks have been around since America’s bicentennial, but not everyone has, so let’s not assume that every fan must know every role player’s name. Or that they absolutely must have watched Jim Zorn tossing td’s to Steve Largent through a really tough to watch team in the 1980’s. Or they might have stuck by them when their best offensive player was Curt Warner, and yes Arizona and St. Louis fans, that spelling is correct. Perhaps they watched when Dave Krieg and Dan McGwire were in Seattle, or when Rick Mirer spent the mid-90’s trying to prove he was worth being the #2 overall pick (he didn’t). If they’ve been around for the last 7-10 years, trust me, if they were still there last year, and they were still here this year, and they’re still here at the start of next season, I think you can scan someone else’s sports heart for a beat.
To the avid and loyal Seahawks fan still bummed about the Super Bowl (don’t worry you should be, it cuts deep), I’ll say this:
The Seattle Seahawks did not win a second world championship this season.
So what?
The Seattle Seahawks are and will always be World Champions, just as their 47 brethren will be. They are in a club only champions can be a part of, and that is something you carry with you, no matter what else. Champions will always tell you that their first title meant the most, that nothing is like that first time you heard the words, the first time your fans got to celebrate it with you, or the first time you put the shine back in the Emerald City.
The 12th man is the pulse of Seattle, and their heart beat only gets stronger, win or lose. This is Seattle’s team, and they are proud of the players who stick around and stick by them.
Seattle isn’t a fairweather city, and their fans don’t have time for fairweather fans. Once a champion, always a champion. Let that knowledge warm your sports heart on cold and rainy days when the score is lopsided and hope appears all but lost. Those days will come, but the sunny days will, too.
To those of you who truly bled and will bleed blue and green, keep your chin up. Sure, a second title would have been twice as nice. But being the second best out of 32 teams is nothing to stick your nose up at, and it doesn’t mean the season was a disappointment.
Sadly, football is going on vacation for a few months, but when it comes back, I know these Seahawks will be as hungry to get right back to it as their rapid fans are to cheer them on. They may not be the next great dynasty, but so what? This team is young, hungry, and here to stay.
You’re not unfamiliar with storms in the northwest, so let me say this:
“Life is a storm my friend. You’ll bask in the sunlight one moment, be crashed on the rocks in the next. What makes you a fan, is what you do when that storm comes”
Whatever the future holds, forgive my borrowed/butchered movie quote (Thanks Count of Monte Cristo), hold you heads up high. Be proud to be a Seattle fan. Be who you are and don’t be who you aren’t. Before during and after football season, don’t be shy about wearing your colors, and let your flags fly. Don’t put your gear in storage because the season is over.
Sports take breaks, but being a die-hard fan is a year-round kind of deal.
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