“This feels just like we are going to a game except we are not drinking.”
Last Saturday, I had the opportunity to attend my first Seattle Seahawks training camp practice. The quote above, among a plethora of opinions ranging from contract ideas to how we should utilize new tight end Jimmy Graham, was heard standing in line to board the shuttle that would take fans to the Virginia Mason Athletic Facility. Of course, when you have over 3,000 Seahawks fans in one place, you are bound to hear opinions about favorite players as well as be caught up in some cheers of SEA – HAWKS.
Over the years, I’ve made it to games in Seattle and across the country but have never made it to a training camp practice. Every year, something seemed to come up that kept me away. But not this year.
Sitting on the grassy hill watching the team scrimmage made me realize what I had been missing and that this is an experience every fan should try to attend.
Excitement from fans and players make you forget about that fateful play six months ago that kept the Seahawks from being repeat Super Bowl champions.
Training camp offers fans insight into their favorite players away from interviews and watching them on TV, whether its Richard Sherman and Bobby Wagner pretending to get in a fight in front of the fans or Marshawn Lynch dancing around the field joking with other players while keeping a football tucked under his arm. Training camp gets you closer to players that would cost hundreds of hundreds to thousands of dollars at a regular season game.
Players were waving at fans when they start cheering their name and then after practice the same players that signed multimillion dollar deals are giving autographs to those fans who stuck around after practice ended.
Watching that close from the sideline, you can see the desire to win in how they played during the scrimmage. There was trash talk after big plays, as well as giant cheers when a defender intercepted a pass or the offense scored a touchdown.
Russell Wilson threw an interception on the first possession on a pass intended for Graham much to the delight of the defense. The offense turned around and scored the next two possessions including a large gain from a pass to Graham up the middle of the field. After the scrimmage was over, it wasn’t enough for Wilson and his new 6’7” target Graham. Following the huddle, they immediately went back to where the interception happened on the first drive and practiced that same play several times to get the timing right.
Growing up in the Northwest as a lifelong Seahawks fan, I’ve made it a point to make it to as many games as I can each year. My new goal is to make sure I never go another year without making it to at least one training camp practice, because it is not something any fan would want to miss.
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