I'm 46. My recollection starts from day one. Family being from Pittsburgh after migrating West, during the Steelers prime.
We had Niner/Raider games, but the famed Steelers always seemed to be the national game. My mother and I watched football together every Sunday. I mean we didnt miss games. She would let me stay up on MNF too.
That first day, the Steelers were against the Raiders, a must see game. But during the pre game, she turned the channel and saw the Hawks. She said "oh, here is that new team in Seattle". Living in Gresham, OR, Seattle seemed like cross country to me as a 9 year old. That didn't matter, I LOVED the blue uniforms. I became a Hawks fan immediately, they were pure, new, fresh and different.
I demanded that we watch that game instead of the Steelers. This would mark the first time we didn't watch a game together. Mom went upstairs and left me to watch them lose, but in the 4th quarter, Zorn made it close and I was hooked. It was a weird year because the Hawks were NFC and the Steelers were AFC, so there were a few times that both teams were on TV.
I was there for the Expansion bowl. The first Hawks win. It was like yesterday to me. I will never forget the excitement I felt as MY team, not the family team won their first game.
My mom died last year in Feb. But let it be known that she passed a Seahawks fan. The final transformation taking place in my family room in Feb. 2006, when even she thought the Hawks got screwed. During BeastQuake, she was in a wheelchair, under hospice care. It would mark the first time she jumped out of that chair in excitement screaming. Talk about emotional time for my sister and I, with families in her presence.
Most guys identify their football memories with their dad, but my mom was the one who got me into it and I won't ever forget that moment she told me "here is that new team in Seattle".
Sometimes being older has it's advantages.
I still have it.
