How/WHY did you become a Seahawks fan?!

BuddyRyans46":2b9vw2to said:

Starrman44":2b9vw2to said:

I was born in WA and raised in Palmer, AK. My brothers were Cowboy fans. One year my oldest brother accused us all of copying him, so my second oldest brother and I decided we would root for the eagles (that was in 1980). I was the youngest (younger than the oldest by 12 years), and had a natural alliance with my second oldest brother, so I jumped on the bandwagon with him. As fate would have it, the Eagles went to the Super Bowl that year (oldest brother was very dismayed).

In 1980 I was 3 years old and I loved football. I found the Seahawks on the radio on (if memory serves) KABN radio in Alaska. The rest is history. My brothers kind of had the Seahawks as a regional favorite, and they were secondary to the Cowboys (everyone returned to normal after that 1980 season cause oldest brother decided it wasn't so bad if everyone rooted for the same team). My allegiance was wholeheartedly devoted to the Hawks by about age 4.

Dad was a pastor and Sunday afternoons were spent listening with my ear to the radio while the family napped between services. Pete Gross and Steve Raible filled my head with their calls. We didn't have TV, so they created the scene for me. I wrote a letter to Steve Largent, had a couple of Largent jerseys. Spent most of my time throwing a football to myself so I could be Largent. I studied every picture of him so I could mimic his stance at the Line of scrimmage.

I remember being at odds with my brother for a Thanksgiving game (Cowboys vs Seahawks), I came out victorious. So many great memories. Now my two oldest brothers are Seahawks fans first and foremost.

I remember the Seahawks came up to Wasilla, AK for a charity basketball game. I met Manu Tuiasosopo and a bunch of other players. It was awesome. I remember Steve Largent came to Anchorage, AK to sign autographs, but I couldn't talk my parents into taking me to get one. One of my biggest childhood regrets.

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Starrman, thank you for the thoughtful AND thought-provoking post. I appreciate it. Why didn't your folks want to Anchorage, AK for the Largent autograph?!

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Starrman44":228170k0 said:

BuddyRyans46":228170k0 said:

Starrman44":228170k0 said:

I was born in WA and raised in Palmer, AK. My brothers were Cowboy fans. One year my oldest brother accused us all of copying him, so my second oldest brother and I decided we would root for the eagles (that was in 1980). I was the youngest (younger than the oldest by 12 years), and had a natural alliance with my second oldest brother, so I jumped on the bandwagon with him. As fate would have it, the Eagles went to the Super Bowl that year (oldest brother was very dismayed).

In 1980 I was 3 years old and I loved football. I found the Seahawks on the radio on (if memory serves) KABN radio in Alaska. The rest is history. My brothers kind of had the Seahawks as a regional favorite, and they were secondary to the Cowboys (everyone returned to normal after that 1980 season cause oldest brother decided it wasn't so bad if everyone rooted for the same team). My allegiance was wholeheartedly devoted to the Hawks by about age 4.

Dad was a pastor and Sunday afternoons were spent listening with my ear to the radio while the family napped between services. Pete Gross and Steve Raible filled my head with their calls. We didn't have TV, so they created the scene for me. I wrote a letter to Steve Largent, had a couple of Largent jerseys. Spent most of my time throwing a football to myself so I could be Largent. I studied every picture of him so I could mimic his stance at the Line of scrimmage.

I remember being at odds with my brother for a Thanksgiving game (Cowboys vs Seahawks), I came out victorious. So many great memories. Now my two oldest brothers are Seahawks fans first and foremost.

I remember the Seahawks came up to Wasilla, AK for a charity basketball game. I met Manu Tuiasosopo and a bunch of other players. It was awesome. I remember Steve Largent came to Anchorage, AK to sign autographs, but I couldn't talk my parents into taking me to get one. One of my biggest childhood regrets.

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Starrman, thank you for the thoughtful AND thought-provoking post. I appreciate it. Why didn't your folks want to Anchorage, AK for the Largent autograph?!

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Oh, it wasn't that they didn't want to, we were just a really busy family. My Dad pastored full time and he was Chief of Road Maintenance for the Mat-Su borough (boroughs instead of counties). If they could have, they would have. They were all for going to the charity basketball game the Seahawks put on up there. We used to watch the re-start of the Iditarod in Big Lake, AK (by Wasilla) as well. So, they were all about getting us out to do stuff. It just didn't work out at that time. They probably thought there would be more opportunity as well.

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Throwdown":1zli1hac said:

CANHawk":1zli1hac said:

Drew their name out of a hat.

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Russell?

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sc85sis":1i1c5rz0 said:

Grew up a Bears fan during the years Walter played. Cried like a baby when he died. After that I just got busy and didn't keep up as much.

Moved to Cali about a year before Pete was hired at USC. My sis is a Trojan, so I started following the team and became a diehard. Followed Pete to the Hawks.

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loafoftatupu":1a8tsxqs said:

No one knows dark times like us lifers.

We watched a untalented expansion team become a contender, get SO close to the pinnacle, only to have a fat POS of an owner destroy that team so that we could suffer the early 90's. I remember being GRATEFUL that Mirer led the team to 6-10. It doesn't get any darker than 92. The season that would have been if Krieg was still QB.

And we never quit watching.

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bobincovington":3jl4ah9a said:

I was born here in Seattle, but grew up in Central Oregon watching the only teams that we could see on tv back then, which were typically the 49ers, the redskins, and cowboy games. I remember skiing at Mt Bachelor as a teen and they had a chalkboard at the base of the ski lift that gave the up to date score of the Sunday game. We would race down to the bottom to see the Redskins were up by another 7 points.

In about 1974 my brother and I were about the age where we could be caught tossing the football and wearing replica football helmets from JC Penny's with me wearing an Oilers Jersey and him wearing a Cowboys jersey. (We also played some spirited nerf basketball games with TShirts with Wilts number 13 scribbled in marks-a-lot on an old white Tshirt and him in Jerry West's number 44 but that is another story).

I think my first Seahawks memory was just that I was amazed we actually had a team in the northwest. My uncle helped me get the final missing Gatorade cap with the Seahawks logo to complete my set and later my mom and I used to sit in the car in our driveway or when we were on some family trip and listen to the static filled Portland radio station from over the mountains to hear the game, since it wasn't on TV. Then we would walk back into the house and talk about how great the game was even though we listened to a lot of games we did not win.

Later in the late 80s, we really got into listening to games (and watching when it was on our local tv channels). I moved back up here in the mid 80's and lived near the Kirkland training facility... I went in and had Chuck Knox sign his book for my mom, since she was such a fan. I think she was the biggest fan in the family. She went to a local charity event down in Oregon and got to meet Dan Fouts...when he asked if she was a Charger fan, she said, no sorry, actually I love Dave Krieg and the Seahawks, I thought that was awesome LOL. She even calls the local TV station now and gives them an earful when they don't have the hawks on and instead have the 49ers on. I watched a lot of Hawks when I moved back and I was lucky to go to a few kingdome games and even got to watch the Broncos game with that Largent hit on Harden...then race home and re-watch it on the VCR.

Fast forward (no pun intended) and now my wife and my two boys are Seahawks fans. My wife used to say, why do you watch this when you get so upset when they lose. Next thing you know she's asking for a Hasselbeck autographed football for Christmas and then later even a jersey. When we played the superbowl against the stealers (and the refs lost it for us), my son went up stairs in tears and came back down with his Tshirt marked up to read "Pitsburg sucks". So I guess marking up Tshirts runs in the family. We have a great time watching the games, going to training camps and following all the drafts and players. It's a great organization to represent Seattle (and the Northwest)...and yes even South Alaska.

So now, to watch Russell, Marshawn, Kam, Sherm, and all the new Hawks seems like just icing on the cake. It feels almost surreal to see them predicted for the NFC champs or even the Superb Owl. I'm feeling pretty good to be around to watch these guys doing so well.

I'm Hawk fan simply because they are our team...and thankful for what we are witnessing now.

great to hear all these stories... and of course Go Hawks!

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