1989 NFL Noise Rule for FANS, How we ended it.

[Terry Love]

In 1989 the NFL tried to have a rule for crowd noise. A five yard penalty if the refs decided that the fans were being too loud. It was a preseason game in Seattle, taking place in the Kingdome. The fans were being their normal loud and supportive of the Seahawks loud. The refs were trying to quiet us. And it was working, the Kingdome was getting very quiet. I mean, shockingly quiet. The refs were winning the fight.
Then my mother, Pamela Love stood up, and told us it was our time to be heard. If we didn't stand up right then and there, and make ourselves heard, then we would never be allowed to cheer on our team again. Now we had 32 season tickets in that corner, right above the poster where the players would come onto the field. The fans in our small section started cheering on our team, and bit by bit, the fans to either side were getting the point and they roared back to life too.
We got penalized three more times, the refs got together and decided to let the fans be. My mother, the wife of a district court judge, Melvin Love, by convincing the crowd that we should be civilly disobedient, had broken the will of the NFL to quiet us. Pamela was a political science major in college, her father had been a district attorney and superintendent of schools. He had also played football for the University of Washington. Her brother had been a colonel in the Air Force.



Melvin, Pamela, Sandy, Terry in the YouTube opening screen.

NFL Winter Meetings : Too Noisy Cheering Will Bring Penalties

If you're planning to see a pro football game next fall, be careful when and how you cheer, and how long.

www.latimes.com

Grandma the Rebel, Caleb Love



This is us in the picture. The far left, Pamela, Mary in the front row, then Karleen, Trinda, brother Clare, Dave Carlson, is that Shannon and his wife Kathy to the right of him with the green coat?

 

[seabowl]

Great story.

 

[ZorntoLargent]

Your mom was the sweetest! Shannon introduced me a few times.
She should be in the Ring of Honor!

 

[AROS]

Love the stories Terry...What a proud Seahawks "Original 12" family. Thank you for sharing!

 

[RiverDog]

Very cool! Thanks for sharing it!

 

[Terry Love]

Very cool! Thanks for sharing it!

It just comes to mind another thing my mother did. The earnest money agreement from the State of Washington to purchase the land for Lake Sammamish State Park had expired. The legislature wasn't going to convene soon enough to keep the right to the land. My mother got up to speak and encouraged those at the public hearing to reach into their wallets and put up the money to extend the agreement to purchase the land. They raised enough money that night, and later when the legislature got together again, they were able to purchase it and turn it into the park it is today. Now we all get to enjoy that beautiful park on the South shore of Lake Sammamish.

 

[RiverDog]

It just comes to mind another thing my mother did. The earnest money agreement from the State of Washington to purchase the land for Lake Sammamish State Park had expired. The legislature wasn't going to convene soon enough to keep the right to the land. My mother got up to speak and encouraged those at the public hearing to reach into their wallets and put up the money to extend the agreement to purchase the land. They raised enough money that night, and later when the legislature got together again, they were able to purchase it and turn it into the park it is today. Now we all get to enjoy that beautiful park on the South shore of Lake Sammamish.

Your mother sounds like a wonderful lady and it's obvious that you're very proud of her. Thanks for sharing her experiences, it brought a smile to my face! We need more people like her.

 

[sdog1981]

This story is amazing. The Kingdome was something else.