For me, this is more than just a game. However, my fandom has always been about more than just "being a fan."
I was born in Seattle in 1994, but moved to the suburbs of Atlanta, Georgia when I was almost two years old. Needless to say, I do not remember living in Seattle in contrast to my dad, who grew up in Seattle, has been to Seahawks games at the Kingdome and can cite the memories of watching Ken Griffey Jr. turn into a star.
I could say that I became a Seattle sports fan when I was born; I have a toddler-sized Griffey jersey that hung on my bedroom wall my entire life. I believe this is the case. When kids starting sporting their Atlanta Falcons jerseys in third grade, I never identified with the team. I have been to more Atlanta Braves games than I can count, but every time I went to Turner, I wished I was at Safeco.
I guess the main point here is the reason behind this love. I'll start with my dad, who has had blue and green streaming through his blood since the day he was born. I've been asked many times why I didn't really watch football until the season that Seattle went to the Super Bowl. From the outside, it can seem very bandwagon-esque. The truth is that my dad never put on football because the Seahawks were never on television in Atlanta. Whenever the Seahawks played in a primetime game, the start time was my bedtime until I turned ten years old anyway. However, when 2005 rolled around, all of the sudden the Seahawks were on a lot more, our neighbor had the Sunday ticket, and my dad and I watched almost every single game. I have a memory of watching the NFC Championship, the game when Seattle just pummeled Jake Delhomme's Carolina Panthers. I was excited, but it was beginner's excitement. My dad, he was happy. The team he grew up watching fall over and over again was going to the Super Bowl. Looking back, I did not understand the weight of his excitement and passion until years later. I was only eleven years old.
My first year as a Seahawks fan was the year they went to the Super Bowl and lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers. I watched as many games as I could with my dad, and fell in love with the team that my dad fell in love with as a child.
After that season, I was already hooked. We could never afford the Sunday ticket and there were a few years before I figured out how to stream the game on European sites. I was also heavily into travel baseball from 2006-2009 which led to many times having to rely on our flip phones to update scores for us as we drove back home from tournament weekends almost every Sunday. It sucked. But at the same time, I savor those memories, being in the car, smelly and exhausted from another baseball tournament, but still being able to get excited when the phone updated us on another Seahawks moment.
I am also the oldest of three brothers and I have a half-brother (and another on the way!). Alex is a freshman in high school while Ian is in sixth grade. Of course, through my middle and high school days, they were too young to truly care about football or the Seahawks. Besides, half of the time the Seahawks were not very good anyways. That changed about the time I was a sophomore in high school (when Alex was in sixth grade). He started watching the games with my dad and me; while he enjoyed them, I think he was watching so we could spend time together as brothers. He watched me get pissed off when Hasselbeck threw an interception or when the referees spoiled another one. He watched me jump up and down when Marcus Trufant secured another possession for the offense. Now that I think back to it, he watched me like I watched my dad years before. I remember BeastQuake as if it were yesterday, when my dad, Alex and I woke our baby brother up because we were screaming so loud. I think that was when I knew that Alex was going to become as big of a fan as me.
In August of 2013, I left home to go to Duke University. I was mostly excited, but I was told that I would miss my family after a few weeks. To be honest, I was so busy that I never had time to miss my family until I went to bed at night when I had no more work to worry about (Duke is hard, guys). But when Seahawks Sundays rolled around and my roommate and I had to scrounge around to look for a place to watch the game on, I really began to miss home. Home on Sundays for me was always about the Seahawks, even if I was the only one to watch the game sometimes. The family was always in the living room or kitchen together; it was fun. My mom would laugh about how excited I would get about the game and always tell me not to get too upset when the Seahawks lost. If I was with my dad, we would go crazy together or get pissed together, but only after three to six hours of anticipation before the game began. And of course my brother, who got more and more into the games as the years went on.
I have visited home a few times, which are always great times. We went to the Seattle game in Atlanta earlier this year -- my step-dad, Alex, my roommate Kevin (also a Seahawks fan) and me. My dad and his fiancee were also there in another section of the Dome. Sure enough, Alex was up and yelling as much (or more) than I was. We destroyed the Falcons that day, and all was good. I have only been back to watch two other games this season -- the loss against Arizona and the win against St. Louis. Both were reminders of what it was like to live at home and experience the games with my family. I miss those days.
My mom spent years in Seattle, but has moved around -- living in Texas and Colorado as well. Today, she is a Seahawks fan and she says it is because of her sons. I don't blame her, as she has realized the bond that Seattle football has created for this family.
For us, for my family, even if my parents aren't together, the Seahawks have already brought us together in different ways. I am a fan, and I get excited and pissed and sometimes have to be reminded that it is just a game. But my passion for the Seahawks comes from within, it comes from home, and it never goes.
Win or lose today, I am proud of the Seahawks. My only wish is that I could be with Alex and my family today to anticipate, get excited, get pissed, celebrate or not, and talk about the game for hours.
Go Seahawks! I love you guys, and I hope that you can bring home the first Super Bowl ring in Seattle history!
Middle school selfie days
Me with my dad after a game
Alex, me, and Kevin
