The Seahawks fans pride themselves on being the “12th Man,” being
the difference maker for the Seahawks when they are at home. Well, if you’re
going to call yourselves the “12th Man” you better act like it. It looked
like, when the five minute mark hit in the 4th quarter, the “12th Man”
became the “Invisible Man” because a lot of “Seahawks Fans” left the game. They
left! They didn’t stick around to watch their team for the full game. They just
gave up! You don't leave! Way to show the NFL that you are a bunch of
hypocrites! 12th Man my ass...way to go Seattle...
Now, granted, I had given up on my ‘Hawks at that point too (and I admit
that the Seahawks did not win that game, the Packers lost it). But, I also know
that you stay until the end to show your support for your team. I may have posted
some stuff on Facebook to vent my frustration, but I was still watching. I was
mostly just pissed off and furious at how craptacular my Seahawks were playing,
but I was still watching. Plus, if I were at the game that would mean my
wife would have been at the game with me sporting her Aaron Rodgers jersey and
cheese head, so I would have had to stayed until the end regardless of what the
score was. I would also have stayed because of how much the tickets were to go
to the game. I think the cheapest I found was $200! You’re going to leave a
game before it ends after paying $200 for a ticket! Get your money’s worth! I
don’t care if the backups are in, you watch every minute of that damn game!
I am more disappointed at the fact that casual fans take on the “12th Man”
mantra when the Seahawks are winning. It’s easy to support a team that wins; we
like to be a part of success. Makes it easy. We don’t have to defend our teams
performance. There’s no complaining because things are going great. It’s when
your team is sucking eggs that you get to see who the real fans are. The fans
who have been there since the beginning. I have several students that are now
“Seahawks Fans”. I have 13 year old boys who like the Seahawks because they are
a successful team and the flavor of the week the past few years for the NFL.
They are not real fans because they never endured the pain of watching the
Seahawks before the 2005 season.
None of those kids can tell me who the only Seahawks players are in the NFL
Hall of Fame (Steve Largent, Cortez Kennedy, and Walter Jones! No Wikipedia
necessary children! Don’t worry, Shaun Alexander, you’ll join them soon). They
don’t know that they used to play on AstroTurf in the Kingdome. They don’t know
that their old helmets were silver, and their original colors were normal blue
and normal green. They don’t know that the Seahawks were added in 1976 and
started in the NFC West and they sure as hell don’t know that they used to play
in the AFC West from 1977 – 2001 against the Chargers, Broncos, Chiefs, and
Raiders until the realignment happened for the 2002 season and they went back
to the NFC West. If you are a fan, you know that stuff. Just like Vikings fans
know that they will lose to the Packers every year.
I have been a Seahawks fan since 1989 when I saw them first play against the Los Angeles Raiders and I liked their jerseys and logo (I know, poor reason to like a team, but I was six). I have never wavered in my allegiance. I may get frustrated with their
performance, as I always was back in the 1990’s and early 2000’s, but I will
always be a fan. The Seahawks are my team. Sometimes it takes adversity to
remind myself what that means. That and a friendly Facebook reminder from some
old friends. So thank you to you all for reminding me what it means to be a
real fan.
GO 'HAWKS!
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