Buccaneers vs. Seattle Seahawks

About our opponent the Seattle Seahawks

The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football franchise based in Seattle, Washington. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The Seahawks joined the NFL in 1976 as an expansion team. The Seahawks are owned by Paul Allen and are currently coached by Pete Carroll. Since 2002, the Seahawks have played their home games at CenturyLink Field (formerly Qwest Field), located south of downtown Seattle. The Seahawks previously played home games in the Kingdome (1976–1999) and Husky Stadium (1994, 2000–2001).

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The Seahawks are the only NFL franchise based in the Pacific Northwest region of North America, and thus attract support from a wide geographical area, including some parts of Oregon, Montana, Idaho, and Alaska, as well as Canadian fans in British Columbia and Alberta. Seahawks fans have been referred to collectively as the "12th Man", "12th Fan", or "12s". The Seahawks' fans have twice set the Guinness World Record for the loudest crowd noise at a sporting event, first on September 15, 2013, registering 136.6 dB during a game against the San Francisco 49ers and again on December 2, 2013, during a Monday Night Football game against the New Orleans Saints, with a then record-setting 137.6 dB. Over the years several notable players have been Seahawks, including Shaun Alexander, Brian Blades, Brian Bosworth, Dave Brown, Kenny Easley, Joey Galloway, Jacob Green, Matt Hasselbeck, Steve Hutchinson, Walter Jones, Cortez Kennedy, Dave Krieg, Steve Largent, Joe Nash, Marcus Trufant, Curt Warner, Jim Zorn, and Marshawn Lynch, as well as, for a brief time, Hall of Famers Carl Eller, Franco Harris, Warren Moon, John Randle, and Jerry Rice. Largent (1995), Kennedy (2012), Jones (2014), and Easley (2017) have been voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame primarily or wholly for their accomplishments as Seahawks. Brown, Easley, Green, Jones, Kennedy, Krieg, Largent, Warner, and Zorn have been inducted into the Seahawks Ring of Honor along with Pete Gross (radio announcer) and Chuck Knox (head coach).

The Seahawks have won ten division titles and three conference championships. They are the only team to have played in both the AFC and NFC Championship Games. They have appeared in three Super Bowls: losing 21-10 to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XL, defeating the Denver Broncos 43-8 for their sole championship in Super Bowl XLVIII, and losing 28-24 to the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLIX. They are also the first, and to date only, post-merger expansion team in NFL history to play in consecutive Super Bowls.

Team Mascot

BLITZ-DA-BIRD

litz is the official mascot of the Seattle Seahawks, a team in the National Football Conference of the National Football League. A large blue bird, Blitz made his debut on September 13, 1998 at the Seahawks' home opener at the Kingdome in Seattle, Washington.

After his inception Blitz's appearance changed slightly several times (including subtle changes in color in accordance with the team's updated scheme implemented after moving to Qwest Field in 2002) before a dramatic facelift in 2004, in an effort to make him appear less menacing to children by introducing friendlier facial features. A new look was introduced in 2014, involving an update to Blitz's face that more closely resembles the Seahawks logo. In addition to the longstanding look of a blue anthropomorphic bird of medium height, built like a bodybuilder, and wearing a Seahawks uniform (number 0), the updated Blitz features the piercing green eyes and blue and gray head represented on the team logo.

A second mascot, named Boom, was also introduced in 2014, as an "official sidekick" to Blitz. In addition to green eyes, Boom features green hair, a backwards Seahawks cap, and a number 00 Seahawks uniform.

Since the character's introduction in 1998, Blitz has been an integral part in the Seahawks' "Ready, Set, Goals!" reading program for children. In addition to all Seahawks home games, Blitz appears at hundreds of community and charity events throughout the year. He has also appeared at the Super Bowl and the Pro Bowl.

12th Man

The 12th man (also known as the 12s) refers to the fan support of the Seahawks. The team's first home stadium, the Kingdome, was one of the loudest and most disruptive environments in the NFL. Opponents were known to practice with rock music blaring at full blast to prepare for the often painfully high decibel levels generated at games in the Kingdome.

In 2002, the Seahawks began playing at what is now CenturyLink Field. Every regular season and playoff game at CenturyLink Field since the 2nd week of the 2003 season has been played before a sellout crowd. Like the Kingdome before it, CenturyLink Field is one of the loudest stadiums in the league. The stadium's partial roof and seating decks trap and amplify the noise and bang it back down to the field. This noise has caused problems for opposing teams, causing them to commit numerous false-start penalties. From 2002 through 2012, there have been 143 false-start penalties on visiting teams in Seattle, second only to the Minnesota Vikings.

The Seahawks' fans have twice set the Guinness World Record for the loudest crowd noise at a sporting event, first on September 15, 2013, registering 136.6 dB during a game against the San Francisco 49ers and again on December 2, 2013, during a Monday Night Football game against the New Orleans Saints, with a roar of 137.6 dB. As of September 29, 2014, the record of 142.2 dB is held in Arrowhead Stadium by fans of the Kansas City Chiefs.

Prior to kickoff of each home game, the Seahawks salute their fans by raising a giant #12 flag at the south end of the stadium. Current and former players, coaches, local celebrities, prominent fans, Seattle-area athletes, and current owner Paul Allen have raised the flag. Earlier, the Seahawks retired the #12 jersey on December 15, 1984 as a tribute to their fans. Before their Super Bowl win, the Seahawks ran onto the field under a giant 12th Man flag.

In September 1990, Texas A&M filed, and was later granted, a trademark application for the "12th Man" term, based on their continual usage of the term since the 1920s. In January 2006, Texas A&M filed suit against the Seattle Seahawks to protect the trademark and in May 2006, the dispute was settled out of court. In the agreement, which expired in 2016, Texas A&M licensed the Seahawks to continue using the phrase, in exchange for a licensing fee, public acknowledgement of A&M's trademark when using the term, a restriction in usage of the term to seven states in the Northwest United States, and a prohibition from selling any "12th Man" merchandise. Once the agreement expired, the Seahawks were allowed to continue using the number "12" but were no longer permitted to use the "12th Man" phrase. In August 2015, the Seahawks decided to drop their signage of the "12th Man" term and shifted towards referring to their fans as the "12s" instead.

Seahawks Stadium

CenturyLink Field

CenturyLink Field is a multi-purpose stadium located in Seattle, Washington, and is the home field for the Seahawks and Seattle Sounders FC of Major League Soccer. Originally called Seahawks Stadium, it became Qwest Field in June 2004, when telecommunications carrier Qwest acquired the naming rights. It received its current name in June 2011 after Qwest's acquisition by CenturyLink. It is a modern facility with views of the Downtown Seattle skyline and can seat 69,000 people. The complex also includes the Event Center with the WaMu Theater, a parking garage, and a public plaza and is accessible by multiple freeways and forms of mass transit.

The stadium was built between 2000 and 2002 on the site of the Kingdome after voters approved funding for the construction in a statewide election held in June 1997. This vote created the Washington State Public Stadium Authority to oversee public ownership of the venue. The owner of the Seahawks, Paul Allen, formed First & Goal Inc. to develop and operate the new facilities. Allen was closely involved in the design process and emphasized the importance of an open-air venue with an intimate atmosphere.

The fans are notoriously loud during Seahawks games. It has twice held the Guinness World Record for loudest crowd roar at an outdoor stadium, first at 136.6 decibels in 2013, followed by a measurement of 137.6 decibels in 2014. The noise has contributed to the team's home field advantage with an increase in false start (movement by an offensive player prior to the play) and delay of game (failure of the offense to snap the ball prior to the play clock expiring) penalties against visiting teams. The stadium was the first in the NFL to implement a FieldTurf artificial field. Numerous college and high school American football games have also been played at the stadium.

Logos & Uniforms

When the Seahawks debuted in 1976, the team's logo was a stylized royal blue and forest green osprey's head based on Northwest Coast art. The helmet and pants were silver while the home uniforms were royal blue with white, blue and green arm stripes. The road uniform was white with blue and green arm stripes. Black shoes were worn for the first four seasons, one of the few NFL teams that did in the late 1970s. They then changed to white shoes in 1980.

In 1983, coinciding with the arrival of Chuck Knox as head coach, the uniforms were updated slightly. The striping on the arms now incorporated the Seahawks logo, and the TV numbers moved onto the shoulders. Helmet facemasks changed from gray to blue. Also, the socks went solid blue at the top, and white on bottom. In the 1985 season, the team wore 10th Anniversary patches on the right side of their pants. It had the Seahawks logo streaking through the number 10. Starting in the 1989 NFL season, jerseys were no longer sand-knit. In 1994, the year of the NFL's 75th Anniversary, the Seahawks changed the style of their numbering to something more suitable for the team; Pro Block from then until 2001. That same year, the Seahawks wore a vintage jersey for select games resembling the 1976–82 uniforms. However, the helmet facemasks remained blue. The logos also became sewn on instead of being screen-printed. In 2000, Shaun Alexander's rookie year and Cortez Kennedy's last, the Seattle Seahawks celebrated their 25th Anniversary; the logo was worn on the upper left chest of the jersey.

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In 2001, the Seahawks switched to the new Reebok uniform system still in their current uniforms, but it would be their last in this uniform after the season ended. Previously, the team's uniforms were made by Wilson, Wilson/Staff, Russell Athletics, Logo Athletics, and Puma. In March 1, 2002, to coincide with the team moving to the NFC as well as the opening of Seahawks Stadium (which would later be renamed Qwest Field, then CenturyLink Field), both the logo and the uniforms were heavily redesigned. The Wordmark was designed by Mark Verlander and the logo was designed by NFL Properties in-house design team. The colors were modified to a lighter "Seahawks Blue", a darker "Seahawks Navy" and lime green piping. The helmets also were changed from silver to the lighter "Seahawks Blue" color after a fan poll was conducted. Silver would not be seen again until 2012. The logo artwork was also subtly altered, with an arched eyebrow and a forward-facing pupil suggesting a more aggressive-looking bird. At first, the team had planned to wear silver helmets at home and blue helmets on the road, but since NFL rules forbid the use of multiple helmets, the team held the fan poll to decide which color helmet would be worn. The team had usually worn all blue at home and all white on the road since 2003, but late in the 2009 season, the Seahawks wore the white jersey-blue pants combo. The blue jersey and white pants combo has been worn for only one regular season game, the 2005 season opener at the Jacksonville Jaguars, while the white jersey and blue pants combination has not been worn regularly since late in the 2002 season, with the exception of late in the 2009 season. In 2009, the Seahawks once again wore the white jersey and blue pants combination for road games against Minnesota (November 22), St. Louis (November 29), Houston (December 13) and Green Bay (December 27).

The Seahawks wore their home blue jerseys during Super Bowl XL despite being designated as the visitor, since the Pittsburgh Steelers, the designated home team, elected to wear their white jerseys.

Since the Oakland Raiders wore their white jerseys at home for the first time ever in a game against the San Diego Chargers on September 28, 2008, the Seahawks are currently the only NFL team to have never worn their white jerseys at home.

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The Seahawks wore their Nike home blue jerseys for the first regular season game on September 16, 2012 against the Dallas Cowboys. The uniform Marshawn Lynch wore in that game is preserved at the Pro Football Hall of Fame. On September 9, 2012, the Seahawks wore their Nike white away jerseys for the first regular season game against the Arizona Cardinals; on October 14, 2012, with the Carolina Panthers wearing white at home, they wore their blue jerseys with gray pants (and would do so again against the Miami Dolphins seven weeks later); and on December 16, 2012, they wore their Alternate Wolf Grey jerseys for the first time against the Buffalo Bills.

Franchise History

1976–1982: Expansion Era

As per one of the agreed parts of the 1970 AFL–NFL merger, the NFL began planning to expand from 26 to 28 teams. In June 1972, Seattle Professional Football Inc., a group of Seattle business and community leaders, announced its intention to acquire an NFL franchise for the city of Seattle. In June 1974, the NFL gave the city an expansion franchise. That December, NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle announced the official signing of the franchise agreement by Lloyd W. Nordstrom, representing the Nordstrom family as majority partners for the consortium.

In March 1975, John Thompson, former Executive Director of the NFL Management Council and a former Washington Huskies executive, was hired as the general manager of the new team. The name Seattle Seahawks ("Seahawk" is another name for Osprey) was selected on June 17, 1975 after a public naming contest which drew more than 20,000 entries and over 1,700 different names. Thompson recruited and hired Jack Patera, a Minnesota Vikings assistant coach, to be the first head coach of the Seahawks; the hiring was announced on January 3, 1976. The expansion draft was held March 30–31, 1976, with Seattle and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers alternating picks for rounds selecting unprotected players from the other 26 teams in the league. The Seahawks were awarded the 2nd overall pick in the 1976 draft, a pick they used on defensive tackle Steve Niehaus. The team took the field for the first time on August 1, 1976 in a pre-season game against the San Francisco 49ers in the then newly constructed Kingdome.

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The Seahawks are, to date, the only NFL team to switch conferences twice in the post-merger era. The franchise began play in 1976 in the aforementioned NFC West but switched conferences with the Buccaneers after one season and joined the AFC West. This realignment was dictated by the league as part of the 1976 expansion plan, so that both expansion teams could play each other twice and every other NFL franchise once (the ones in their conference at the time) during their first two seasons. The Seahawks won both matchups against the Buccaneers in their first two seasons, the former of which was the Seahawks' first regular season victory.

1983–1991: Chuck Knox Era

In 1983, the Seahawks hired Chuck Knox as head coach. Finishing with a 9–7 record, the Seahawks made their first post-season appearance, defeating the Denver Broncos in the Wild Card Round, and then the Miami Dolphins, before losing in the AFC Championship to the Los Angeles Raiders. The following season, the Seahawks had their best season before 2005, finishing 12–4. Knox won the NFL Coach of the Year Award.

In 1988, Ken Behring and partner Ken Hofmann purchased the team for either $79 million or $99 million (both numbers have been reported). The Seahawks won their first division title in 1988, but from 1989 to 1998 had poor records and did not play in the post-season.

1990s Era

In 1996, Behring and Hoffman transferred the team's operations to Anaheim, California, a widely criticized move, although the team continued to play in Seattle. The team almost relocated, and was in bankruptcy for a short period. They sold the team to Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen in 1997, for $200 million, and in 1999 Mike Holmgren was hired as head coach. He would coach for 10 seasons. The Seahawks won their second division title, as well as a wild card berth in the playoffs.

1999–2008: Mike Holmgren Era

In 2002, the Seahawks returned to the NFC West as part of an NFL realignment plan that gave each conference four balanced divisions of four teams each. This realignment restored the AFC West to its initial post-merger roster of original AFL teams Denver, San Diego, Kansas City, and Oakland.

In the 2005 season, the Seahawks had their best season in franchise history (a feat that would later be matched in 2013) with a record of 13–3, which included a 42-0 rout of the Philadelphia Eagles on December 5, a game since referred to as the Monday Night Massacre. The 13-3 record earned them the number one seed in the NFC. They won the NFC Championship Game in 2005, but lost in Super Bowl XL against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The loss was controversial; NFL Films has Super Bowl XL at number 8 on its top ten list of games with controversial referee calls. Before 2005, Seattle had the longest drought of playoff victories of any NFL team, dating back to the 1984 season. That drought was ended with a 20–10 win over the Washington Redskins in the 2005 playoffs.

2009: Jim Mora's Single Season

In the 2009 NFL season, the Seahawks finished 3rd in the NFC West with a 5-11 record. Shortly after his first full season with the Seahawks, head coach Jim L. Mora was fired on January 8, 2010. Mora was replaced by former USC Trojans football head coach, Pete Carroll. Shortly thereafter, Mora became the head coach for the UCLA Bruins football team.

2010–present: Pete Carroll Era

In the 2010 NFL season, the Seahawks made history by making it into the playoffs despite having a 7–9 record. They had the best record in a division full of teams with losing seasons (Seahawks 7–9, Rams 7–9, 49ers 6–10, Cardinals 5–11) and won the decisive season finale against the Rams (not only by overall record, but by division record, as both teams coming into the game had a 3–2 division record). In the playoffs, the Seahawks won in their first game against the defending Super Bowl XLIV champs, the New Orleans Saints, 41–36. The Seahawks made even more history during the game with Marshawn Lynch's 67-yard run, breaking 7 or more tackles, to clinch the victory. After the run the fans reacted so loudly that a small earthquake (a bit above 2 on the Richter Scale) was recorded by seismic equipment around Seattle. The Seahawks lost to the Bears in their second game, 35–24.

The 2012 NFL season started with doubt, as the Seahawks lost their season opener against the Arizona Cardinals, after the highly touted Seattle defense gave up a go-ahead score late in the fourth quarter, and rookie quarterback Russell Wilson failed to throw the game winning touchdown after multiple attempts in the red-zone. However, Russell Wilson and the Seahawks went 4–1 in their next five games en route to an 11–5 overall record (their first winning record since 2007). Their 2012 campaign included big wins over the Green Bay Packers, New England Patriots, and San Francisco 49ers. The Seahawks went into the playoffs as the #5 seed and the only team that season to go undefeated at home. In the Wild Card Round, the Seahawks overcame a 14-point deficit to defeat the Washington Redskins. This was the first time since the 1983 Divisional Round that the Seahawks won a playoff game on the road. However, in the 2013 Divisional Round, overcoming a 20-point, fourth quarter deficit wouldn't be enough to defeat the #1 seed Atlanta Falcons. An ill-advised timeout and a defensive breakdown late in the game cost the Seahawks their season, as they lost, 30–28. QB Russell Wilson won the 2012 Pepsi Max Rookie of the Year award.

2013: First Super Bowl Championship

In the 2013 NFL season, the Seahawks continued their momentum from the previous season, finishing tied with the Denver Broncos for an NFL-best regular season record of 13–3, while earning the NFC's #1 playoff seed. Their 2013 campaign included big wins over the Carolina Panthers, New Orleans Saints, and the San Francisco 49ers. Six Seahawks players were named to the Pro Bowl: Quarterback Russell Wilson, center Max Unger, running back Marshawn Lynch, cornerback Richard Sherman, free safety Earl Thomas, and strong safety Kam Chancellor. However, none of them were able to play in the Pro Bowl, as the Seahawks defeated the New Orleans Saints, 23–15, and the San Francisco 49ers, 23–17, in the playoffs to advance to Super Bowl XLVIII against the Denver Broncos. On February 2, 2014, the Seahawks won their first Super Bowl Championship, defeating Denver 43–8. The Seahawks' defense performance in 2013 was acclaimed as one of the best in the Super Bowl era.

The following season, Seattle advanced to Super Bowl XLIX, their second consecutive Super Bowl, but they were dethroned of their title by the New England Patriots by a score of 28–24.

They got off to a slow start the next year starting 0-2 and 2-4 through 6 games but finished 10-6 on the year clinching a wild card berth. They beat the Minnesota Vikings 10-9 to advance to the divisional round. Against Carolina, they were down 31-0 at halftime before scoring 24 unanswered points. Their comeback attempt fell short and they failed to make the Super Bowl.

Since moving into the NFC West, the Seahawks have had considerably more success, having won 8 of 15 division titles, and making the playoffs in 11 out of 15 seasons.