Seattle Seahawks

The Seattle Seahawks, despite being just shy of 50 years old, are one of the youngest franchises in all of the National Football League. That does not mean they have yet to see their share of success or had their history.

Seattle has a rich history of football and one of the best fan bases in all of the National Football League. Let’s take a look at some of the history of the Seattle Seahawks.

The Seattle Seahawks currently play their home games at Lumen Field. Lumen Field has been known as one of the best home-field advantages in all of the National Football League. The team has been there since 2002.

Before playing at Lumen Field, the Seahawks started playing their games at the Kingdome from 1976-1999. The Kingdome is where the Major League Baseball team – the Seattle Mariners played their home games. Then, while the Seahawks were preparing to move to their new location, they used Husky Stadium. This is where the University of Washington plays its football games. They played there in 1994 and also from 2000-2001.

Lumen Field used to be known as Seahawks Stadium, then Qwest Field, then CenturyLink Field, and now Lumen Field. The venue hosts many concerts, trade shows, and sporting events. The Seattle Sounders of the MLS play there, along with the OL Regin of the NWSL and Seattle Sea Dragons of the XFL.

Lumen Field hosts nearly 69,000 fans for a football game, while they expand it to almost 72,000 for special events. The venue costs more than $430M, and it took 16 months from start to finish to complete the complex.

The Seattle Seahawks are named the Seahawks due to a fan contest. With nearly 20,000 fans entering and nearly 1,700 unique entries, the Seahawks were the most common name. Other names on the list included Skippers, Pioneers, Lumberjacks, and Seagulls.

The organization liked the Seahawks due to Puget Sound’s maritime heritage and the Native American culture. The nickname became an immediate success in the city of Seattle and surrounding areas.

The Seahawks have played in 48 seasons in the National Football League and have won 383 games. The Seahawks also have 17 postseason wins. Russell Wilson is notorious for the Seahawks throwing for more than 37,000 yards and 292 touchdowns.

Shaun Alexander is the notable running back for Seattle with just shy of 9,500 rushing yards, and he finished with 100 touchdowns. Pete Carroll is the winningest head coach in Seahawks history and still remains the head coach heading into the 2023 season.

Russell Wilson went 104-53-1 as the quarterback of the Seattle Seahawks. He led the NFL in passing rating in 2015 and was the passing touchdown leader for Seattle in 2017.

The Seattle Seahawks have one Super Bowl to their name heading into the 2023 season. The Seahawks are 1-2 in Super Bowl games. The lone Super Bowl win was the 2013 season, while they lost in the big game in 2005 and 2014.

Super Bowl XLVIII was held in MetLife Stadium, which was the first cold-weather city to host the Super Bowl. The game was held on February 2nd, 2015. Seattle absolutely blew the doors off John Fox and his Denver Broncos. The game started with a safety, putting the Seahawks up 2-0 right away.

The Seahawks led 22-0 at halftime and 36-0 before the Broncos got on the board. Malcolm Smith, the Seahawks linebacker, was named Most Valuable Player with an interception return for a touchdown and a fumble recovery. 82,529 fans in attendance saw Pete Carroll’s first and only Super Bowl title.

When the Seahawks tried to go back to back during the 2014 season, they were stopped in the Super Bowl by Tom Brady and the New England Patriots. This one was at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.

The Seahawks won the NFC title in 2005, only to be topped by the Pittsburgh Steelers at Ford Field in Detroit.

The Seahawks have won their division 11 times in franchise history. Seattle won the AFC West in 1988 and 1999 and then won it 9 times as a member of the NFC West. The Seahawks won it four straight seasons from 2004-2007. The most recent NFC West title came in 2020.

Overall, Seattle has been to the postseason 20 times. The run from 2003-2022 has seen them advance to the postseason 15 times in 20 seasons.

A recap of quarterbacks for the Seattle Seahawks can only start with the mention of Russell Wilson. Wilson leads the franchise in games played, games started, passing attempts, pass completions, passing yards, and touchdowns. Russell Wilson is the best quarterback in Seattle’s franchise history.

After that – the list goes to Matt Hasselbeck. He was the signal caller from 2001-2010 and is second in games started with 131 to Wilson’s 158. Dave Krieg and Jim Zorn are the only other two that have started 100+ games for Seattle. Rick Mirer and Jon Kitna round out the Top 6 list.

When it comes to touchdown passes, Krieg is second to Wilson, with 195. Hasselbeck and Zorn are 100+ each.

When looking at postseason success – there is not a ton of it—dating back to the 1983 season. Dave Krieg finished with a 3-3 postseason record. Jon Kitna started one game in 1999 and lost. Matt Hasselbeck got the Seahawks to the postseason three times and also finished 3-3. Then came the Russell Wilson era.

The Seahawks went to the postseason 7 times in his time as the starting quarterback. Twice they did not win a postseason game. The other times, he combined for an 8-6 record. In 2022, Geno Smith got a start in the postseason and lost.

The Seattle Seahawks have just four players that they can call their own in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The first player inducted was their star receiver from 1976-1989, Steve Largent. Largent was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1995.

It was not until 2012 that the Seahawks saw another player inducted. Cortez Kennedy, a defensive tackle from 1990-2000, was inducted. Then, Walter Jones, an offensive tackle from 1997-2009, went in during 2014, and finally, the most recent Kenny Easley was inducted in 2017.

Other guys in the Pro Football Hall of Fame that spent at least one season with Seattle include Franco Harris, Carl Eller, Warren Moon, John Randle, Jerry Rice, Kevin Mawae, and Steve Hutchinson.

The lone coach/executive in the Pro Football Hall of Fame for Seattle was head coach Tom Flores. He was inducted in 2021 but spent just three seasons with the Seahawks.

Many around Seattle have a few nicknames over the years for the Seahawks. Many will refer to them as “The Hawks.” During the 1980s, fans called them the “Blue Wave,” and most recently, the Legion of Boom was made up for the Seattle secondary, most specifically between 2011 and 2017.

Seattle became the first team in the history of the National Football League to reach the postseason despite having a losing record. The Seahawks went 7-9 in 2010 but won the NFC West. The Seahawks then went on to beat New Orleans in the postseason.

It took Seattle until the 2016 season to record a tie game in the NFL.

Blitz is the official mascot of the Seattle Seahawks. Blitz is a large blue bird that has been coming to Seahawks home games since the 1998 season. In 2014, the Seahawks grabbed a second mascot, Boom. He has green hair and wears a backward Seattle cap, and wears 00 on his uniform.