Seattle Seahawks - NFL Franchise Overview
A profile of yearly NFL big hitters, the Seattle Seahawks
Welcome to The Sporting Blog franchise overview series. In this series, we will review each National Football League franchise and give you an in-depth history of who they are and how they came to be.
In today’s edition, we are talking about the Seattle Seahawks!
Seahawks’s History
The Seattle Seahawks became the 28th NFL Franchise in 1976. They were added as an expansion team along with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Hawks joining the NFL was a long-awaited goal of the league to expand into the Pacific Northwest.
After more than 20,000 entries for a name were submitted through a civil run program, the name Seahawks was announced as the team's name. There were over 1700 suggestions in the process. The Hawks began selling season tickets during a 27-day sale and very quickly sold 59,000. The stadium they played in at the time only sat over 64,000 fans.
In their first two seasons in the league, the Seahawks won just seven games and went 7-21 under head coach Jack Patera. They started to turn things around in 1978 when they finished the season with a 9-7 record in that year and the next.
The franchise really turned it into a new gear under head coach Chuck Knox who guided the Seahawks to an 83-67-0 record in nine seasons up through the 1991 campaign. He led the Seahawks to the AFC championship game his first season. Seattle won an AFC West wild-card berth for the first time in its eight-year history and then knocked off Denver and Miami before losing to the Los Angeles Raiders 30-14 in the title game.
Stadium
The original Seahawks stadium was the 64,984-seat Kingdome. The Seahawks were in the Kingdome from 1976 to 1999. The Hawks then moved into Husky Stadium where the University of Washington plays from 2000-2001. They played at Husky Stadium while they awaited the construction of their brand new stadium.
Century Link Field - Home of the Seahawk’s
CenturyLink Field opened in 2002 under the name Seahawks Stadium and was then renamed Qwest Field in 2004. The stadium became the first in the NFL to have a turf field and is in a U-Shape to provide beautiful views of Downtown Seattle. The stadium also is designed for loudness as the Seattle fans, the 12th man, are some of the loudest in the National Football League.
Seattle Seahawk’s Playoffs and Championships Record
The Seahawks have played in 34 postseason games and have a 17-17 record. They didn’t make the playoffs until their eighth year in the NFL and when they finally did they went all the way to the AFC Championship game where they lost to the Oakland Raiders. They’d go on to play three more times over the course of the next five years.
The Hawks didn’t make their first Super Bowl until 2005. They defeated the Carolina Panthers in the NFC Championship game but ultimately lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the big game by a score of 21-10.
In 2013, the Seahawks looked to be on a dynasty run under Pete Carroll. Carroll led the Hawks to the playoffs with a record under .500 in 2010 and the team only got better from there. Against Peyton Manning’s Broncos in Super Bowl 48, the Hawks blew them out and won 43-8 in the most lopsided Super Bowl in NFL history.
The Hawks went back to the Super Bowl the very next season and infamously threw an interception at the goaline with less than a minute to play and lost the game against the New England Patriots.
The Hawks have won their division in 10 different seasons but have just one Super Bowl banner to show for it.
The Best Coach in Seahawks History
There have been some phenomenal coaches in Seattle Seahawks history. They have seen guys like Chuck Knox, Mike Holgrem, Jack Patera and Dennis Erickson sit at the helm of the squad. Holmgren is certainly the second-best coach in team history. He led them to a Super Bowl appearance in 2005 and had a 86-74 record with the team. He was crucial in the development of quarterback Matt Hassleback.
But the coach that sits at the top of the list is Pete Carroll. Carroll left the University of Southern California under bad circumstances and became a great coach with the Hawks. He has been there since 2010 and has a winning percentage of over .630. He has more than 100 wins with the Seahawks and more than 19 than any other coach in team history.
Under Carroll, the Hawks have made the playoffs in four different seasons, won a Super Bowl, won two NFC Championship Games. When Carroll decides to hang it up, he will go down as one of the greatest coaches from both the pros and college and one of just three to win a Super Bowl and a National Championship in the NCAA.
Three Best Players in Franchise History
Walter Jones:
One of the greatest lineman in NFL history, Jones was a Seattle Seahawk from 1997 to 2008. He was a member of the 2000’s All-Decades team and was the anchor on an offensive line that paved the way for Shaun Alexander. Jones started in all 180 games he appeared in for the Seahawks. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2014 and had his jersey retired the same year, only the third to be retired in Hawks history.
Russell Wilson:
Even though he still plays for Seattle, Wilson has been the most dynamic quarterback the franchise has ever had and will go down as an NFL great. Wilson has a Super Bowl win and loss under his belt but has made the Seahawks a contender every year he’s started. By the time that Wilson retires or leaves the Seahawks, he will own just about every single passing record there is to have for Seattle.
Russell Wilson has ascended to the highest level of the Quarterback. Doubted for his size, he shattered the mould.
Steve Largent:
The wide receiver who spent his entire 13-year career in Seattle is one of the greatest to ever play in the National Football League. When Largent retired from the NFL, he was the league’s all-time leader in receptions, yards and touchdowns, and the first player ever to catch 100 touchdown passes. Largent was inducted into the Hall of Fame during his first year of eligibility, becoming the first Seahawk to achieve such a feat.
Greatest Draft Pick in Team History
There are so many picks that can go into this section including players like Richard Sherman who was drafted in the sixth round and went on to become the Legion of Boom and win a Super Bowl or the dominant linebacker Bobby Wagner who was taken in the second round of his draft. But it is way too hard to overlook the pick of Russell Wilson here.
To find your franchise quarterback in the third round of the draft is impressive and Wilson has been more than just that. He will have a chance at winning a couple of MVP titles and at least another Super Bowl before he stops playing and he has been the anchor the Hawks needed. He and Pete Carroll will go down as one of the better coach/quarterback duos ever.
Best Free Agent Signing or Trade in Team History
Maybe the most dynamic free agent signing the team ever had was Marshawn Lynch. The running back spent six seasons under two different terms with the Seahawks and became the most dominant back in the NFL during his time there. Lynch went to four Pro Bowls in Seattle, led the league in rushing touchdowns twice and was named to the NFL’s All-Decade team in the 2000’s.
The Team’s Greatest Moment
The greatest moment in team history remains their only Super Bowl Title. It was one of the most dominating performances a team has ever had in a Super Bowl and it was the beginning of what made Seattle a powerhouse during the 2010’s.
