History Of The Seattle Seahawks

History of The Seattle Seahawks

The city of Seattle was awarded an NFL franchise by then commissioner Pete Rozelle in December of 1974. A group of Seattle business and community leaders had began attempting to acquire a franchise in 1972. The franchise agreement was signed by Lloyd W. Nordstrom, as a representative of the majority partners in the group. Tragically, Mr. Nordstrom would never see the Seahawks play a game, as Mr. Nordstrom suffers a fatal heart attack in January of 1976. Mr. Nordstrom had hired the front office personnel previously.

The Seahawks hired John Thompson from the University of Washington as their first general manager, with Jack Patera as their first head coach. The name Seahawks was chosen after a fan contest that received over 20,000 entries, with over 1,700 different names. The name Seahawks was on 151 entries. The name had previously been used by the Miami Seahawks, of the All American Football Conference, in 1946.

The Seahawks played their inaugural season in the NFC west division, and after the season switched with the also expansion Tampa Bay Buccaneers, moving to the AFC west.

Jack Patera had been an assistant coach with the Minnesota Vikings. The Seahawks played their first game on September 12, 1976, losing on a late interception to the (then) St. Louis Cardinals. The Seahawks would lose their first five games before winning their first; a 13-10 win on the road over the also expansion Tampa Bay Buccaneers on October 17. They won their first home game three weeks later, against the Atlanta Falcons 30-13. These would be the Seahawks only two wins in their inaugural season, finishing 2-12.

Patera would coach the Seahawks through the 1982 season, with the Seahawks first winning season coming in 1978 at 9-7. They repeated this record in 1979. In 1982 there was a two month NFL players strike after the first two games, both losses by the Seahawks. When the players came back, Patera was fired, and replaced by interim coach Mike McCormack. The Seahawks finished the strike shortened year at 4-5. McCormack returned to the front office in 1983, and Chuck Knox was hired as head Coach.

The 83 season would be another 9-7 year for the Seahawks, but they made the playoffs for the first time, as a wild card team. They won the wild card game over the Denver Broncos at home and defeated the Miami Dolphins in Miami in the divisional round. The breakthrough season ended there, as they lost in the conference championship to the eventual Super Bowl Champion Los Angeles Raiders 30-14. In 1984 the Seahawks had their best year yet, finishing 12-4, but losing in the divisional round, to the Dolphins in Miami 31-10.

Coach Knox stayed until the end of the 1991 season, returning to the LA Rams after the season. The Seahawks made the playoffs again in 1987 and ’88, losing in the wildcard and divisional rounds, respectively. Besides ’84 (12 wins) and ’86 (10 wins) the Seahawks didn’t win more than nine games during the Knox era.

In 1988 the team was sold to real estate developer Ken Behring, and in 1992 he named two-time Super Bowl winning Coach Tom Flores head coach. Flores would only coach three years, finishing 2-14, 6-10 & 6-10. After the 1994 season Flores would step down as head coach to concentrate on his duties as President and General Manager. The three years under Flores were, perhaps, the worst offensive years in the Seahawks short history. The only bright spot being defensive star Cortez Kennedy, named NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 1992. After the ’94 season Flores was replaced by Dennis Erickson at Head Coach.

In 1996 owner Ken Behring announced he was moving the team to Los Angeles. Claiming unfounded safety concerns (Earthquakes in Seattle, not Los Angeles?)  Behring did move the front office operations to Anaheim, but the teams move wasn’t allowed, as the Seahawks were bound to the Kingdome through 2005. Behring then decided to sell the team. A potential owner was identified in Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, who agreed to purchase the team, but only if a new stadium was built. A statewide election was held, which funded the new stadium, and Allen purchased the team.

With new, local ownership and money, the Seahawks on the field changed very little. They would not make the playoffs under Erickson, or ever finish with more than 8 wins. With a questionable offensive strategy, and a revolving door at the Quarterback position, the Seahawks again finished 8-8 for the 1998 season, costing Erickson his Job.

In 1999 the Seahawks hired former Green Bay head coach Mike Holmgren as coach and General Manager. Holmgren coached the Seahawks from 1999 until 2008, making the playoffs in 1999 and from 2003 through the 2007 seasons. For the 2000 and 2001 seasons the Seahawks played their home games at the University of Washington’s Husky Stadium, while their new home was being built.

There were many changes for the 2002 season. With the opening of their new stadium, Seahawk Stadium, then Qwest Field, and now Century Link (Clink) field the Seahawks also made the move back to the NFC West. The Seahawks are the only team to ever switch conferences twice. One year in NFC, 1977-2001 in AFC, and 2002 to present in the NFC again. (Since the AFL/NFL merger). Before the 2003 season, Holmgren stepped down as General Manager, to concentrate on just his Head Coaching duties.

In 2005 the Seahawks won their first Conference Championship. The team finished the regular season 13-3, clinching home field advantage throughout the playoffs. In the playoffs they beat the Washington Redskins and the Carolina Panthers to advance to Super Bowl 40 against the Pittsburg Steelers. The Seahawks lost the game 21-10 amid poor clock management, dropped passes and an interception deep in Steelers territory, but mostly due to questionable officiating. So as to not sound like a whining fan, head referee of Super Bowl 40 Bill Leavy said, before the 2010 season (three seasons later) “It was a tough thing for me. I kicked two calls in the fourth quarter and I impacted the game and as an official you never want to do that. It left me with a lot of sleepless nights and I think about it constantly. I'll go to my grave wishing that I'd been better. I know that I did my best at that time, but it wasn't good enough. When we make mistakes, you got to step up and own them. It's something that all officials have to deal with, but unfortunately when you have to deal with it in the Super Bowl it's difficult. Most Seahawks fans, including this one, are still extremely bitter over the outcome. As Coach Holmgren said at the time, "We knew it was going to be tough going up against the Pittsburgh Steelers. I didn't know we were going to have to play the guys in the striped shirts as well." Super Bowl 40 ended a playoff season that was plagued by complaints about officiating.

In 2006 and 2007 the Seahawks made the playoffs, only to lose in the divisional round to the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers, respectively. In 2008, Holmgrens final year in Seattle, the Seahawks finished a disappointing 4-12. With injuries to the top three wide receivers, and also to quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, who missed nine games, the offense never got untracked. The Seahawks also had a new running back in place, cutting Shawn Alexander at the end of the previous season. The 4-12 record was the team’s worst since 1992.

After Holmgren departed, defensive back coach Jim Mora would be announced as the new Head Coach. 2009 was Mora’s only season as head coach of the Seahawks, they finished 5-11. With the poor play coupled with much in-team bickering, Mora was fired at years end, and replaced by Pete Carroll. A week later, the Seahawks announced the hiring of John Schneider as General Manager. The relationship and collaboration between the two are in my opinion, what has made the Seahawks one of today’s elite team and franchises.

The 2010 season laid the groundwork for much of the Seahawks current success. With the drafting of Russell Okung, Golden Tate and Earl Thomas, and trade for Marshawn Lynch in week 5, the pieces were coming together. During the 2010 season, Carroll’s first, the Seahawks finished 7-9, but won the NFC West divisional title. In the wild card game against the New Orleans Saints, the Seahawks won with the birth of Beast Mode; a 67 yard run by Marshawn Lynch that is perhaps the most electrifying run in NFL history. It actually triggered a seismic activity on local seismology machines. Lynch broke nine tackles on the play. The following week the Seahawks lost to the Bears in the divisional round 35-24. The following season, 2011, the Seahawks also finished with a 7-9 record, but it wasn’t enough to make the playoffs, Carroll’s only year not making it there.

From 2012 until last season the Seahawks have made the playoffs every year. Losing to Atlanta in 2012 Divisional Round, with a rookie quarterback, Russell Wilson prompted many to see this as a team of the future. It didn’t take long for the future to arrive. In 2013, after a 13-3 regular season, with the Seahawks claiming home field advantage through the playoffs, the Seahawks defeated the Saints and the San Francisco 49ers on their way to Super Bowl 48.

With the leagues best defense (Seattle) going against the leagues best offense (Denver Broncos) many expected this to be a top quality game. It was anything but that. From the opening snap over quarterback Peyton Manning’s head, for a safety, to the opening 2^nd half kickoff return by Percy Harvin, the Seahawks dominated the Broncos for a 43-8 victory, their first ever Super Bowl win. Linebacker Malcolm Smith was named game MVP on the strength of a 69 yard interception return, and a fumble recovery.

The following season, 2014 was another good year. With so many teams suffering a Super Bowl hangover, the Seahawks again won their division, and held home field advantage throughout the playoffs. The Seahawks defeated the Panthers in the divisional round 31-17. In the Conference championship the following week, the Seahawks finally came to life. With a season of close wins, and questionable losses behind them, they faced the Green Bay Packers for the NFC Championship. With Wilson throwing four interceptions, the Seahawks trailed 16-0 at the half, and 19-7 with five minutes to go in the game. With a 69 yard drive to pull within 19-14, and a recovery of an onside kick, the Seahawks took the lead, 22-19, with 1:29 remaining. The Packers then drove the field and kicked a game tying field goal with 14 seconds remaining. The Seahawks won the toss in overtime, and drove 89 yards to score a touchdown 3:19 into the overtime period. One of the greatest comebacks in franchise and league history. Seattle became the first team since the 2004 New England Patriots to play in back to back Super Bowl’s.

Super Bowl 49 was another great game, but it didn’t finish in the favor of the Seahawks. After a back and forth game, the Seahawks had a 10 point lead into the fourth quarter. With Tom Brady leading a comeback, the Patriots took a 28-24 lead with 2:02 remaining. The Seahawks drove the field and thanks to a circus catch by Jermaine Kearse, and had the ball at the one yard line with 26 seconds left in the game. What happened next needs not be explained, as I’ve written an entire post about this game. Just to say, it wasn’t ‘the worst call in the history’ of football. It was a good play by rookie Malcolm Butler, but a better play by Brandon Browner (or a hold, but there ya go). Still, a 28-24 loss for the Seahawks.

The 2015 season was a year of injury for many key pieces of the Seahawks team. They qualified for the playoffs, winning the wild card game at Minnesota 10-9, with a temperature hovering around zero degrees, and Minnesota’s kicker missing a short field goal to end the game. The Seahawks then lost to the Carolina Panthers in the divisional round, 31-24.

I am personally, very excited to get the 2016 season started, as I feel the Seahawks have back some of the hunger they showed after the 2012 loss in Atlanta.

Until Next Time......................................Go Hawks!!!