48 Fun Facts About Seattle Seahawks

Which team joined the NFL with the Seahawks in 1976?

Tampa Bay Buccaneers: both newcomers were stocked from a thin pool of players the established teams left unprotected, so Seattle won only twice that year and Tampa Bay lost all 14 of its games.

Which Seattle business family were the Seahawks' original majority owners?

The Nordstrom family: the shoe-store dynasty held 51 percent, but Lloyd Nordstrom, who led the bid, died months before the team's first game in 1976.

Where did the Seahawks play their home games from 1976 to 1999?

The Kingdome: the concrete dome was imploded in March 2000, yet King County did not finish paying off its debts until 2015.

Where did the Seahawks play home games in 2000 and 2001 while their new home was being built?

Husky Stadium: the University of Washington's ground had rescued them before, hosting early-season games in 1994 after ceiling tiles fell at their regular home.

The Seahawks' home since 2002 opened under which name?

Seahawks Stadium: Qwest bought the naming rights in 2004, and the two later names needed no new sponsor, as Qwest was taken over by CenturyLink, which then rebranded as Lumen.

Who was the Seahawks' first head coach, hired in January 1976?

Jack Patera: the NFL's Coach of the Year in 1978, he was fired four years later in the middle of a players' strike, with no games being played.

In which division did the Seahawks play from 1977 until the NFL's 2002 realignment?

AFC West: after one season in the NFC, Seattle swapped places with its fellow 1976 newcomer so that both would face every other team within two years, and it moved back in 2002.

The Seahawks landed Steve Largent in 1976 by trading an eighth-round pick to which team?

Houston Oilers: they thought the rookie too small and slow and were set to cut him after four preseason games, until one of his college coaches, by then in Seattle, urged a trade.

Which receiver broke Steve Largent's NFL record of 100 career touchdown catches in 1992?

Jerry Rice: he ended his playing days in Seattle in 2004, where the Seahawks unretired Largent's No. 80 so that he could wear it.

Seahawks great Steve Largent was elected to the US House of Representatives from which state, his birthplace?

Oklahoma: after four terms he gave up the seat to run for governor in 2002 and lost by fewer than 7,000 votes.

Which left-handed quarterback started the Seahawks' first game in 1976 after going undrafted?

Jim Zorn: the Dallas Cowboys had cut him the year before, yet he started all 14 games of Seattle's first season and was named his conference's Offensive Rookie of the Year.

After the 1983 season the Seahawks lost their first conference title game to which eventual Super Bowl champion?

Los Angeles Raiders: Seattle had beaten them twice during the season, but the Raiders won 30–14 when it mattered and went on to take the Super Bowl.

Which Seahawks defensive back was the NFL's Defensive Player of the Year in 1984?

Kenny Easley: a kidney disease found at a trade physical ended his career after seven seasons, and he waited until 2017 to reach the Hall of Fame.

Which Seahawks tackle was NFL Defensive Player of the Year on a two-win team in 1992?

Cortez Kennedy: he swapped his No. 96 for 99 that season in tribute to his best friend Jerome Brown, the Eagles tackle killed in a car crash that summer.

In 1996 owner Ken Behring tried to move the Seahawks' operations to which California city?

Anaheim: he set up at the practice base the Rams had just left there, until the NFL commissioner ordered the team home and, facing daily fines, he complied.

Which billionaire bought the Seahawks in 1997 after voters approved public money for a new stadium?

Paul Allen: the Microsoft co-founder paid about $200 million and made the deal depend on a statewide stadium vote, even paying for the election himself.

Against which team did Matt Hasselbeck announce 'We want the ball and we're going to score' at an overtime coin toss?

Green Bay Packers: later in overtime Hasselbeck, once Brett Favre's backup there, threw an interception that Al Harris ran back 52 yards to win the playoff game.

Which Seahawks running back was named NFL MVP in 2005?

Shaun Alexander: his 28 touchdowns that season set an NFL record, but after he made the Madden cover a broken foot wrecked his next year.

Super Bowl XL, the Seahawks' first Super Bowl, was lost 21-10 to which team?

Pittsburgh Steelers: the officiating drew such anger that referee Bill Leavy said in 2010 he had 'kicked two calls' in the fourth quarter and affected the game.

Which coach ended the Seahawks' two-decade wait for a playoff win on the way to Super Bowl XL?

Mike Holmgren: Seattle lured him in 1999 by making him general manager as well as coach, and the playoff win finally came in January 2006, weeks before the Super Bowl.

Which defending champions did the 7-9 Seahawks of 2010 beat in the playoffs?

New Orleans Saints: the 41-36 upset was sealed when Marshawn Lynch broke tackle after tackle on a 67-yard touchdown run.

Marshawn Lynch was famous for celebrating touchdowns with which candy?

Skittles: his mother fed them to him at high school games, and after cameras caught him eating them on the sideline in 2011 the maker offered him a two-year supply.

Which team traded Marshawn Lynch to the Seahawks during the 2010 season?

Buffalo Bills: they let the 12th pick of the 2007 draft go for two modest draft choices, and in Seattle he rejoined his college roommate, running back Justin Forsett.

Which line did Marshawn Lynch repeat at Super Bowl XLIX Media Day?

'I'm just here so I won't get fined': the NFL had already docked him $100,000 that season for refusing to talk to reporters, so he turned up, repeated the line and left.

Russell Wilson was drafted by the Seahawks in which round of the 2012 draft?

Third: at under 5-foot-11 he was thought too short, and Seattle had just signed free agent Matt Flynn to be its starter, yet the rookie won the job before his first game.

Before the NFL, Russell Wilson played minor league baseball for which MLB organisation?

Colorado Rockies: he played second base in their farm system for two summers, and weeks before he won the Super Bowl the Texas Rangers claimed his baseball rights anyway.

Russell Wilson transferred to which university for his record-setting final college season in 2011?

Wisconsin: NC State released him after its coach objected to the time he gave to baseball, and in his one season with the Badgers he won the Big Ten and reached the Rose Bowl.

Russell Wilson was traded away from Seattle in 2022 to which team?

Denver Broncos: Seattle received two first-round picks, two second-rounders and three players, and Denver released Wilson two years later.

Which Legion of Boom cornerback was a fifth-round pick who began at Stanford as a wide receiver?

Richard Sherman: he led the NFL in interceptions in 2013, and his end-zone deflection in the NFC title game sent Seattle to the Super Bowl it won.

The Seahawks' 43-8 win in Super Bowl XLVIII came against which opposing quarterback?

Peyton Manning: his offense had scored a then-record 606 points that season, yet Seattle held it to a single touchdown and won by 35.

How did the Seahawks score just 12 seconds into Super Bowl XLVIII?

A safety: the game's first snap flew past the opposing quarterback into the end zone before he was ready, and Percy Harvin opened the second half with a kickoff-return touchdown that also took 12 seconds.

Who was named MVP of Super Bowl XLVIII?

Malcolm Smith: two weeks after catching the tipped pass that clinched the NFC title, the seventh-round pick returned an interception for a touchdown and recovered a fumble.

Which stadium hosted Super Bowl XLVIII, the first played outdoors in a cold-weather region?

MetLife Stadium: after weeks of worry about a frozen game in New Jersey, kickoff came at a mild 49 degrees and heavy snow hit the area the next day.

Which Patriots cornerback intercepted Russell Wilson at the 1-yard line to end Super Bowl XLIX?

Malcolm Butler: the undrafted rookie recognised Seattle's formation from his preparation, beat the receiver to the spot and made the first interception of his NFL career.

Which team's fans took back the Guinness crowd-noise record after Seahawks fans hit 137.6 decibels in 2013?

Kansas City Chiefs: Arrowhead had set the record that October, only for Seattle to beat it by a tenth of a decibel, and it answered with 142.2 the next September.

Why did the Seahawks stop calling their fans the '12th Man' and switch to 'the 12s'?

Texas A&M owns the trademark: the school traces the phrase to 1922, when a student was called from the stands to suit up, and it sued Seattle in 2006 before licensing the term for a fee.

Which Seahawks left tackle, whose No. 71 is retired, entered the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility?

Walter Jones: Seattle traded up to draft him sixth overall in 1997, and he started every one of his 180 games over the next 12 seasons.

What is the name of the Seahawks' official mascot, a large blue bird who debuted in 1998?

Blitz: he shares the job with a sidekick named Boom and with Taima, a live augur hawk that has led the team out of the tunnel since 2006.

Pete Carroll won a Super Bowl with Seattle after winning national titles at which college?

USC: his Trojans won two national titles, but five months after he left for Seattle the NCAA handed down sanctions that led to the 2004 BCS crown being vacated.

Where did Pete Carroll go after leaving the Seahawks in 2025?

To coach the Las Vegas Raiders: at 73 he became the oldest head coach in NFL history, but the team went 3-14 and fired him the day after the season ended.

Geno Smith won which award after his breakout 2022 season as Seattle's starter?

Comeback Player of the Year: he had spent seven seasons mostly as a backup with four teams before winning Seattle's job and leading the NFL in completion percentage.

Seattle drafted linebacker Bobby Wagner in 2012 from which college?

Utah State: it was the only college to offer him a scholarship, and he went from there to ten Pro Bowls and the NFL's 2010s All-Decade Team.

Bobby Wagner became a part-owner of which Seattle team in 2025?

Seattle Storm: he bought into the WNBA team while still playing linebacker for Washington, following Russell Wilson into the Sounders and Marshawn Lynch into the Kraken.

Which Cardinals defensive back did DK Metcalf famously chase down after an interception in 2020?

Budda Baker: Metcalf reached 22.64 mph to haul him down at the Seattle 8-yard line, and the chase paid off when Arizona then failed to score on the drive.

Mike Macdonald, hired as Seahawks head coach in 2024, had been defensive coordinator of which NFL team?

Baltimore Ravens: he had started there as an intern in 2014, and his hiring at 36 took Seattle from the NFL's oldest head coach to its youngest.

The Seahawks won Super Bowl LX in February 2026 by beating which team?

New England Patriots: the 29-13 win avenged Super Bowl XLIX, lost to the same team at the goal line, and Seattle's defence allowed no points until the fourth quarter.

Which team did the Seahawks rout 41-6 in the playoffs on their way to winning Super Bowl LX?

San Francisco 49ers: three weeks after that rout, Seattle won the Super Bowl in Levi's Stadium, the 49ers' own home ground.

Who was named MVP of the Seahawks' Super Bowl LX victory?

Kenneth Walker III: he ran for 135 yards to set up the field goals that built a 12-0 lead, and was the first running back to win the award in 28 years.