Team History: Wilson and defense star in lone Super Bowl victory for Seahawks

Team History: Wilson and defense star in lone Super Bowl victory for Seahawks

The NFL’s entry in Seattle was not the first to be called the Seahawks, and a plan was in the works early in the 1970s that might have brought an existing franchise to the Pacific Northwest, rather than the later expansion team. 

In 1946, the Miami Seahawks became the first professional sports team in Florida and the last of the charter franchises in the All-America Football Conference. The Seahawks went 3-11, and owner Harvey Hester declared bankruptcy after losing $350,000 on the team. The AAFC dissolved the club, and its replacement was the first incarnation of the Baltimore Colts, which was one of three teams that entered the NFL when the league folded after the 1949 season. 

As part of the NFL-AFL merger agreement, the league was supposed to expand to 28 teams by 1970 or soon after. Also, all teams were mandated to play in stadiums that had at least 50,000 seats. Two AFL teams did not initially meet this requirement. The Boston Patriots eventually moved south to a new stadium in Foxborough, Mass., and became the New England Patriots. 

Buffalo was the other city whose team did not meet the new league’s stadium capacity demand. The Bills were playing in the outdated War Memorial Stadium, and owner Ralph Wilson wanted the city to pay for a new home. When Buffalo officials refused, Wilson threatened to move the team to Seattle before the bureaucrats gave in. Rich Stadium was completed in 1973. 

The year before, Hall of Famer and former University of Washington standout Hugh McElhenny joined a group attempting to bring professional football to Seattle. He had the backing of Edward Nixon, the brother of then-President Richard Nixon, but the bid ultimately fell through. 

Two years later, a new group formed. Leading the way was Herman Sarkowsky, a businessman, breeder of thoroughbreds and owner of the NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers, as well as David Skinner, the heir of a shipping company and one of the first owners of Seattle’s iconic Space Needle. 

Sarkowsky and Skinner joined with the Nordstrom family and gave them 51 percent control of the expansion bid, which was awarded by the league in June 1974. One year later, Seahawks was chosen among 1,700 different names and 20,000 total submissions. 

In early January 1976, Jack Patera was named the franchise’s first head coach. Patera spent seven years as the defensive line coach of the Vikings and helped in the creation of the “Purple People Eaters.” Later that month, Lloyd Nordstrom, the family representative, and former manager of the luxury department store chain, died of a heart attack. Afterward, Lloyd’s nephew, John, took over controlling interest in the team. 

The Seahawks filled their roster over the next several months. They selected starting wide receiver Sam McCullum and tackles Nick Bebout and Norm Evans in the Expansion Draft. One week later, Seattle picked 25 players in the NFL Draft. Among them was defensive tackle Steve Niehaus, the second overall selection, who would go on to win the Defensive Rookie of the Year in 1976. The team also grabbed linebacker Sammy Green and running back Sherman Smith in the second round. 

Seattle signed quarterback Jim Zorn in free agency, but the best move by far was trading an eighth-round pick in 1977 to Houston for wide receiver Steve Largent, a fourth-round pick who was in danger of being cut by the Oilers. The offense led by Zorn, Smith, Largent, and McCallum showed flashes, but the club struggled to a 2-12 record. 

The team’s home, the Kingdome, hosted the Pro Bowl in early 1977, then the Seahawks made a draft pick a trade that brought in tackle Steve August and linebacker Terry Beason, but the Cowboys selected future Hall of Fame running back Tony Dorsett second overall. After moving from the NFC West to the AFC West, Seattle set a record for a second-year team with a 5-9 mark, including a 56-17 win over the Bills in Week 7.

Seattle improved to 9-7 in 1978, thanks to Patera, who was named the NFL’s Coach of the Year and Largent, whose 1,168 receiving yards finished second in the league (the Jets’ Wesley Walker had 1,169). The Seahawks equaled their win total the following year and Largent topped the NFL with 1,237 yards. 

In 1980, Seattle started 4-3, but lost the final nine games. The team selected hard-hitting safety Kenny Easley with the fourth overall pick, but only finished 6-10 the next year. After an 0-2 start in the strike-shortened 1982 season, Patera was fired. 

The next head coach was Chuck Knox, who spent the previous 11 years running the Rams and Bills. The Seahawks responded with a 9-7 record and their first playoff appearance in 1983. Zorn split quarterback duties with Dave Krieg, and running back Curt Warner joined Largent as an offensive star. 

Krieg threw three touchdown passes in Seattle’s rout of the Broncos in the Wild Card round, and Warner scored twice in a Division game win over the Dolphins. In the AFC Championship Game, Krieg and Zorn combined to throw five interceptions in a 30-14 loss to the Raiders. 

Seattle went 12-4 in 1984 and the “Blue Wave” avenged the previous year’s loss with a win over Oakland before falling to Miami in the Division round. The team went to the playoffs twice more in the decade, but could not reach the AFC title game again. 

Seattle won its first division title in 1988. However, the bigger fireworks happened off the field. Nordstrom, Sarkowsky and Skinner sold the team to California real estate developers Ken Behring and Ken Hofmann. After that, the Seahawks failed to make the playoffs for 10 straight seasons, encompassing the final three years under Knox, plus three under former Raiders quarterback and coach Tom Flores and four with ex-University of Miami coach Dennis Erickson at the helm.

Behring moved the team’s operations to Anaheim, California, in 1996, and was interested in moving the team there as well. However, there were two problems. First, the Seahawks had a lease with the Kingdome through 2005, and second, the NFL threatened to fine Behring $500,000 per day if he did not keep the team in Seattle. Behring relented, and he and Hofmann sold the team to Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen the following year. 

After Erickson left, the Seahawks hired a new head coach in former Packers boss Mike Holmgren for the 1999 season. The team went 9-7 and won its second AFC West title. Quarterback Jon Kitna, running back Ricky Watters and tackle Walter Jones led the offense, and the defense featured Pro Bowlers in tackle Cortez Kennedy and linebacker Chad Brown. In the playoffs, Miami scored a late rushing touchdown in a 20-17 win over Seattle in the Wild Card game. 

Three non-playoff years followed, but the Seahawks have been to the postseason 12 times since moving back to the NFC in 2002. The team lost two straight Wild Card games, including a memorable moment in 2003. Running back Shaun Alexander scored with 51 seconds left to push Seattle into a 27-27 tie with Green Bay. 

The Seahawks won the overtime coin toss, after which quarterback Matt Hasselbeck was heard exclaiming over the referee’s microphone “We’ll take the ball and we’re gonna score!” A little more than four minutes later, Hasselbeck threw an interception that cornerback Al Harris returned 52 yards for a touchdown and a 33-27 Green Bay victory. 

Seattle finally broke through in 2005. Alexander was named the NFL MVP after setting a club record with 1,880 yards and a league record with 27 touchdowns (which was broken by LaDainian Tomlinson with 31 the following year). Also, Hasselbeck made the Pro Bowl and fullback Mack Strong was named an All-Pro. 

After winning the NFC West with a franchise-best 13-3 record, Seattle knocked off Washington in the Division round and Carolina in the NFC Championship Game to reach its first Super Bowl. Thanks to a record 75-yard touchdown run by Willie Parker and a reverse play that led to receiver Antwaan Randle El throwing a scoring pass to Hines Ward, the Steelers won Super Bowl XL, 21-10.

The following year, Seattle went 9-7 and won in the Wild Card game when Dallas quarterback Tony Romo bobbled the snap on a short field goal in the closing seconds. The Seahawks lost to the Bears in overtime the following week. 

Seattle did not have a winning record the next four years, but actually won the West with a 7-9 mark in 2010 after trading for Bills’ running back Marshawn Lynch. Holmgren left after the 2008 season, and former defensive backs coach Jim Mora Jr. lasted only one year before being replaced by Pete Carroll, who spent nine years coaching at USC. 

The Seahawks returned to the playoffs with an 11-5 record in 2012. Lynch was an All-Pro and quarterback Russell Wilson made the Pro Bowl in his rookie season. After a win over the Redskins, Seattle’s fourth-quarter comeback fell short in a 30-28 loss to Atlanta. 

Seattle matched its best record with a 13-3 mark the following year. Wilson and Lynch again starred on offense and the “Legion of Boom” defense allowed the fewest points in the NFL thanks to Pro Bowl cornerback Richard Sherman and safeties Kam Chancellor and Earl Thomas. 

The Seahawks shut down Drew Brees and the Saints in the Division round, then scored a comeback victory over the 49ers in the NFC Championship Game. The defense stifled Peyton Manning and the Broncos in a 43-8 win in Super Bowl XLVIII. Wilson threw two touchdown passes and linebacker Malcolm Smith recorded 10 tackles and returned an interception 69 yards for a score to earn game MVP honors. 

Seattle went 12-4 in 2014 before knocking off the Panthers and edging the Packers in overtime to reach a second straight Super Bowl. The game was a back-and-forth affair with Wilson’s second touchdown giving the Seahawks a 24-14 lead after three quarters. 

New England’s Tom Brady responded with two more scoring passes, giving him four in the game and his team a 28-24 lead with 2:02 left on the clock. Wilson completed several key passes on the final drive and soon Seattle was on the New England one-yard line. Instead of handing off to Lynch, who had 102 yards on the game, Wilson underthew Ricardo Lockette on second down. The pass was picked by Malcolm Butler in the end zone and preserved the Patriots’ victory. 

The Seahawks have hit the 10-win mark three times over the past four seasons. Seattle lost in the Division round in both 2015 and ’16 and the Wild Card game last year. Wilson found new targets in wide receiver Doug Baldwin and tight end Jimmy Graham. The “Legion of Boom” was slowly dismantled, with Sherman signing with the 49ers before the 2018 season, Thomas moving to the Ravens in the offseason and Chancellor being released by Seattle after injuring his neck. 

In 2018, Paul Allen died from septic shock caused by Hodgkin’s lymphoma, which he was diagnosed within 1982. His sister, Judy, was named trustee, giving her control over the Seahawks, Trail Blazers (which he bought from Larry Weinberg in 1988) and Major League Soccer’s Seattle Sounders FC. 

Carroll is back for his 10th season in Seattle. At 67, he is the oldest coach in the league, but he is also one of the most energetic. Wilson has some new weapons on offense, including running backs Chris Carson and Rashaad Penny, veteran receiver Tyler Lockett and rookie D.K. Metcalf, who the team drafted at the end of the second round. 

L.J. Collier, an end who was selected in the first round, joins linebackers K. J. Wright and All-Pro Bobby Wagner on a rebuilding Seahawks defense. Days before the season began, Seattle traded for Jadeveon Clowney, a former first overall pick by the Texans in 2014.

-By: Kevin Rakas