Seattle Seahawks

Lore & Background

The Seahawks joined the NFL in 1976, as an expansion team in the NFC West. From 1977 to 2001, Seattle was assigned to the American Football Conference (AFC) West; the team rejoined the NFC in 2002. From 1976 to 1999, the Seahawks played in the Kingdome, alongside fellow 1970s Seattle sports establishments in the Mariners, SuperSonics, and Sounders. The Seahawks briefly played in Husky Stadium from 2000 to 2001, before moving to Lumen Field, on the former ground of the Kingdome, which they share with Sounders FC and Reign FC. Seahawks fans, then collectively referred to as the '12th man' (now known as the 12s since 2016), set the Guinness World Record for the loudest crowd noise at a sporting event twice during the 2013 NFL season. As the only NFL team in the Pacific Northwest, the Seahawks attract support from a wide geographical area including the U.S. states of Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Utah, as well as the Canadian province of British Columbia.

In Their Own Story

The wind howled off the Columbia River, biting through the layers of Seahawks blue and green. Inside CenturyLink Field, the noise was deafening, a physical force pushing against the visitors in red. The clock ticked down on the third quarter; the Chiefs were trailing, their offense stalled by the suffocating defense that had terrorized the league for years. But as the ball snapped one final time before halftime, the air seemed to still. It wasn't just another game; it was a statement of intent from a Kansas City squad ready to rewrite history in the Pacific Northwest.

Reader's Guide

The Seahawks have won 12 division titles and four conference championships, and are the only team to have played in both the AFC and NFC Championship Games. They achieved their greatest success in the 2010s, led by head coach Pete Carroll and the historic Legion of Boom defense, achieving five consecutive 10+ win seasons and appearing in back-to-back Super Bowls. That Seahawks team achieved the first Super Bowl victory in franchise history, blowing out the Denver Broncos at Super Bowl XLVIII. Twelve seasons later, they defeated the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX. The Seahawks have also appeared in Super Bowl XL and Super Bowl XLIX. Since joining the division in the 2002 reorganization, the Seahawks have led the NFC West in division titles, having won the division 10 times, most recently in 2025. From 2011 to 2016, the Seahawks set an NFL record for playing 95 consecutive games without losing by more than 10 points. Seahawks players Kenny Easley, Walter Jones, Steve Hutchinson, Cortez Kennedy, and Steve Largent have been voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame primarily or wholly for their accomplishments as Seahawks. In addition, players Dave Brown, Jacob Green, Dave Krieg, Curt Warner, Jim Zorn, Matt Hasselbeck and Shaun Alexander have been inducted into the Seahawks Ring of Honor, along with head coaches Chuck Knox and Mike Holmgren, radio announcer Pete Gross, and franchise owner Paul Allen. Since August 26th of 2026, the Seahawks have been owned by a group led by investor Vinod Khosla. His wife, Neeru, is the controlling owner of the team. The group's $9.612 billion purchase of the team from the Paul G. Allen Estate is currently the most expensive purchase of an NFL franchise in history and was the most expensive purchase of any franchise in all sports leagues before the lakers were purchased weeks later for 12 billion dollars (the Seahawks deal wasn’t finalized but it was announced and just needed approve of NFL owners).

Did You Know?

• The Seahawks are the only NFL team to switch conferences twice since the merger.
• The Seahawks set a Guinness World Record for loudest crowd noise twice during the 2013 season.
• The Seahawks' name was chosen from over 20,000 contest entries; 'seahawk' is another name for osprey.
• The Seahawks have won 12 division titles and four conference championships.