The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team organized in 1976 and based in Seattle, Washington, US, that plays in the National Football League. This article details the history of the Seattle Seahawks American football club.
Overview
As one of the agreed parts of the 1970 AFL–NFL Merger, the NFL began planning to expand from 26 to 28 teams. Ralph Wilson was the first to propose a team for Seattle; due to the decrepit stadium situation at War Memorial Stadium and the reluctance of Buffalo, New York officials to replace it In 1971, he openly threatened to move his team, the Buffalo Bills, to Seattle. Buffalo officials acquiesced and built what is now Highmark Stadium, in 1973, keeping the Bills in Buffalo, where they remain. Pro Football Hall of Famer Hugh McElhenny, a Seattle resident and University of Washington alumnus, signed a contract with a group called the Seattle Sea Lions in hopes of bringing an NFL franchise to the city. In anticipation, he named himself general manager of the non-existent "Seattle Kings" in May 1972, and the next year the franchise gained the backing of Edward Nixon, brother of president Richard Nixon. However, McElhenny's plan ultimately fell through. On June 15, 1972, Seattle Professional Football Inc., a group of Seattle business and community leaders started by Herman Sarkowsky and Ned Skinner, announced its intention to acquire an NFL franchise for Seattle. Almost two years later on June 4, 1974, the NFL awarded the group an expansion franchise. On December 5, 1974, NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle announced the official signing of the franchise agreement by Lloyd W. Nordstrom, representing the Nordstrom family as majority partners for the consortium. Nordstrom died of a heart attack on January 20, 1976, just months before the Seahawks played their first game.
On March 5, 1975, John Thompson, a former University of Washington executive, was hired as the general manager of the yet-unnamed team. The nickname Seahawks was selected on June 17, 1975, after a public naming contest which drew more than 20,000 entries and over 1,700 different names. 151 people had submitted the name in the list such as Clark McMillan and Hazel Cooke (who each received a framed piece of literature for their efforts). Five names were selected as finalists: Sockeyes, Mariners, Olympics, Evergreens, and Seahawks. Nordstrom and his group telephoned Rozelle and Jim Kensil (league executive director) for a response on the names, and their favorable reaction to Seahawks led to the use of the name for the team. The nickname was previously used by the All-America Football Conference Miami Seahawks. Thompson recruited and hired Jack Patera, a Minnesota Vikings assistant coach, to be the first head coach of the new team. Patera was introduced as the new head coach at a press conference on January 3, 1976. Thompson would serve as general manager for the first seven seasons, which resulted in a 39–62 record with no playoff appearances and only two non-losing seasons – 9–7 in 1978 and 1979. The expansion draft was held March 30 and 31, 1976, with Seattle and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers alternating picks for 39 rounds selecting unprotected players from the other 26 teams in the league. In the 1976 draft, the Seahawks were awarded the 2nd overall pick, which they used on defensive tackle Steve Niehaus. The team took the field for the first time on August 1, 1976, in a pre-season game against the San Francisco 49ers in the then brand new Kingdome.
The Seahawks are the only NFL team to switch conferences twice. The franchise began play in 1976 in the NFC West division but switched conferences with the Buccaneers after one season and joined the AFC West. This realignment was dictated by the league as part of the 1976 expansion plan, so that both expansion teams could play each other twice and every other NFL franchise. Between 1977 and 2002, their division rivals were Denver, San Diego, Kansas City and Oakland.
Seattle has won ten division titles in their franchise history: the 1988 and 1999 AFC West titles, and the 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2013, 2014, and 2016 NFC West titles. They have won the NFC Championship Game thrice in 2005, 2013 and 2014, and lost the AFC Championship Game once in 1983; as a result, they are the only team to have appeared in both the AFC and NFC Conference Championship games. The Seahawks have one Super Bowl victory in 2013 and two losses (2005 and 2014). Prior to 2005 Seattle had the longest drought of playoff victories of any NFL team, dating back to the 1984 season. That drought was ended with a 20–10 win over the Washington Redskins in the 2005 playoffs. The all-time Seahawks playoff record is 12–12.