The city of Seattle was roaring after Russell Wilson threw what should have been one of the most memorable passes in Seahawks history to Jermaine Kearse, who caught it after falling down.
Everyone was high fiving, yelling and getting ready to celebrate a moment in NFL history; the Seahawks winning back to back Super Bowls.
It didn’t happen.
I planned on going to Seattle for the Super Bowl after they beat the Carolina Panthers. It’s hard to bet against a home field advantage like Century Link, even when Seattle trailed the Green Bay Packers with five minutes down by two scores.
But the Seahawks defied the odds and made it to their second Super Bowl.
Fast forward two weeks later; I woke up bright and early on Super Bowl Sunday to make the drive up to Seattle to watch the game in a bar with Seahawks fans. I arrived in Seattle around 10 a.m. to see all the bars had lines that wrapped around corners. There was a buzz in the city. No one had even the tiniest thought about their team losing.
The bar opened at 11 and, as I got in line, everyone was talking about how explosive Seattle was going to be that night.
No New Englanders were welcome.
For four hours all of the Seahawks fans watched pre game shows for the Super Bowl. The wait didn’t kill the vibe at all, instead the excitement kept building for a game that would surely be memorable in Seattle sports history, and it was.
There’s a reason that the Super Bowl keeps topping itself as the most watched event in television history: everyone takes part. Everyone knows about the interception. Everyone can question the play call and everyone can question any aspect of the Seahawks’ offense, who promptly fell apart on one play.
I saw the heartbreak on the 12th mans’ face, sure disbelief that what they had seen did not actually happen. People yelled, calling for a certain coach’s head. But as sad as that play was to watch as a Seahawks fan, the Super Bowl was a good game. The raw, overwhelming feelings it inspires shows why sports are such a big aspect of our culture.
The storybook ending doesn’t always happen. The Patriots did not win that game, rather the Seahawks lost it. They did everything they needed to win, everything they needed for the entire city of Seattle to explode. The repeat that could have been never will be, but that’s just how sports work. Such potential for heartbreak is what makes being a sports fan enjoyable. Without it, sports wouldn’t have the same thrill.
The interception will be one of the most famous plays in Seahawks history. That won’t ever change, but it is famous for the same reason Richard Sherman’s tip in the NFC championship game is famous, it came on a big stage, at a big time. Unfortunately, there are always two sides to big-time plays.
Enjoy two of the best years in Northwest sports history, Seahawks fans. And remember that Seattle is favored to win the Super Bowl next year.
Seattle guy here, former ‘Hawks season ticket holder. A week later it is still time to beat a dead horse with the Big Stick of the obvious:
WTF was that rookie mistake of a play call? The situation clearly called for a rushing play…obvious to the D, but still the highest chance of success, i.e., let Lynch “Beast Mode” the short yardage to the end zone-he was ready, he was ON from the previous down…so instead they call a high-risk passing play into traffic?? WTF?? And so a Hall o’Fame Dynasty was impulsively thrown away…