#Throwback Thursday: Seahawks Through The Years

The team that started as a mere expansion team has truly made its mark in NFL history

By Shuchi Mehta September 3, 2014

It is a perfect, sunny gameday Thursday and the weekend is imminent. What could make today better? How about a quick Seahawks history lesson and some old school Seahawks pictures? In honor of our Super Bowl champs returning to CenturyLink Field tonight, I’d say it would be downright fitting.

Disclaimer: I quickly learned that our favorite NFL team is not that old, so don’t expect any black and white photos or beautiful ancient artifacts found underneath the ground they played upon. Nonetheless, the pictures are pretty cool.

Let’s start in 1975 when John Thompson, a former Washington Husky executive and executive director of the NFL Management Council became the general manager of the newly created team. The team name was to be decided and the execs asked for fans to submit suggestions. From Kings, Seahawks, Mariners, Sockeyes, Evergreens, Abominable Snowmen, Studs, Aardvarks, Ants and many many more, our glorious team name, the Seahawks, was chosen. The Seahawk bird (an Osprey, to be exact) is fierce and daring with really good vision to be able to corner its prey. Pretty appropriate if you ask me.

The NFL picked up the team in 1976 as an expansion team. From their first game against the San Francisco 49ers in August 1976 and through 1999, the Seahawks played in the Kingdome—a building that played a huge role in the Seattle skyline at the time. After the Kingdome was demolished, the team played in Husky Stadium between 2000-2001 before playing in our very own CenturyLink field (a.k.a. Qwest Field until 2011).

A newspaper article from 1974 while the Kingdome was still under construction
Photo courtesy of Seattle Municipal Archives

Kingdome against the Seattle Skyline, c. 1981
Photo Courtesy of Seattle Municipal Archives

The team placed first in their division in 1988 after which they had a rocky streak and some financial hiccups until 1997 when Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft purchased the team. Shortly after, Mike Holmgren was hired as the head coach. He stayed with the Seahawks for 10 consecutive seasons and led them to their second division title.

Coach Mike Holmgren started with the Seahawks in 1999 and led them to a second division title.
Photo Courtesy of: Karyn Christner

In 1998, another awesome thing happened—Blitz officially became the mascot of the team. Right before the 2005 season, an augur hawk named Taima would lead the team out of the tunnel. What a smart bird!

Taima and Blitz, the biggest Seahawk fans!
Photo courtesy of: Washington State House Republicans and Raffi Asdourian

Speaking of 2005, the Seahawks had a great season and made it to Super Bowl XL. Unfortunately, they lost against the Pittsburgh Steelers. This loss went down in history as a top 10 controversial loss due to a referee call.

Let’s fast forward some more to how the momentum from 2010 and 2012 playoffs in addition to some big wins led our beloved ‘Hawks to come back with a boom and a bang last year. The boom—huge victories against the Carolina Panthers, Buffalo Bills, New Orleans Saints, and SF 49ers followed by half a dozen ‘Hawks players (Russell Wilson, Max Unger, Marshawn Lynch, Richard Sherman, Earl Thomas, and Kam Chancellor) named to the Pro Bowl. Then bang—Seahawks win their first Super Bowl against the Denver Broncos on February 2, 2014 in icy-cold New Jersey weather. What a team!