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Seahawks Mania – Super Bowl XLVIII VICTORY Edition

The original Seahawks logo as worn by a fan during the Super Bowl parade.

By Will Austin

Will Austin’s award-winning photography has taken him around the world. Although he regularly does editorial work, Will specializes in documenting cutting-edge architecture and industrial workplaces. He lives in the Seattle area with his wife and son, but hails from Colorado cowboy country.

February 6, 2014

Well, by now you might have noticed that THE SEATTLE SEAHAWKS WON SUPER BOWL XLVIII!  Several times a day I tell myself this and it never gets old, it never will.  They say XLVIII means “48” but I say it means “Super Large Victory” followed by the number “3” – the jersey number of our fearless and ever-positive quarterback Russell Wilson.  The sports media and “experts” are spinning in circles trying to understand how our team completely dismantled the greatest offense the NFL has ever seen, but here in the Pacific Northwest we expected the outcome.  Seattle is really on a roll with a Super Bowl victory, a Grammy for Macklemore and Ryan Lewis  (yes they deserved it), a beautiful sunny winter and David Stern retiring over the weekend (time to bring back the Sonics!).  Anyway, the mania I wrote about in the last post has swelled to a full-blown “sea” change.  People who didn’t pay a whit of attention to sports are now walking around wearing the blue and green and saying team slogans like “Why not us?”, “There is a King in every crowd,” “Always Compete,” “I’m in,” and now “What’s Next?!”  Some are reading every article they can find on the team and learning about the intricacies of the Pistol formation, the Read Option and Cover Zero.  After a discussing the Seahawk’s winning formula with a non-sports friend he said they are the “Northwest Mystic” version of sports philosophy.

After the game we went downtown to experience the best “rioting” the West Coast has to offer – basically a giant love fest of horn honking, street dancing and endless hugs and high-fives with total strangers.  We were blasting the song of the moment “This Ain’t A Seahawks Anthem” by Prometheus Brown and Lisette made a great video.  Then came yesterday’s big parade through downtown Seattle where we celebrated further and hoped to catch a glimpse of the victors.  I went with my son, his friend and my brother.  It took 3 hours just to get there and we walked several miles in frigid temps, all worth it of course!

Russell, your dad was right, why not you?  And yes, I saw 700,000 Kings in the crowd on the streets of Seattle yesterday!

I wasn’t there to take photos but I got a few worth sharing.  Here is a selection from victory night and the parade.  See the full Seahawks Parade gallery here.

And one more thing.  I had several layers on yesterday with my Marshawn Lynch jersey over my coat.  When I finally got home I just left it all on.  When it was time for bed I finally took that jersey off and it was so hard to do, the emotion of the week finally caught up with me and I didn’t want to let go….  I know it is just a game, but it is really so much more than that.  And it feels so good to be one of the 12s this week.

Downtown party bus –

Celebration in downtown Seattle after their Super Bowl 48 victory

SeaSkull? –

Celebration in downtown Seattle after their Super Bowl 48 victory

Skittles Skittles everywhere! –

Skittles box in downtown Seattle

Except in the store –

No more Skittles in the store

Throwback Steve Largent jersey with the hair to match –

Steve Largent jersey on the ferry.

The crowd amasses and climbs ever higher for a vantage point –

Seahawks fans amass and some climb fire escapes.

Many thousands line 2nd Avenue near Qwest Field –

Thousands Seahawks fans amass along the parade route.

Richard Sherman, Marshawn Lynch (throwing Skittles and playing a Lummi hand drum), Breno Giacomini and Russell Okung work the crowd –

Richard Sherman of the Seattle Seahawks at the Superbowl parade.

Marshawn Lynch of the Seattle Seahawks at the Superbowl parade.

Breno Giacomini and Russell Okung of the Seattle Seahawks at the Superbowl parade.

The Boeing 12th Man/Seahawks 747 buzzes the city –

Boeing Seahawks 747 buzzes the city of Seattle during the Super Bowl parade.

Overflow crowd in Safeco Field watches the ceremony after the parade –

Seahawks fans watch the Super Bowl celebration ceremony from Safeco Field

The 12th Man flag flies above Starbucks world headquarters –

The 12th Man flag flies above Starbucks headquarters

Throwback logo on a coat worn by a long-time fan –

The original Seahawks logo as worn by a fan during the Super Bowl parade.

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8 Comments

  1. Sherry Howland

    Thank you, Will, for such a great summary. I actually shed some tears, I’m so proud of this team, Pete Carroll and John Schneider. What the Sonics and Stern took away, these guys have re-filled many times over!

    • Will Austin

      Thanks for your comment Sherry! I’ll admit to shedding a few tears as well, even when writing this post. Not for the Seahawks but when I watched the Russell Wilson “King in every crowd” video where he is helping the kids, what a great guy. The players only get Tuesdays off during the season and he used it to go to Children’s Hospital every week.

  2. Mariette Poirier

    Thanks so much for these incredible photos
    Will,
    Mariette,

    • Will Austin

      Thanks Mariette, and Happy Birthday!!!!

  3. Harpreet

    Awesome photos! Couldn’t have captured the day and overall feeling any better :). Although it looks much warmer than it was…still a great experience!
    Go Hawks!!

    • Will Austin

      Thanks Harpreet!! I was just about to send you the link 😉

  4. Martha Goudey

    Will,
    This was really one of the best pieces I’ve read about this whole wonderful win. I’ve been a football fan my whole life, but this was different, wasn’t it.
    The photos are beautiful, especially the ones of the people on their “balconies.” Great shots.

    • Will Austin

      Thanks Martha! Much appreciated since I’m not a writer 😉