Celebrating 40 years of Seahawk History

Celebrating 40 years of Seahawk History -- King County News

This weekend the Seattle Seahawks will battle the Green Bay Packers for a chance to return to the Super Bowl and defend their title. In many ways it is a fitting home finale, given their dominate performance over Green Bay to start the 2014 football season. This season also marks the 40th year since the NFL awarded Seattle a professional football team. In this newsletter let's take some time to reflect on how far the franchise has come since its inception 40 years ago.

Seattle Seahawks President Peter McLaughlin lets Pete von Reichbauer hold the Lombardi Trophy at the VMAC as part of a ceremony recognizing both the Hawks World Championship and Pete’s contribution to keeping the Seahawks in Seattle!

When the NFL and AFL merged in 1972, the newly formed league began making plans to expand from 26 to 28 teams. In December 1974, then-Commissioner Pete Rozelle announced the official signing of a Seattle franchise agreement with the Nordstrom family and other civic leaders.

Early in 1975, the fledgling franchise showed early signs of what would eventually become "The 12th Man," with over 20,000 fans participating in a contest to name the franchise. The team was originally going to be called the Seattle Kings, but the name Seahawk (meaning Osprey) was selected.

The "Hawks" played their first season in 1976, quarterbacked by Jim Zorn and coached by Jack Patera. In just a few seasons the Seahawks went from an expansion franchise to a 1983 playoff contender led by future Hall of Famer Steve Largent.

"In the early 1980's, Seattle was a much smaller town and the team didn't have the national buzz of today's reigning world champions," said original season ticket holder and current King County Councilmember Pete von Reichbauer. Read More >>
 

"It is rewarding to see former players like Steve Largent, Jim Zorn, and Kenny Easley build a bridge between today's players like Doug Baldwin, Russell Wilson and Earl Thomas. The Hawks have a proud history in our region and I am pleased to see generations of players and fans coming together under the single banner of The 12th Man," von Reichbauer said.

Fans thank "PvR," as Pete is often called, during the celebration parade of the World Champion Seahawks.

“The Originals” Original Seahawks co-owner John Nordstrom and the “Original 12th Man” Pete von Reichbauer take in a Seahawks practice at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center.

Saving the Seahawks

The Seattle Seahawks experienced growth in their fan base and success throughout the 1980s, making the playoffs four times, including a division title in 1988. When Ken Behring purchased the Seattle Seahawks in 1988, a stretch of underwhelming seasons soon followed. From 1989 to 1998 the team had poor records and did not play in the post-season. Facing financial problems and dwindling attendance, Behring unilaterally decided to relocate the Seahawks to Southern California.

With the region facing the loss of our only professional football team and with the images of the Baltimore Colts' midnight move a decade earlier still fresh in his mind, Pete von Reichbauer, the fan and public official, knew what he had to do to keep the team in the Pacific Northwest.

He went right to work searching for a potential buyer. According to The Los Angeles Times (Jan 24, 2014) "the high-roller community in Seattle was weary from the messy, years-long fight to save the Mariners, and secure them a new ballpark. 'Paul (Allen) was the last man standing,' von Reichbauer said. 'There was a lot of searching up and down the coast, trying to find a Pacific Northwest person who could do it. I know of one billionaire (who) advised his [chief financial officer] that if he ever talked about buying an NFL team to shoot him in the right leg, and if he ever actually did it, to shoot him in the left leg.' [sic]"

The Los Angeles Times went on to say "Convincing Allen to buy the Seahawks was no simple task…Allen was basically the only hope for keeping the Seahawks in Seattle, and politician Pete von Reichbauer knew it. Von Reichbauer, a longtime member of the King County Council, had scoured the region for a potential buyer after learning privately in late 1995 that Behring was planning to sell the club... Allen…was wary of being used as a pawn by Behring to drive up the price. He didn't negotiate directly with Behring, but instead had his people listen to the deal, with von Reichbauer acting as a go-between."

Pete receives a personalized jersey from General Manager John Schneider and Head Coach Pete Carroll as a thank you for his efforts in saving the Seattle Seahawks. On June 2nd, 2014 Pete von Reichbauer was named the “Original 12th Man” and recognized by the Metropolitan King County Council for the “pivotal role” he played in keeping the Seahawks in Seattle.

"Pete von Reichbauer did a fantastic job keeping the Seahawks in Seattle. I don't believe it would've happened without his intervention," said former Democratic King County Executive Ron Sims.

Former Cleveland Browns and San Francisco 49ers CEO Carmen Policy said after hearing Pete von Reichbauer's presentation to the NFL on 1996, he was "now more confident that a positive result will occur" and that he "utilized some of (Pete's) observations and comments as part of the structure of (his) luncheon talk."

The Seattle Times said (Oct 26, 2013), "(Pete) von Reichbauer stood in the middle of the storm…years ago. When Behring decided he no longer wanted to own the team, he quietly reached out to von Reichbauer. He wanted him to gauge interest in potential buyers."

In April 1996, Paul Allen formed Football Northwest, which agreed to purchase the team if voters approved a new stadium. Just over one year later, Washington voters approved Referendum 48, which provided financing of a new multi-use stadium, known affectionately today as the Clink. Century Link Field not only hosts the World Champion Seattle Seahawks, but is also home field for the Seattle Sounders, as well as trade shows and concerts from some of the music industry's top performers.

Winning off the field, too

Pete joins current and former Seahawks players like Russell Wilson and Jim Zorn at a charity event, sponsored by Seahawks General manager John  Schneider and his wife Traci, to raise money for Autism awareness.

The Seattle Seahawks are winning on the field and off. We know what the Super Bowl Champions can do on the gridiron, but did you know according to a KOMO news report, each playoff game in Seattle generates nearly $20 million in revenue for our region? In addition to the substantial economic impact the Seattle Seahawks have in our state, the team's real value may be in the way they positively affect change in our community.

The Seahawks support more than 7,000 local charities and organizations and made over 1,000 public appearances in support of charitable groups during the 2014 football season. Through partnerships like the NFL's Play 60 Movement, the Hawks were able to rebuild playgrounds at elementary schools like Lake Grove Elementary School in Federal Way.

Hall of Fame wide receiver Steve Largent with Pete, Federal Way Mayor Jim Ferrell, Police Chief Andy Hwang, and Interim Federal Way School Superintendent Sally McLean support the Seattle Seahawks as they partner to rebuild a playground for elementary school students in South King County.

Our Hawks

In the lead up to Super Bowl XLVIII and continuing through the 2014/15 playoffs, where the Seahawks have become the first reigning world champion to win a playoff game in more than a decade, we are reminded that the Seattle Seahawks have served as our region's great unifier. "I have never seen a region so unified under the banner of The 12—blue collar, white collar; they're all in," von Reichbauer said.

Go Hawks!

Pete and the Seattle Seahawks through the years