Seattle Seahawks - Before Pete Carroll The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as members of the National Football Conference (NFC) West Division. They have played their home games at Lumen Field in Seattle's SoDo neighborhood since 2002. The team's name is a tribute to the osprey, a species of bird also known as the sea hawk. The Seahawks joined the NFL in 1976 as an expansion team in the NFC West. From 1977 to 2001, Seattle was assigned to the American Football Conference (AFC) West; the team returned to the NFC in 2002. From 1976 to 1999, the Seahawks played at the Kingdome, alongside other Seattle sports teams from the 1970s, such as the Mariners, SuperSonics, and Sounders. The Seahawks briefly played at Husky Stadium from 2000 to 2001 before moving to Lumen Field, the former Kingdome site, which they share with Sounders FC and Reign FC. The Seahawks are the only NFL franchise based in the Pacific Northwest region and thus attract support from a wide geographic area, including parts of Oregon, Montana, Idaho, and Alaska, as well as Canadian fans in British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan. Nordstrom/Sarkowsky Era (1976–1988) Under the terms of the 1970 AFL-NFL merger, the NFL began planning its expansion from 26 to 28 teams. In June 1972, Seattle Professional Football Inc., a group of Seattle business and community leaders, announced its intention to acquire an NFL franchise for the city of Seattle. In June 1974, the NFL granted the city an expansion franchise. In December of that year, NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle announced the official signing of the franchise agreement by Lloyd W. Nordstrom, representing the Nordstrom family as the majority shareholder of the consortium. In March 1975, the owners hired John Thompson, former executive director of the NFL Board of Directors and former executive of the Washington Huskies, as general manager. The name Seattle Seahawks was chosen on June 17, 1975, after a public contest that attracted over 20,000 entries proposing more than 1,700 names. Thompson hired Jack Patera, an assistant coach with the Minnesota Vikings, to be the Seahawks' first head coach; the hiring was announced on January 3, 1976. The expansion draft was held on March 30 and 31, 1976, with Seattle and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers alternating picks in the unprotected draft pick rounds from the other 26 teams in the league. The Seahawks received the second overall pick in the 1976 draft, which they used to acquire defensive tackle Steve Niehaus. The team first took the field on August 1, 1976, in a preseason game against the San Francisco 49ers at the new Kingdome Arena. The Seahawks are the only NFL team to change conferences twice since the merger. The franchise began playing in the NFC West in 1976, but switched conferences with the Buccaneers after one season to join the AFC West. This was dictated by the league as part of the 1976 expansion plan, so that both expansion teams could play each other twice and against every other NFL franchise once during their first two seasons. The Seahawks won both matchups against the Buccaneers, with the first being the Seahawks' first regular-season victory. 3 886 The Seattle Seahawks' first NFL victory came on October 17, 1976, when they defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 13-10. This victory marked the franchise's first win after five consecutive losses at the start of their inaugural season. The team would finish the inaugural 1976 season with a record of 2 wins and 12 losses. In 1983, the Seahawks hired Chuck Knox as head coach. Finishing with a 9-7 record, the Seahawks made their first postseason appearance, defeating the Denver Broncos in the Wild Card round and then the Miami Dolphins, before losing the AFC Championship game to the eventual Super Bowl champion, the Los Angeles Raiders. The following season was the Seahawks' best to date, finishing with a 12-4 record; it would remain the franchise's best until 2005. Knox won the NFL Coach of the Year award. Behring/Hofmann Era (1988–1996) In 1988, Ken Behring and his partner Ken Hofmann bought the team for approximately US$80 million (US$219.19 million in 2026). The Seahawks won their first division title in 1988, but failed to qualify for the playoffs in the following three seasons, after which Knox left the team. For most of the 1990s, the Seahawks continued to struggle. They had three consecutive losing seasons (1992-1994) under coach Tom Flores, including the franchise's worst season with a 2-14 record in 1992. After the 1994 season, Flores was fired and Dennis Erickson was hired as coach. Allen Era (1997–present) In 1996, Behring and Hoffman moved the team's operations to Anaheim, California, although the team continued to play in Seattle. They also considered moving the team itself, which was bankrupt. The move was widely criticized. The NFL threatened Behring with a $500,000 fine per day if he did not move the team's operations back to Seattle. The following year, Behring and Hoffman sold the team to Paul Allen for $200 million. Paul Gardner Allen (January 21, 1953 – October 15, 2018) was an American businessman, computer programmer, and investor. He co-founded Microsoft with his childhood friend Bill Gates in 1975, a company that was responsible for the microcomputer revolution in the 1970s and 1980s. He was also known for discovering the wreckage of several famous warships, such as the IJN Musashi and the USS Indianapolis. Allen was ranked as one of the richest people in American history by Forbes, with an estimated net worth of $20.3 billion at the time of his death in October 2018. Allen left day-to-day work at Microsoft in early 1983 after being diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma, remaining on its board as vice chairman. He and his sister, Jody Allen, founded Vulcan Inc. in 1986, a private company that managed their business and philanthropic endeavors. At the time of his death, he possessed a multimillion-dollar investment portfolio, including technology, media, scientific research, real estate, private spaceflight ventures, and holdings in other sectors. He owned the Seattle Seahawks, the Portland Trail Blazers of the NBA, and was a co-owner of the Seattle Sounders FC of Major League Soccer. Under Allen's leadership, the Seahawks won Super Bowl XLVIII and reached two other Super Bowls (XL and XLIX). After Paul's death, his sister Jody Allen became the owner of the Seattle Seahawks. Erickson's tenure as head coach ended after the 1998 season; the Seahawks failed to qualify for the playoffs in all four seasons he was with the team, extending their playoff drought to ten seasons. Mike Holmgren's Years (1999–2008) In 1999, Mike Holmgren was hired as head coach. He would coach for 10 seasons. The Seahawks won their second division title, as well as a wild card playoff spot, losing to the Miami Dolphins 20–17. In 2002, the Seahawks returned to the NFC West as part of an NFL realignment plan that gave each conference four balanced divisions of four teams each. That same year, the team inaugurated its new stadium, Lumen Field, after spending the previous two seasons at Husky Stadium following the implosion of Kingdome in 2000. In the 2005 season, the Seahawks had their best season in franchise history (a feat that would be equaled in 2013 and surpassed in 2025) with a 13–3 record, including a 42–0 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles in a Monday Night Football game. The 13–3 record secured them the first seed in the NFC. They defeated the Washington Redskins in the Divisional Round and won the NFC Championship Game against the Carolina Panthers, but lost in Super Bowl XL to the Pittsburgh Steelers. The loss was controversial; NFL Films ranks Super Bowl XL eighth on its list of the ten games with controversial officiating decisions. The game, which ended with a 21-10 victory for the Steelers, was marked by several controversial calls that harmed the Seahawks and led to accusations of favoritism. Years later, in 2010, the game's head referee, Bill Leavy, publicly admitted that he made mistakes that impacted the outcome of the game. Leavy stated: "I made two mistakes in the fourth quarter and impacted the game, and as a referee, you never want to do that." In the 2006 season, the Seahawks finished with a 9-7 record and won the NFC West. They defeated the Dallas Cowboys 21-20 in the Wild Card round before losing to the Chicago Bears 27-24 in the divisional round. In the 2007 season, the Seahawks finished with a 10-6 record and won the NFC West. The team defeated the Washington Redskins in the Wild Card round 35–14 before losing to the Green Bay Packers in the divisional round 42–20. In the 2008 season, the team had a 4–12 record and finished third in the NFC West. Holmgren left the team after the 2008 season, following the expiration of his contract. Defensive backs coach Jim L. Mora was named as Holmgren's successor. In 2009, the Seahawks finished 3rd in the NFC West with a 5–11 record. Shortly after, Mora was fired on January 8, 2010, and Pete Carroll was hired. Alex