Editing Seattle Seahawks (section)

==Team culture==
===12s===
{{anchor|12th Man}}
{{See also|12th man (football)|12s}}
[[File:Super Bowl XLVIII (12292632233).jpg|thumb|right|Seahawks fans holding a "12" flag at [[Super Bowl XLVIII]]]]
[[File:Seahawks Fans are...the 12th Man (5341448344).jpg|thumb|right|A "12" flag raised at Seattle's [[Space Needle]]]]
The [[12s]] (formerly the [[12th man (football)|12th man]]) refers to the fan support of the Seahawks.<ref name="j368">{{cite web | last=Bien | first=Louis | title=What makes the 12th Man special? | website=SBNation.com | date=2015-01-22 | url=https://www.sbnation.com/nfl/2015/1/22/7871519/seattle-seahawks-12th-man-super-bowl-patriots | access-date=2024-08-28}}</ref> The team's first home stadium, the [[Kingdome]], was one of the loudest and most disruptive environments in the NFL.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/20/sports/football/when-fans-turn-up-volume-seahawks-play-with-a-man-advantage.html|title=Seahawks Fans Act as Extra Player, Tormenting Opponents and Eardrums|last=Belson|first=Ken|newspaper=The New York Times|date=January 19, 2014|accessdate=June 3, 2024}}</ref> Opponents were known to practice with rock music blaring at full blast to prepare for the often painfully high decibel levels generated at games in the Kingdome.

In 2002, the Seahawks began playing at what is now [[Lumen Field]]. Every regular season and playoff game at Lumen Field since the second week of the 2003 season has been played before a sellout crowd. Like the Kingdome before it, Lumen Field is one of the loudest stadiums in the league. The stadium's partial roof and seating decks trap and amplify the noise and reflect it back down to the field. This noise has caused problems for opposing teams, causing them to commit numerous false-start penalties. From 2002 through 2012, there have been 143 false-start penalties on visiting teams in Seattle, second only to the Minnesota Vikings.<ref>{{cite news|last=Parolin|first=John|title=Three-point stance: Seattle Seahawks|url=https://www.espn.com/blog/boston/new-england-patriots/post/_/id/4731877/three-point-stance-seattle-seahawks|publisher=ESPN Boston|date=October 10, 2012|access-date=January 31, 2015|archive-date=October 6, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006161758/http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/new-england-patriots/post/_/id/4731877/three-point-stance-seattle-seahawks|url-status=live}}</ref>

The Seahawks' fans have twice set the [[Guinness World Record]] for the loudest crowd noise at a sporting event, first on September 15, 2013, registering 136.6 [[Decibel|dB]] during a game against the [[San Francisco 49ers]]<ref name="noise1.1" /> and again on December 2, 2013, during a [[Monday Night Football]] game against the [[New Orleans Saints]], with a roar of 137.6&nbsp;dB.<ref name="noise2.1" /><ref name="noise2.2" /> As of September 29, 2014, the record of 142.2&nbsp;dB is held in [[Arrowhead Stadium]] by fans of the [[Kansas City Chiefs]].<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Kansas City Chiefs break Seahawks' loudest stadium record|url=https://www.si.com/nfl/2014/09/29/chiefs-break-seahawks-noise-record|magazine=Sports Illustrated|access-date=October 1, 2014|date=September 29, 2014|archive-date=October 2, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141002040416/http://www.si.com/nfl/2014/09/29/chiefs-break-seahawks-noise-record|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Boeing Seahawks 747 - 12246636256.jpg|thumb|left|A [[Boeing 747-8F]] painted in 12th man livery for the team's Super Bowl appearance.]]

Prior to kickoff of each home game, the Seahawks salute their fans by raising a giant #12 flag at the south end of the stadium.<ref>{{cite web|title=12 Flag Raisers|url=https://www.seahawks.com/fans/the-12s/flag/|publisher=NFL Enterprises, LLC|website=Seahawks.com|access-date=July 1, 2019|archive-date=July 1, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190701001320/https://www.seahawks.com/fans/the-12s/flag/|url-status=live}}</ref> Current and former players, coaches, local celebrities, prominent fans including [[Patti Hammond]], Seattle-area athletes, and former owner [[Paul Allen]] have raised the flag. Earlier, the Seahawks [[Retired number|retired]] the #12 jersey on December 15, 1984, as a tribute to their fans.<ref name="UPI" /> Before their Super Bowl win, the Seahawks ran onto the field under a giant 12th Man flag.

In September 1990, [[Texas A&M University]] filed, and was later granted, a trademark application for the "12th Man" term, based on their continual usage of the term since the 1920s. In January 2006, Texas A&M filed suit against the Seattle Seahawks to protect the trademark and in May 2006, the dispute was settled out of court. In the agreement, which expired in 2016, Texas A&M licensed the Seahawks to continue using the phrase, in exchange for a licensing fee, public acknowledgement of A&M's trademark when using the term, a restriction in usage of the term to seven states in the Northwest United States, and a prohibition from selling any "12th Man" merchandise.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/aliciajessop/2014/01/31/texas-am-stands-to-earn-more-in-upcoming-12th-man-trademark-licensing-negotiations-as-seahawks-exposure-rises/|title=Texas A&M Stands To Earn More in Upcoming 12th Man Trademark Licensing Negotiations As Seahawks' Exposure Rises|author=Alicia Jessop|date=January 31, 2014|work=Forbes|access-date=January 19, 2015}}</ref><ref name="ESPN 2006-05-08">{{Cite web |date=May 8, 2006 |title=Seahawks, A&M resolve '12th man' dispute |url=https://www.espn.com/nfl/news/story?id=2437992 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110525082327/http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2437992 |archive-date=May 25, 2011 |access-date=November 3, 2009 |website=ESPN.com|agency=Associated Press}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://giving.tamu.edu/news/headline-news/trademark.aspx|title=Texas A&M Foundation|website=giving.tamu.edu|access-date=September 20, 2013|archive-date=June 10, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100610055229/http://giving.tamu.edu/news/headline-news/trademark.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref> Once the agreement expired, the Seahawks were allowed to continue using the number "12" but were no longer permitted to use the "12th Man" phrase.<ref>{{cite web |last=Cassuto |first=Dan |title=Seahawks must pay rent to use the phrase '12th Man' |url=http://www.king5.com/story/sports/nfl/seahawks/2015/01/10/seahawks-must-pay-rent-to-use-the-phrase-12th-man/21567131/ |publisher=[[KING-TV|KING 5 News]] |date=January 10, 2015 |access-date=January 29, 2015 |archive-date=January 18, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150118004914/http://www.king5.com/story/sports/nfl/seahawks/2015/01/10/seahawks-must-pay-rent-to-use-the-phrase-12th-man/21567131/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> In August 2015, the Seahawks decided to drop their signage of the "12th Man" term and shifted towards referring to their fans as the "12s" instead.<ref>{{cite web |last=Daniels |first=Chris |title=CenturyLink Field no longer 'Home of the 12th Man' |url=http://www.king5.com/story/sports/nfl/seahawks/2015/08/14/12th-man-seahawks-texasam/31753553/ |publisher=[[KING-TV|KING 5 News]] |date=August 14, 2015 |access-date=August 15, 2015 |archive-date=August 19, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150819022718/http://www.king5.com/story/sports/nfl/seahawks/2015/08/14/12th-man-seahawks-texasam/31753553/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Mascots===
[[File:Blitz and Seagals at Super Bowl XLVIII.jpg|thumb|''[[Blitz (NFL Mascot)|Blitz]]'' and ''[[Seahawks Dancers|Sea Gals]]'' at Super Bowl XLVIII]]
Starting in the 1998 season, [[Blitz (NFL Mascot)|Blitz]] has been the Seahawks' official mascot.<ref>{{cite web|title=Blitz the Seahawk|url=https://www.seahawks.com/mascots/blitz/|publisher=NFL Enterprises, LLC|website=Seahawks.com|access-date=August 21, 2021|archive-date=August 15, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210815031845/https://www.seahawks.com/mascots/blitz/|url-status=live}}</ref> Prior to the [[2014 NFL season]], Blitz was given a new look and a sidekick; a secondary mascot named Boom was introduced to appeal to and interact with younger children.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Horn |first=Sam  |date=September 21, 2014 |title=Seahawks add new mascot, Boom; give Blitz fresh look |url=https://blog.seattlepi.com/football/2014/09/21/seahawks-add-new-mascot-boom-update-look/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200723173601/https://blog.seattlepi.com/football/2014/09/21/seahawks-add-new-mascot-boom-update-look/ |archive-date=July 23, 2020 |access-date=August 21, 2021 |website=seattlepi.com |publisher=SeattlePI}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Boom|url=https://www.seahawks.com/mascots/boom/|publisher=NFL Enterprises, LLC|website=Seahawks.com|access-date=August 21, 2021|archive-date=February 27, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210227101046/https://www.seahawks.com/mascots/boom/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In the [[2003 NFL season|2003]] and [[2004 NFL season|2004 season]]s, a [[hawk]] named Faith would fly around the stadium just before the team came out of the tunnel. However, because of her relatively small size and an inability to be trained to lead the team out of the tunnel, Faith was replaced by an [[Augur buzzard|augur hawk]] named Taima before the start of the [[2005 NFL season]]. Taima started leading the team out of the tunnel in September 2006.<ref>{{Cite news |last=O'Neil |first=Danny  |date=September 1, 2006 |title=First hawk out of the tunnel |url=http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/sports/2003238829_bird01.html |access-date=June 21, 2007 |work=The Seattle Times}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Taima the Hawk|url=https://www.seahawks.com/mascots/taima/|publisher=NFL Enterprises, LLC|website=Seahawks.com|access-date=August 21, 2021|archive-date=February 24, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224173152/https://www.seahawks.com/mascots/taima/|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Cheerleaders===
A group of female and male cheerleaders known as the Seahawks Dancers rallies the crowd from the sidelines and performs a halftime routine during home games at Lumen Field. The group was an all-female squad called the [[Sea Gals]] prior to admitting male members and re-branding ahead of the [[2019 NFL season]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Seahawks Dancers|url=https://www.seahawks.com/dancers/|publisher=NFL Enterprises, LLC|website=Seahawks.com|access-date=July 1, 2019|archive-date=June 29, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190629093953/https://www.seahawks.com/dancers/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="y892">{{cite web | last=Condotta | first=Bob | title=Goodbye, Sea Gals: New Seahawks Dancers include men | website=The Seattle Times | date=2019-06-03 | url=https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/seahawks/seahawks-say-goodbye-to-the-sea-gals-adding-males-to-their-dance-team-and-renaming-them-the-seahawks-dancers/ | access-date=2024-08-28}}</ref> During the off-season, a select performing group from the Dancers travels to parades and other events, as well as with other [[NFL Cheerleader]]s on the road.

===Band===
Beginning in 2004, the Seahawks introduced their drum line, the [[Blue Thunder (drumline)|Blue Thunder]].<ref name="t825">{{cite web | last=Dallas | first=Julia | title='Blue Thunder is the heartbeat of the fans': Seahawks looking for people to join drumline | website=KIRO 7 News Seattle | date=2023-03-20 | url=https://www.kiro7.com/news/local/seattle-seahawks-looking-high-energy-people-join-blue-thunder-drumline/7TRVXBUQZ5FQBDB6VKS6OMD2PY/ | access-date=2024-08-25}}</ref> The group plays at every home game as well as over 100 events in the Seattle community.