photography by elisa sherman

The Seahawks win Super Bowl XLVIII… …Wait, what? Yep, that’s right, we won. We won big. Huge. Jealous? LOL:) And shockingly(or not) I went out to spend a few hours in freezing temps among 700ish thousand(some say a million) fellow Seattlites, to celebrate and to click the joy of the fans, the team, and just soak it in…and scream – it was law, after all, at 12:12. For context, this was an interesting journey for me. I haven’t seriously watched football for oh, 14+ years, and if we’re being honest seriously since the 80’s. I had realized, as we waited 2 weeks for the Super Bowl, that I hadn’t followed the team at all or been familar with any player names since at least the 90’s…I hadn’t consciously given up on them. More, it was something I used to watch with my dad growing up. It was around 1980-82, when rather than go into the other room or playing somewhere else, I actually sat through an entire game and asked my dad questions about it…what was a 1st down, how did they score, etc. Otherwise it just looked like a bunch of big guys running into each other (right?)… When my dad passed in 2000, that touch point of sitting in the living room watching the games together, just wasn’t there anymore. I watched baseball, or went to concerts, or just did and watched other things. I hadn’t realized, until I thought about for a minute, why I had stopped watching. The current excitment, made me think back and wonder why, and the timing was inescapable. My sister captured our fond memories perfectly here –

“So, growing up in my house, every Sunday during football season, you’d be sure to find my dad sitting in his spot at the end of our rust-colored, sectional-recliner couch, yelling at the TV with a Lowenbrau or a Mountain Dew in his hand (or one, then the other) and a bag of nacho-flavored Doritos not too far away. Despite superstars like Steve Largent and Curt Warner, more often than not, things were not going well for the Seahawks. But still, he watched/yelled, and so we watched. This is one of my most enduring and cherished memories, trite as it may be. It’s why I’m so excited for today’s game. Go Seahawks!! — with Stella Sherman and Elisa Sherman.” ~Monique

Oddly, even our first unsuccessful run at the Super Bowl, didn’t penetrate, for me. I didn’t care, and barely paid attention. But something changed this year. It was some sort of odd unrecognizable energy in the air here in Seattle. Some will say it was the 12th man. Others, the Legion of Boom. I don’t know. I only know, that I started seeing these card board cut outs around the office of this guys head. I had to presume it was a Seahawk – with dreds, and sign saying Richard Sherman. Odd. Funny that a player basically had my dad’s name. Eventually, my curiousity and the news of the winning made me start turning on the games as filler while I would sit working on other things on Sundays. Then watching it seriously as the season, and the playoffs were becoming a reality. Ulitimately, caring if we had won enough to get the desired home field advantage. Clearly I was firmly back on the #bandwagon. With each playoff game, we believed. The NFC championship was almost unbelievable. To that final tip, I didn’t know what would happen, but it was like we couldn’t lose – and then, we didn’t. And it was the Super Bowl. Gathered around with friends and party food…we sat down to watch, the pregame, listen to all the commentators say how good the Seahawks were, but hey, Peyton would probably carry the Broncos to victory. Eye rolls all around. Then the game. And O.M.G. Now I know for those not Seahawks fans, it was probably the worse game ever; either boring or heartbreaking. But for Seattle – it was simple. It was euphoric. Screaming at every score, every interception, every run, every catch. It was both stunning yet completely unsurprising at some level, for those fans, the now famous 12th man, that had believed from the beginning. So, with the excitement not abating even after watching endless coverage post game, and basking in the afterglow for a few days, I donned my warmest layers, and worked my way to a good viewing spot just north of Westlake, north of the corner at 4th Ave and Stewart – and waited. Waited for an extra hour as the victory parade got a late start. Waited as my toes started screaming, and my fingertips icy. And then they were there, Mr. Skittles leading the charge, the party. And I clicked. Love you Seattle, Love you Seahawks. Love you Dad – this ones for you.

– and the full set of images –
Seahawks Super Bowl Victory Parade 2-5-2014 – Images by Elisa Sherman