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Old 08-13-2011, 07:22 PM
 
Location: Seattle, Washington
291 posts, read 686,170 times
Reputation: 250

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I live in Seattle. All the Seahawks fans here always make a big deal about being the 12th man. However, it seems to me that Texas A&M started the 12th man thing and that the Seahawks copied them yet nobody here in Seattle realizes that. Seahawks fans act like they started the 12th man thing. Maybe the Seahawks were the first ones to do it in the NFL but it seems to me like Texas A&M was doing it a long time before the Seattle Seahawks even existed. What do you guys think about this?
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Old 08-13-2011, 07:37 PM
 
Location: Wrightwood, California
2,098 posts, read 3,441,659 times
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This came up back when the Seahawks got to the Super Bowl. A&M certainly started way back. However, the 'Hawks have been using it since the 80s (essentially the last time they were good prior to their SB run). In the 80s they retired that number to honor the fans- back when the Seahawks had Largent, Dave Krieg, Curt Warner, Kenny Easely). A&M and Seattle eventually came to an agreement and the Seahawks are allowed to use it.

But, since we are no good anymore, that 12th Man flag means squat!
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Old 08-14-2011, 12:49 PM
 
Location: Apple Valley Calif
7,474 posts, read 22,814,450 times
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Has there ever been a team, at any level, who hasn't used the 12th man idea...? Pretty common
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Old 08-14-2011, 12:54 PM
 
Location: Franklin, TN
6,662 posts, read 13,264,830 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Donn2390 View Post
Has there ever been a team, at any level, who hasn't used the 12th man idea...? Pretty common
I'm sure there are some that don't use it...but it's definitely common...and not just football. It seems pretty much every sport recognizes (however many a team fields during play) + 1 = a dedication to the fans.
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Old 08-14-2011, 01:44 PM
 
Location: Wrightwood, California
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I think there are a million teams that use it by saying, "Our fans are the 12th Man," but the Seahawks promote it on shirts, flags, media, etc. and that is why A&M took Seattle to court and won. They didn't take other teams for saying it or even using it in a limited capacity. I know no college program in the Pac-10 use it.

But, it certainly is common for fans, players to give thanks to the 12th Man "home field advantage." I think even my Pop Warner team used it when I was 10 and our 45 parents showed up.
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Old 08-15-2011, 11:59 AM
 
9,091 posts, read 19,137,552 times
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they actually didn't win any court case

there was a small settlement that allowed seattle to use the trademarked phrase - which up until that point they were not doing

also, the usage in seattle goes back well before the trademark existed

it was basically A&M trying to get a cash grab - buffalo and other cities also use the phrasing (buffalo is more prominant than seattle), but they didn't garner the attention because they have been lousy

A&M didn't get a trademark until 1990 and wasn't able to really do anything about it until the mid-90s

Seattle retired the #12 for the fans in 1984

The concept is not unique amongst sports (you have soccer fans who go by the same thing, even)
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Old 08-16-2011, 01:12 AM
 
Location: Seattle, Washington
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Texas A&M started it in 1922 I believe. Yet idiot Seahawk fans act like they are the ones who invented the 12th man thing and like they are the only ones that do it.
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Old 08-16-2011, 11:01 AM
 
9,091 posts, read 19,137,552 times
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actually, they don't

but it has been a large part of the seahawks tradition since the team was established - in part to them frequently having the loudest stadium in the league, having a very interactive fan base, etc

the league put in a rule (or at least tried to enforce it) at one point due to the amount of noise in the kingdome .... basically the home team could get flagged if the QB couldn't hear to make the playcalls ... didn't last long

seattle was also the first team to retire a number specific to the fans - that was unique

it sounds like you are a bit young and don't understand the signifigance of the #12 or even a guy like Pete Gross to the seahawks organization .... when they came into the league with the nordstroms, this team was very intertwined with the community

when ken behring took over the team all that ended and culminated with the team complex moving to anaheim ... what was once a great environment turned to crap

with paul allen and his team they have reconnected to the community in a great way and it's now a great atmosphere again and the team has been reconnected into the city .... reviving the focus on #12 has helped with that to a large degree and it's become one of the better environments in professional football
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Old 08-16-2011, 11:37 AM
 
18,143 posts, read 25,680,563 times
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Finger Laker is right. Seattle got good early in their history, posting a pair of 9-7 records in the late 70's after just being in the league since 1976. They suffered a couple down years in the early 80's but when Jack Patera left and Chuck Knox joined the organization in 1983 they put together winning seasons through the rest of the decade and built rivalries immediately with Denver and Oakland (particularly Denver.)

I went to a Bronco/Seahawk game in the Kingdome and their reputation as having the loudest stadium in the NFL didn't get an argument from me. And I know something about loud stadiums from going to games at Mile High Stadium.

Regarding Ken Behring; when he made that announcement that he was moving team operations to Anaheim, well that created a firestorm of controversy. The next year in 1997 Paul Allen bought the club, Behring basically doubled his money.
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Old 08-16-2011, 12:33 PM
 
9,091 posts, read 19,137,552 times
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yeah - the AFC West was a tough division to work through on a road trip in the 80s ..... Arrowhead is never a picnic, Mile High is a beast and those bronco teams weren't shabby, you had the raiders when the black hole and the mystique was at it's highest and the kingdome was just flat out loud and the fans were pretty engaged

it was a shame what happened to the franchise under the end of the behring era and how they completely lost their connection with the city ... the job that paul allen, tod leiweke, mike holmgren and others have done to get that back and to create such a dynamic atmosphere is incredible .... it's almost more of a collegiate feel than a professional feel (and unfortunately the teams performance on the field recently has been more collegiate than professional)

Double H - how would you rank the new mile high to the old one? .... it seems like it's maybe lost a little something of it's aura (then again, some of that could be due to not having elway just destroying dreams there anymore)

Denver fans still seem to be engaged with the team though
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