Put a 12 on it
I feel like if I had been less lazy I could have gone to a thrift store, bought a bunch of random junk, put 12 on it somewhere, and sell it all in Seattle and make a killing. I bet there are many shop vendors and such who probably did just that. Something not selling? PUT A 12 ON IT! YOU SEE THIS NICE BAG? IT’S NICE, BUT AFTER I PUT A 12 ON IT IT’S IRRESISTIBLE. 12 12 12 12 12 12
The 12th man thing is cute and a nice way for fans to identify as a group, but man did it get overblown this season. Every other word during the parade/stadium celebration speeches was 12TH MAN, they even used it as a noun, referring to the fans as “twelves”. Yeesh. I like you, Seattle, and I’m happy for you, this is your big day, but feel free to tone that down just a touch. Especially in the coming years when it won’t be as cute since it already worked.
I wonder how many Seattle fans even realize that 12th Man isn’t even something Seattle came up with but something they stole from Texas A&M. A&M even sued them, but they settled out of court and Seattle gets to keep using it. You aren’t as quirky or unique as you think, twelves. You literally pay Texas A&M every year to use that cute little descriptor. Look it up.
Yo Dave, I’m really happy for ya, and ima let you finish…but Seattle has a better 12 than A&M
What annoys me about the 12th man– living just north of Seattle– is that it’s bogus. There are some cities in the NFL that have genuinely loyal fans, through thick and thin. You know what happens when Seattle has a down year? The 12th man goes clamming. The 12th Man in Seattle is so preposterously fair-weather that it’s difficult to think of another city as hypocritical. This city doesn’t love the Seahawks… living here in the 80s, the 90s, the years before and after their other bowl appearance, this city doesn’t give a damn about the Seahawks. The 12th Man isn’t even about the Seahawks– it’s about a bunch of people wanting to pat themselves on the back and scream “I’M HELPING!” It’s not about the team. It’s not even about the fans. It’s about thinking they’re special, but they aren’t. Kansas City is louder. I would lay wages that at least 20 teams in the league would have louder fans if their stadium was built for it the way the CLink is. The 12th man in Seattle isn’t the fans. It’s the architect who designed that building, because without him, Seattle’s fans are just another bunch of guys with nothing special to hold onto.
Over 90 consecutive sellouts since 2003 (which includes the Mora year, and the lame duck Holmgren year) kinda disproves that point about fairweatherness. Bandwagon sure, that grew exponentially this year.
When the Seahawks made the playoffs at 7-9, I was able to get a ticket for under $30. It wasn’t sold out until the last minute, and then bought by local businesses– a phenomenon which has happened fairly often. That happens in a lot of cities in the regular season, so that’s not a knock specifically against the Seahawks. Just sayin’ that not all facts are created equal.
The Giants have not had a non-sellout since 1975. Any Giants fan knows that from that point up until the early 1980s was a terrible time to be a giants fan. Same applies to most of the 90s.
Seattle has nothing on us in terms of fan loyalty. We might piss and moan about bad things happening to the team, but that’s because we CARE…
Woah you calm down there, fan loyalty is more than just sellouts.
NYC has what like 5 times the amount of people, and I know it has two teams but NYG fans at least double Seattle fans because of this.
Fan Loyalty is based on a whole lot more, trust me I know I’m a Bills fan
If you want to talk loyalty, go talk to Browns fans. I’m pretty sure they can give you four good reasons they’re more loyal than Giants fans.
We can give you more than that. But those would be the first four.
As a Rams fan who was 4 when The Greatest Show on Turf happened, the Rams have given me little reason to be a fan, but I have not missed a game in 5 years.
We put a 12 on our quarterback in Green Bay. It’s worked well.
Worked for the Colts too!
And the Patriots, too
Don’t forget the 70’s Steelers.
The Seahawks have been doing the 12th man thing since before A&M copyrighted it. A&M was obligated to defend the trademark which is why they sued. A&M didn’t invent it either.
Yeah. As a term, ’12th man’ has been used in cricket for ages. I live in Australia, and I’ve seen teams having a 14th, 15th, 18th and 21st man in various codes. I’m pretty sure a South African Rugby team who plays in the same competition Aus and NZ have a 23rd man, as well. Point of the story- The concept isn’t original in the slightest, and has been done to death. Still, seems to work for Seattle, so it’s not all bad.
I was thinking along similar lines. In European soccer, the term “12th man” is used for the fans of all teams since I don’t know when and completely generic.
This does not mean that it can’t refer to a certain team (or more precisely their fans) in football, but copyrighting and “who thought of it first” seems somewhat overdoing it. I wouldn’t be surprised if already the second local newspaper sports article published about a larger team competition would have included in one way or another.
Additionally, every 12 I know is very aware that the team pays to use the phrase and we weren’t the first. People do so love reminding us, after all.
No love for Seattle! They’re a young franchise that just won their first Super Bowl – let’s let them be obnoxious and have their fun for a while.
In other news, would totally buy an artisan 12th man tape dispenser.
Dave…you don’t know how right on the nail you hit it with this cartoon. 90 consecutive sellouts be damned, the stadium design amplifies the crowd noise. The crowd realized that they can make an impact so they have been showing up just to see how many false starts they can create. Just to pat themselves on their back, not really to cheer their team on. Because there hasn’t been a reason to, at least not until the past two years. The last two years, this team has been legit–12 douchenozzles or none.
There was a super bowl this past weekend? I my spent Sunday trying to find a deal on a carton of Marlboro Lights.
The only 12 I like on products are Jerseys for the Patriots. And 12th man is also used here in Wales for our Rugby, because we’re pretty (and I really mean extremely) obsessed with it.
3 straight Seahawks comics.
Dave, don’t tell me you got the Twelfth Disease.
It’s over I promise! They did win the Superbowl, cut me a little slack
We want to hear more about The Adventures of Shanahan The Younger and his Dragon!
After being passed over for his former mentor, the disowned Lord Kubiak of House Texan, by Harbaugh The Elder, son of Jack, brother of Jim, and Keeper of the Ravens, Shanahan the Younger seeks revenge as he aligns himself with House Sadness, as Lord Pettine attempts to create a new era of dominance. King Haslam’s impatience looms, but with their pick of likely every general other than Ser Bridgewater of House Cardinal, and a Dragon likely in-tow, Shanahan the Younger appears ready to strike for revenge against Harbaugh the Elder. Who shall reign supreme as King of the (AFC) North?
It really writes itself, doesn’t it?
The “12th man” has been used in football since the very early 20th century! And it wasn’t invented by Texas A&M. In fact A&M and the Seahawks started using it around the time but when A&M heard the Seahawks were using it, they patented it. They got it, now we pay them. We know they use it too, but respectfully, we don’t care. I did research on this a while ago…
We get that “you” don’t care. That’s part of the problem: You think you’re special, but you’re not. You’re just fans– and fair-weather fans, at that. It’s a marketing ploy, and nothing else. Seattle’s such a reactionary and self-masturbatory city, anyway, that it makes perfect sense that this is the place that would glom onto 12th man like it mattered.
Ha ha…I nearly spilled my coffee reading this. I live in the middle of this ish and you’ve pretty much summarized the conclusions I came to the first week I moved up here. Gracias, Averien.
12 man crazy there fans nuts but for real tho noise dont stop me every day out there workin
Damn, so much hate at Seahawks fans. I don’t remember anything like this with the Ravens or Giants, and certainly not the Packers or Saints.
Here’s my take on it: it’s not even that they pretend to be so loud in their stadium, it’s that they do everything possible to be just as, if not more, obnoxious on the interwebs as well. They troll every other NFL team’s site to declare their superiority…Just read any articles of the teams that Seattle played this season. Yeah, I get it, fans have been talking mess to each other since gladiator days, but the 12th a$$ takes it to another level.
I actually felt bad when the city lost the Sonics. The Warriors are my team but the Sonics have always been my second favorite team ever since high school. But I think losing the Sonics allowed the fans to concentrate their douchiness onto one team, instead of two (God help us if the Mariners ever become competitive…).
But then, Mustang Brewing Co out of Oklahoma City made this…http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on-football/24430234/photo-oklahoma-city-seahawks-will-be-2015-nfc-champions
Pure gold!
That’s just mean. No sir, I don’t like it.
Btw, I love that the vendor is dressed in Bronco colors…
I’ve had a 12th Man jersey since Dave Kreig’s second season. I remember watching Curt Warner go down.
I still watch Seahawks games as a Pessimist Fan. I was still waiting for something to go horribly wrong after they were up 36-0 in the Super Bowl.
And Seattle’s original jerseys were the best.