Glory Days D uring the 1940s and 1950s the population of Seattle grew very quickly During the 1960s and 1970s the city became a center for people of different cultures and a place for international business The people of Seattle were proud of the progress they had made The only thing missing was a team in the National Football League NFL In 1972 the city began construction on a new stadium called the Kingdome Two years later the NFL awarded Seattle one of two new teams for the 1976 season The Seahawks got to work on building their roster They selected unwanted players from other NFL teams discovered college stars in the draft and also 6
held tryouts Seattle’s main goal was to find a good quarterback who could lead the team The man who won the job rolled into town in a broken down Volkswagen Beetle His name was Jim Zorn and he had a strong left arm and quick feet He would need them with the Seahawks In Seattle’s early years Zorn often found himself scrambling away from defenders His favorite target was Steve Largent a small receiver with good hands and great determination He would go on to be the first Seahawk voted into the Hall of Fame Zorn and Largent gave Seattle a dangerous passing attack Running back Sherman Smith rounded out the offense The defense however was another matter The Seahawks allowed more than 30 points a game in their first season and finished with a record of 2 12 Over the next few seasons Seattle’s defense improved and the team began to show signs that it could be a championship contender In the 1980s the Seahawks added three new stars safety Kenny Easley pass-rusher Jacob Green and running back LEFT Jim Zorn and Steve Largent ABOVE Kenny Easley 7
Riddel Seahawks
Curt Warner They also replaced Zorn with Dave Krieg In 1983 Krieg led the Seahawks to the championship game of the American Football Conference AFC Five years later Seattle won the AFC West for the first time By then Brian Blades and John L Williams had joined the team to give the offense an extra boost The Seahawks had many good players in the 1990s including Cortez Kennedy Eugene Robinson Joey Galloway Michael Sinclair Chris Warren Ricky Watters and Warren Moon Unfortunately they struggled to win games In 1999 Seattle hired coach Mike Holmgren He had led the Green Bay Packers to the Super Bowl twice The Seahawks won the AFC West in Holmgren’s first season The team enjoyed even more success after moving to the National Football Conference NFC in 2002 Seattle finished first in the NFC West in 2004 Running back Shaun Alexander and quarterback Matt Hasselbeck led the offense Both players were known for their talent and toughness They benefitted from a LEFT Shaun Alexander looks for a hole in the defense ABOVE This trading card shows Matt Hasselbeck in action 9
