SEAHAWKS SUPERFAN READY FOR THE NOISE

By Roque Martinez

Seattle Seahawks superfan Roque Martinez watched two games at CenturyLink Field in Seattle this season. (courtesy photo)

Let me start off by saying I am not a bandwagon fan.

Word has been going around that Seahawks fans are bandwagon fans because they’re doing good this year. It should be noted that I lived in the Seattle area for about 7-8 years.

My first job out of high school was working as security for the Seahawks stadium. I got to watch every home game for two seasons. So I’ve always supported the team.

This past September in the beginning of the NFL season, I was able to attend a couple games while in Seattle (49ers and Jaguars). But the big game was the Seahawks vs 49ers game.

It was a Sunday night football game (Sept 15) and it was crazy just being in the stadium area before the game. The city streets were filled with fans and the band called Blue Thunder marched around playing music in the streets. All I saw was blue and green everywhere. Well, to be fair there was a red jersey or shirt here and there.

The tailgate partying was very fun as well. I enjoyed seeing the Niner and Seahawk fans arguing about who’s better. In a couple hours, we would see who was the better team. The fans also had a goal to break the world record for the loudest sporting event (which they did break). They were motivated to say the least and I myself had fallen into the trap of joining them. It sounded like a fun and memorable thing to be a part of. I finally made it into the stadium as fans started flowing in and filling the seats.

The player intros were very intense! It was funny to see how many fans boo’d (49ers quarterback Colin) Kaepernick, almost more than the whole 49er team itself. Also, in the 1st quarter there was a lightning delay and the crowd started booing. However, a few minutes into the delay the lightning started getting big! So I think it was a good call to delay the game for players safety.

Almost an hour later the game continued.

Martinez hopes for another Seahawks victory this weekend in the NFC Championship Game against the red hot San Francisco 49ers. (courtesy photo)

It seems the Seahawks start picking up some momentum with big plays and the crowd started getting louder and louder. Soon it had seemed that the Seahawks had broken the 49ers will to win with great defensive plays. I think I was already losing my voice in the 2nd quarter I was so pumped.

I believe the sound record was broken in the 3rd or 4th quarter after the Seahawks had sacked Kaepernick. Just to give an idea of how loud it was, the noise was only about 2-point-something decibels away from causing permanent ear damage. It was absolutely insane!

I couldn’t even talk to my friend who was sitting right next to me at all when the noise would get loud. A lot of the 49er fans started leaving in the 4th quarter and when the Seahawks fans took notice, they started singing that chant “nah nah nah nah, nah nah nah nah, hey hey hey, GOODBYE” it was awesome!

The final score ended with the Seahawks on top 29-3. To my surprise most of the Niner fans walked away without being poor sports. With the exception of a couple who kept boasting about how good their history is while everyone was leaving the stadium. But it’s all good, I’m confident this is Seattle’s year and it would be awesome to say I attended a couple of the games in the season they won the Super Bowl if that be the case. GO HAWKS!!!!!

Note: The Seahawks noise record of 136.6 decibels was topped by Kansas City fans in October with 137.5 decibels. Seattle would take back the record in early December against the New Orleans Saints at 137.6 decibels. To put that in perspective, a jet engine at 100 feet is about 140 decibels.