The Pain of a Magical Season

2005 was definitely a year to remember. I was on my way to graduating high school, off to the University of Washington, and yes, the Seattle Seahawks were winning. 

The 2005 Seahawks made being a Seattle fan for my entire life worth it. This was the season that I became a die hard Seahawks fan.

Not to be too emotional, but it’s true. This season is the reason why I will live and die with the Seattle Seahawks. If your team has never even been close to tasting the most glorious prize then you will not understand. Chronicling that year was special, and reminiscing about it now truly shows what made it so special.

I was always a casual fan of the Seahawks, but being a young kid who liked baseball more that football, the Mariners ran my life. 

They had Griffey, A-Rod, Buhner, and Edgar. With characters like that who had time for football?

However, when the Seahawks managed to win their final three games in 2002 I was a Seahawks fan. Besides that, my knowledge of football was minimal at best. Learning the game was difficult, but I continued to learn.  Trying to best my father in football knowledge proved the be the hardest part.

It was not until a sweltering summer day on the east side of Washington in 2005 that we received a letter in the mail. This letter, contained an offer to become Seattle Seahawks season ticket holders and despite my step-mothers disapproval, my father and I eagerly bought a four game pack.

We were giddy school children.

We planned every trip before the season began, making sure to catch a Husky game or two and manage not to miss any of my high school football games. We plotted the quickest routes, the best food vendors, and which jersey’s we would slap on to represent the home team. 

We went to five regular season home games that year. They were against Atlanta, Arizona, Houston, the Giants, and Indianapolis. They kept winning and we kept smiling. 

The game that made me believe this team was destined for greatness was held on Nov. 27, 2005, a rainy cold night in Seattle. I didn’t see any of Feely’s three missed field goals as I was on the ground praying for him to miss.

That prayer being answered three times was about as likely as Sage Rosenfels winning five Super Bowls.  It happened, and leaving that stadium were two happy fans, who tormented Giants fans all the way out.

Then my dad gave me the best gift of my life, playoff tickets. We were going to witness first hand our team mow through the competition on the way to Super Bowl XL. Our faithfulness was finally rewarded on January 22nd, 2006. 

The game ended with the Seahawks winning 34—14.

After that, I was sold. 

I was now a die hard Seahawks fan. I couldn’t help it, the year was just special.  Graduating high school and going to college was great, but this was surreal.

Then February 5th, 2006 came, I will never forget that day. For the record, I am still reeling from that game.  I feel for the Buffalo Bills.

Not to say losing one Super Bowl equals four, but if you lose that way, you might as well lose it one hundred times.