If the 1983 Seahawks can go into the Orange Bowl and successfully take on the Mighty Don Shula and the Killer Bees, then the 2022 Seahawks can go into San Francisco and successfully take on puny little Purdy and the 49ers.
"So you're saying there's a chance!"
I grew up in southern Maine, and I was the only Seahawks fan I knew. My dad always supported me being a Seahawks fan, and he developed a certain fondness for the 'Hawks because of me, but I don't think he ever would have described himself as a Seahawks fan. But man, did he ever pay attention to the Seahawks. There were times, like my first year in college and the first couple of years I lived in Brazil, when it was hard for me to follow the Seahawks, and Dad kept me as up-to-date on Seahawks news as he could.
After the Seahawks beat the Broncos in the wildcard game after the '83 season, one of the announcers said something to the effect of "the question now is 'can the Dolphins ride the wave?'" (The Seahawks were the team that brought "the wave" to the NFL). It was just after that that Dad decided to sit down and have a little chat with me. He went over some of the highlights of the Seahawks (
magical) season and talked about how good it was that the team had made the playoffs and won a playoff game. He wanted to make sure my expectations weren't too high in case the season ended with the Seahawks having to go to Miami and face a very strong Dolphins team in its home stadium.
When the Seahawks actually beat the Dolphins the next week, I went outside in my numberless royal-blue Seahawks jersey (I had gotten a number-and-letter kit with it, and I always intended to put the number 10 and probably the name ZORN on it, but never got around to doing so, so I played a jillion neighborhood football games in a numberless jersey) and my Seahawks helmet and ran around the neighborhood yelling and waving my arms in celebration. I'm not sure if anyone saw or heard me, because it was around 16:00 or so on the last day of the year in Maine (and keep in mind that while it wouldn't have been dark yet, the sun would be gone behind the trees by then), so everyone's doors and windows were closed and I don't know if anyone happened to look out a window and see the town Seahawks fan celebrating the greatest sports-fan moment of his life to that point.
F**kin' Raiders.