Seattle Seahawks’ 12th Man is Best Home Field Advantage in the NFL
The 12th man, or 12th player, is a term for the fans within a stadium during football games.
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The game of football allows a maximum of eleven players per team on the field at a time. When you refer to a team’s fans as the 12th man, it implies that they have a potentially helpful role in the game.
The presence of fans can have a significant impact on how a team performs and they are an element in the home advantage. Obviously, the home team fans would like to see their team win the game. Therefore, these fans will often create loud sounds or chants in hopes of distracting and confusing the opposing team while they have possession of the ball or to persuade a referee to make a favorable decision.
The Seattle Seahawks 12th man has dominated.
Quarterbacks like Drew Brees (New Orleans Saints), Aaron Rodgers (Green Bay Packers), Tom Brady (New England Patriots), and now Peyton Manning (Denver Broncos), have come into CenturyLink Field over the past two years and been reduced to dust.
The 12th man in Seattle is more than another player on defense, it may be their best player.
Seattle’s 12th man is the best home field advantage in the history of the NFL.
The Super Bowl Champion Seattle Seahawks are now 17-1 in the regular season since 2012 and it’s the best home record over that span. The only team to win at Seattle since 2012 was the Arizona Cardinals in Week 16 of last season.
History Behind The Number
The Seattle Seahawks retired the No. 12 jersey on Dec. 15, 1984, in honor of their fans.
In 2003, the Seahawks installed a giant flagpole in the south end zone of CenturyLink Field, and started a tradition of raising a giant flag with the number 12 on it in honor of the fans.
Usually, a local celebrity or a season ticket holder raises the flag during pregame. In recent years, 12th Man flags have been seen all over Seattle whenever the Seahawks make the playoffs.
When the Seahawks took the field for Super Bowl XLVIII, they were led by LB Heath Farwell carrying the team’s 12th Man flag which is now a team tradition.