All Eyes On The Seattle Seahawks

Dec 12, 2011; Seattle, WA, USA; Monday Night Football television cameras for ESPN film during the game between the St. Louis Rams and the Seattle Seahawks at CenturyLink Field. The Seahawks defeated the Rams 30-13. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-USA TODAY Sports

It doesn’t seem like it was too long ago that the Seattle Seahawks were dying for media coverage. There’s always been a sense among Seahawks fans that they don’t get the attention they deserve due to their location in the Great Northwest. Fortunately, that never seems to bother the die hard fans who year in and year out come together to be one of the loudest and proudest fan bases in the NFL. However, this season is different. The enormous hype surrounding this team has led to an increased following from across the league. Apparently, with great hype comes great watchability.

For example, this past weekend the match-up between the Seahawks and Broncos was billed as, “a potential Superbowl preview” by many media outlets. Not bad for a game in week two of the preseason. If that’s not enough, Seattle’s next game against the Green Bay Packers is expected to be the highlight of the entire preseason. Obviously, the excitement for that game stems from infamous “fail mary” fiasco(hopefully we can finally move past it after this game). If the entire country is paying this much attention to the Seahawks during the preseason, imagine what will happen if they start living up to the hype as the regular season gets underway.

Speaking of the regular season, the Seahawks will be making quite a few visits to prime time this season. Starting with their much anticipated clash with the 49ers on Sunday Night Football in week two. Something tells me their second meeting will also end up on Sunday Night Football as well in week 14. Add in a couple Monday Night Football games against the Rams and Saints, and it looks like I’ll have to tape some of my favorite television shows in order to watch Seahawks football this season.

So what is it about this Seahawks team that has football fans east of Montana and south of Oregon finally watching? Is it the emergence of Russell Wilson and the high powered Seahawks offense? Is it the brash Seahawks defense? (Richard Sherman is probably formulating his next twitter taunt as I write this article). Or is it simply the winning culture Pete Carroll has cultivated in Seattle?

Honestly, it’s probably a combination of all these factors. In the past, Seattle has had some strong teams. The 2005 squad that made it to the Superbowl comes to mind. But what makes this team so attractive to a broader audience seems to be their blend of excitement and personalities.

The Seahawks have become a team casual football fans want to watch. People are starting to watch the Seahawks hoping to see Russell Wilson throw a deep ball, Marshawn Lynch go into “Beastmode,” or the “Legion of Boom” find it’s next victim. These are the types of plays and players that make the NFL great. So it’s no surprise that the Seahawks are getting this kind of attention.

The one downfall of this attention is that it creates added pressure and a larger audience watching to see if the Seahawks falter. No one can know for sure how far the Seahawks will go this year. But one thing is for certain, what ever the Seahawks do this season people will be watching.