Blitz, the team mascot, made an appearance, as did the SeaGal cheerleaders and the Blue Thunder band Friday as the Seahawks prepare for Sunday’s wild-card game at Minnesota. There were selfie-sticks and kids climbing on shoulders for better looks and constantly waving blue 12 flags.
RENTON — It’s a testament to the Seahawks’ recent run of success that pre-playoff hype rallies have become less a novelty and more annual rites of winter.
Longtime fan Deborah Glenn trooped down the hill to City Hall from her Renton home before last year’s Super Bowl and was so blown away by the overflow crowd that she brought along her husband, Glenn, to Friday’s wild-card playoff rally.
“I saw the pictures that she took and said, ‘I’ve got to go this year,’ ” said Glenn, who took a half-day at his Boeing job to take in the scene — even if it wasn’t quite as overwhelming as Deborah had hyped.
The matchup between the Seahawks and Vikings on Sunday in Minneapolis is only a wild-card game, after all, and as the DJ kept reminding the crowd, this could be the first of four such rallies at Renton City Hall.
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“It’s a little lackluster this time,” Deborah said. “I’m hoping everybody will give it that boost. There was not walking room at all (last year).”
There was plenty of pageantry, all the same. And the gathering was large enough to gum up the neighboring Sam’s Club parking lot despite the passive-aggressive “Sam’s shoppers only” signs ringing the prime spots.
Blitz, the team mascot, made an appearance, as did the SeaGal cheerleaders and the Blue Thunder band. There were selfie-sticks and kids climbing on shoulders for better looks and constantly waving blue 12 flags. Former Seahawk Marcus Trufant took the stage, earning a loud cheer for shouting out his hometown of Tacoma.
It was enough to make longtime fans such as the Glenns shake their heads — from decades of struggle to back-to-back Super Bowls and the promise of another playoff run, success sustained enough to make a rally like this feel commonplace.
Glenn bought a jersey during the team’s first year in Seattle, he says proudly, though he hides his current navy-blue number beneath a Super-Bowl-themed letterman jacket.
His choice of Sidney Rice’s 18 raises more questions than answers at this point.
“I bought this the day before he got injured,” Glenn said. “I don’t want to pick anybody else right now.”
Added Deborah: “We don’t want any bad mojo right now.”