Seattle Seahawks and Old Women: Preseason Edition

Contributed by Kathe Frahm

The old women will again come to the rec room. It won't be the same this year. They have lost some friends. When hearing of the loss of one of the old men, one old women said, "Now who's going to buy our fried chicken?" Grief is expressed in many ways.

One really loud old woman and one too talkative old woman moved away. All though no one said “good riddance”, the old women thought it was for the good.

The old women have had 8 months to shake their disappointment at losing the biggest game of the year. Their boys not winning the Super Bowl still remains an unsolvable puzzle: if Russell had only handed the ball off to Marshawn at the 1 yard line...

This new season will be for many of them even more confusing. Some old women are waiting for the final word on who actually will play for the Seattle Seahawks. Some of their favorite boys have been traded. But the old women are ready to watch Marshawn Lynch, Kam Chancellor, Steve Haushka and Richard Sherman. Finding out what the 'Hawks will pay to keep Russell Wilson past next year is of interest.

Management at the home say the whole building is to be remodeled. This was to start this January. It hasn't.

The old women at the home meeting, where this was announced, threatened to bolt the rec room door from the inside if even one construction worker interfered with a 'Hawk game. You can push around old women just so far.

A new couch would be good so the old women who need the front row for the TV wouldn't sink into the existing one up to their shoulders and need help getting out of it.

The preseason games start in Seattle in August with the Broncos and the regular games begin with the Rams in September. Someone has already put the 2015-2016 game schedule up on the cork board. Maybe some of the old women will watch preseason, maybe not. At their age, everything has to count.

A couple of old women want to start a pizza fund. It is a rare treat but all together they may be able to afford it once in a while.

Some old women say they have added new Seahawk things to wear. Large, dangly earrings seem to be the fashion statement so far.

The clothing and food comparisons and competition will begin in earnest with the Ram game.

The old women hope for a Super Bowl winning season for their 'Hawks. One commented that coach (Surfer Boy) Carroll was even more adorable than last season. That brought a few chuckles and inappropriate wishes that only experienced old women would say.

Being together again in the rec room is important and looked forward to. The old women see each other in the halls and elevator once in a while, but laughing, screaming, cheering and jeering together matters. They are looking forward to watching their Seahawks play once more... their boys.

Seattle Seahawks and Old Women: Colin Kaepernot

Contributed by Kathe Frahm.

Old women aren't always sad. Sometimes they put their aches and worries behind them and just have fun. A Thanksgiving smearing of the San Francisco 49ers by the Seattle Seahawks fit the bill for a happy start to the holidays at the home.

At the start of the game, only two old women were in the rec room. They really had no place to go. Later, more and more old women and some old men came in when they got back from their friends and families. One old woman hoped she wouldn't fall asleep after all she ate. Falling asleep was not an option for this much awaited game.


The only NFL quarterback that the old women hate more than Peyton Manning is Colin Kaepernick. With a few exceptions, no NFL player is as good as they think they are. Kaepernick would just like to be that good. He has had falling stats for many games in a row. One of the broadcasters mentioned that he heard 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh tell his QB to shoot up the middle and stay away from the Seahawks' Richard Sherman. Some teams will do anything to keep from throwing in Richard's direction. An old woman saying Kaepernick must have missed the memo brought gales of laughter from the others.

Nothing can get the rec room crowd more worked up than a Hawk interception or a recovered fumble. They were not disappointed. Having favorites Bobby Wagner and Kam Chancellor to muscle the defense made a difference in the team's attitude. The old women said their boys got the bad boy attitude back that carried them to the Super Bowl.

One old woman, a former old-time Raiders fan, worked to explain penalties.

The Raiders are always among the most penalty-prone teams and never back away from a good fight. She said if your boys are going to be aggressive, they have to play hard and worry about penalties after they are called. The object is to make 15 penalties and only get called on 13. Coach Pete Carroll says the Hawks get more than their fair share. He spends a good part of the game running up and down the sidelines yelling at the refs. The old women love to see him get up in a ref's' face defending his players. Of course it was mentioned that he is so much more handsome when he is screaming mad.

There were many standouts in this 49er game. The old women knew the stakes were high. Russell Wilson proved again that the 49ers defense couldn't take their eyes off him for a minute. Richard's interceptions, Turbin's TD and Marshawn Lynch's running brought out the screaming the rec room fans were famous for. Steve Hauschka made kicking field goals look easy.

Some of the old women hoped their boys would beat the 49ers by many points. But 19 to 3 was enough.

Even if some of the old women had no one to see or no place to go on this holiday, their boys gave them a certain amount of joy. They have to take it where they find it.

Seattle Seahawks and Old Women: Rammed

Contributed by Kathe Frahm.

The old women knew that their boys could beat the loser St. Louis Rams.
After the loss to the Dallas Cowboys, the old women were in need of some reassurance that their team was OK. Dallas played good football. Scary football.

Fewer old women traipsed into the rec room for the Rams game. Comments were made that those not there were a bunch of 'fair weather sissy fans'. No old men showed up for this game and when the women met them in the halls at the home they already said the Seattle Seahawks were just a flash in the pan. Not even the free food brought the old men in.

The old woman who left some leftover little cupcakes in the rec room freezer after the Cowboys game was really not surprised that they were gone. Old men and women take advantage of what they can. This is learned behavior. Lives of privation make this easy. No one really got upset about it. They probably had all been there. She went upstairs and got a box of store-bought Halloween cookies to share.

Austin Davis, the Rams' QB, looked to be another easy baby-faced target for the 'Hawks defense. The old women's confidence began to waver a little when it was plain the Hawks were in trouble at the half, down 21 to 6. It did get better when Russell Wilson took over the game with 313 passing yards and 3 tds. Screaming and yelling gave a little life to the room. The old women believed that their boys would pull off a win and get a lead in the NFC West even though 4 of their favorite boys were out with injuries: C Max Unger, TE Zach Miller, CB Byron Maxwell and LB Bobby Wagner. Missing these big boys was worrisome.

What they couldn't see was the little Rams WR, Tavon Austin, who faked a fair catch on a John Ryan punt and the 'Hawks defenders had to just try and catch up to receiver Stedman Bailey, who ran 90 yards for a TD. This and what the old women believed was an unfair call on a Richard Sherman fumble recovery with about 1 minute to go convinced them that their boys had to play against the referees as well.

The old women left the rec room more dismayed and a little sad after this loss. It was supposed to be a cake walk to hand the Rams another defeat and move up in the NFC West. Even though many of them have had a lot of practice at losing, they still don't like it.

This time the old woman who brought the Halloween cookies took the leftovers home.

Seahawks' 12th Man Scores First in the Super Bowl

I've been wondering since it happened: what went wrong with that first play for Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos that resulted in a safety?

Astronomical to think such a polished and professional offensive unit would screw up a shotgun snap.  The center Manny Ramirez took initial responsibility.  Tough for me to decipher all the Manning pre-snap chatter and know how he changed the original call.  Who's fault was it?

Now that NFL Films has released the Sound FX for the game, we can listen to Peyton Manning himself as he talks to his center and his coach after the play.  Watch and listen.  I'll wait.  Then let's see what you think.

"I called the snap count," Manning said to Ramirez as they trotted off the field.  "You didn't hear me?"

When he reached coach John Fox, he told him: "I couldn't hear anything."

Fox replied, "Hey, a little louder than we though."

He later said to his team he should have started with the silent count.  A silent count in the Super Bowl?

Crowd noise absolutely caused that fumbled snap and safety.

Process that for a moment.

The Super Bowl is a neutral site by design.  New Jersey is almost 3000 miles from Seattle.  The Seahawks' 12th Man still affected the game.

Not only affected the game, but single-handedly put points on the board.

Seattle's fans at CenturyLink Field are credited with causing false starts, making opponents burn time-outs and limiting audible calling.  But this time, the 11 Seahawks on the field could have had their backs to the Broncos.  The snap would still have sailed past Manning and into the end-zone.

At the moment I can't think of another time when crowd noise so directly led to a score.  In the Super Bowl no less.  That's truly playing 12-on-11 football.

8% of the tickets were sold to Colorado residents.  17% were sold to Washington residents.  That does not directly mean that three-quarters of the fans present were neutral.  It does mean that Seahawks pride is contagious.

A good friend was in town for the game.  He told me Blue & Green outnumbered Orange on the streets.  Seahawks fans were loudly befriending anyone in similar colors.  Broncos fans looked bored and would walk silently past each other on the sidewalks.  New Yorkers embraced the brash, aggressive, gregarious Seahawks.  Did the Richard Sherman rant make more Broncos fans?  Not in New York.  Sherman #25s were impossible to find.

So the Seattle fans at the Super Bowl created more Seattle fans.  People realized it was fun to get behind a team and holler at the opposing offense until it screwed up.  This was a loud crowd for a Super Bowl.  Loud for the Seahawks.

The 12th Man travels.  The 12th Man breeds.  The attitude is contagious.

Anyone else's fans ever score in a Super Bowl?  Did they ever put a team on tilt on the first play of the game and keep them there?

The more I think about it, the more monumental the accomplishment is for Seahawks fans.  The 12th Man actually scored in the Super Bowl.  I salute you.

There's a reason #12 is retired in Seattle.  The 12th Man continually earns the honor.

What do I write about the Seahawks and the Super Bowl?

Wow, Seahawks.  Just wow.  Two days later and I'm still trying to figure it out.

This is not a smart piece of analysis like I've been attempting all year for The Penalty Flag.  This is just a giddy fan reaction.

The Seattle Seahawks played their best game of the year in the Super Bowl.  Their biggest margin of victory.  Their most complete performance.

I had no idea who to pick for MVP.  Russell Wilson, I supposed, just because his leadership and execution on third down made it happen on offense.  But it was a team defense thing.  Cliff Avril, I was thinking.  Kam Chancellor?  The turnovers, which were the death of Denver, were all caused by the pass rush.  Malcolm Smith was just an opportunist.  But he had a pick, a TD and a fumble recovery.  I can't argue with that.  Consider that he's not even a starter.  Who knew his name before the interception at the end of the 49ers game?

Would you pay Percy Harvin for the kickoff return alone?  About $14 million is what he earned this year for a limited appearance in one regular season game, half a playoff game and last Sunday.  But what a Sunday.

On the second play for the Seahawks' offense, Percy took the ball on a sweep for 30 yards.  He was one chalky toe from taking it all the way.  Denver was slapped awake.  They'd watch him everywhere he went.

The effect was most obvious later in the half when Russell faked the sweep to Percy and gave it to Marshawn Lynch up the middle.  Denver's linebackers were caught leaning, opening up a hole for a 10 yard gain.  That's the Percy factor, whether he touches the ball or not.

Even down 22-0 after one half, you knew Peyton Manning could lead his team back.  But when Percy took the opening kickoff of the second half to the house, he planted the dagger.  The Broncos were shook up.  Mentally down and out.

$14 million for that play?  Yes, if it was Paul Allen's money.

The Twelfth Man has range.  Denver's center Manny Ramirez took full responsibility for the errant snap that resulted in a safety on the Broncos' first play.  He said he couldn't hear the snap count.  This was a neutral site game.  Played in New Jersey.  Don't let them call it New York.

Almost 3000 miles away, Seattle fans got it done.  I have a friend who was there.  He told me blue and green was everywhere on the streets.  Orange, not so much.  All Seahawk fans greeted each other like old buddies.  Bronco fans passed each other on the street silently.  Did Richard Sherman's rant create a bunch of new Denver fans?  You couldn't find a Seahawks #25 jersey in New York City, my buddy told me.

8% of the ticket sales went to Colorado.  17% to Washington.

Seattle fans know how and when to disturb an offense.  It showed.

Yet, I'm sure there's much more to this.  I've heard it pointed out that the entire offensive line moved together, indicating it may have been Manning's mistake.  We have all off-season to discuss it.

One more point before signing off.  If you still want to judge Richard Sherman for one moment at the end of the 49ers game, listen more.  Before this game, he noted how special Denver's offensive unit was.  All media week long, he was looking interviewers in the eye with real attention and delivering smart, crisp answers.  At the end of the Super Bowl, he highlighted the huge performances of Malcolm Smith, Earl Thomas, Kam Chancellor and the whole team.

Right after Sherman's comments on the podium with the Lombardi trophy, one of the Fox announcers (I forget who it was) said: "That's the real Richard Sherman."

Sometime I'll get into the three very different leaders on the team:

Richard Sherman: loud, in your grill, precise and cutting with his words.

Russell Wilson: friendly, respectful, coach's dream, tremendous discipline and work ethic.

Marshawn Lynch: would rather do it than talk about it, avoids the media.  "I'm just about that action, boss."

This has little to do with the story: