Franchise history

1976–1982: Expansion era

As per one of the agreed parts of the 1970 AFL–NFL merger, the NFL began planning to expand from 26 to 28 teams.^[17] In June 1972, Seattle Professional Football Inc., a group of Seattle business and community leaders, announced its intention to acquire an NFL franchise for the city of Seattle.^[18] In June 1974, the NFL gave the city an expansion franchise. That December, NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle announced the official signing of the franchise agreement by Lloyd W. Nordstrom, representing the Nordstrom family as majority partners for the consortium.^[19]
In March 1975, John Thompson, former Executive Director of the NFL Management Council and a former Washington Huskies executive, was hired as the general manager of the new team. The name Seattle Seahawks ("Seahawk" is another name for Osprey) was selected on June 17, 1975 after a public naming contest which drew more than 20,000 entries and over 1,700 different names.
Thompson recruited and hired Jack Patera, a Minnesota Vikings assistant coach, to be the first head coach of the Seahawks; the hiring was announced on January 3, 1976. The expansion draft was held March 30–31, 1976, with Seattle and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers alternating picks for rounds selecting unprotected players from the other 26 teams in the league.^[20] The Seahawks were awarded the 2nd overall pick in the 1976 draft, a pick they used on defensive tackle Steve Niehaus. The team took the field for the first time on August 1, 1976 in a pre-season game against the San Francisco 49ers in the then newly constructed Kingdome.

Members of the Seahawks special teams blocking a point-after-touchdown

The Seahawks are, to date, the only NFL team to switch conferences twice in the post-merger era. The franchise began play in 1976 in the aforementioned NFC West but switched conferences with the Buccaneers after one season and joined the AFC West. This realignment was dictated by the league as part of the 1976 expansion plan, so that both expansion teams could play each other twice and every other NFL franchise once (the ones in their conference at the time) during their first two seasons. The Seahawks won both matchups against the Buccaneers in their first two seasons, the former of which was the Seahawks' first regular season victory.

1983–1991: Chuck Knox era

In 1983, the Seahawks hired Chuck Knox as head coach. Finishing with a 9–7 record, the Seahawks made their first post-season appearance, defeating the Denver Broncos in the Wild Card Round, and then the Miami Dolphins, before losing in the AFC Championship to the Los Angeles Raiders. The following season, the Seahawks had their best season before 2005, finishing 12–4.^[21] Knox won the NFL Coach of the Year Award.
In 1988, Ken Behring and partner Ken Hofmann purchased the team for either $79 million or $99 million (both numbers have been reported). The Seahawks won their first division title in 1988, but from 1989 to 1998 had poor records and did not play in the post-season.

1990s era

In 1996, Behring and Hoffman transferred the team's operations to Anaheim, California, a widely criticized move, although the team continued to play in Seattle. The team almost relocated, and was in bankruptcy for a short period. They sold the team to Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen in 1997, for $200 million, and in 1999 Mike Holmgren was hired as head coach. He would coach for 10 seasons. The Seahawks won their second division title, as well as a wild card berth in the playoffs.

1999–2008: Mike Holmgren era

In 2002, the Seahawks returned to the NFC West as part of an NFL realignment plan that gave each conference four balanced divisions of four teams each. This realignment restored the AFC West to its initial post-merger roster of original AFL teams Denver, San Diego, Kansas City, and Oakland.

Matt Hasselbeck played as the Seahawks quarterback from 2001–2010 and led the team to six postseason appearances and a Super Bowl appearance.

In the 2005 season, the Seahawks had their best season in franchise history (a feat that would later be matched in 2013) with a record of 13–3, which included a 42-0 rout of the Philadelphia Eagles on December 5, a game since referred to as the Monday Night Massacre. The 13-3 record earned them the number one seed in the NFC. They won the NFC Championship Game in 2005, but lost in Super Bowl XL against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The loss was controversial; NFL Films has Super Bowl XL at number 8 on its top ten list of games with controversial referee calls.^[22] Before 2005, Seattle had the longest drought of playoff victories of any NFL team, dating back to the 1984 season. That drought was ended with a 20–10 win over the Washington Redskins in the 2005 playoffs.

2009: Jim Mora's single season

In the 2009 NFL season, the Seahawks finished 3rd in the NFC West with a 5-11 record. Shortly after his first full season with the Seahawks, head coach Jim L. Mora was fired on January 8, 2010.^[23] Mora was replaced by former USC Trojans football head coach, Pete Carroll. Shortly thereafter, Mora became the head coach for the UCLA Bruins football team.

2010–present: Pete Carroll era

In the 2010 NFL season, the Seahawks made history by making it into the playoffs despite having a 7–9 record. They had the best record in a division full of teams with losing seasons (Seahawks 7–9, Rams 7–9, 49ers 6–10, Cardinals 5–11) and won the decisive season finale against the Rams (not only by overall record, but by division record, as both teams coming into the game had a 3–2 division record). In the playoffs, the Seahawks won in their first game against the defending Super Bowl XLIV champs, the New Orleans Saints, 41–36. The Seahawks made even more history during the game with Marshawn Lynch's 67-yard run, breaking 7 or more tackles, to clinch the victory. After the run the fans reacted so loudly that a small earthquake (a bit above 2 on the Richter Scale) was recorded by seismic equipment around Seattle.^[24] The Seahawks lost to the Bears in their second game, 35–24.

Marshawn Lynch scored on a 67-yard touchdown run in the NFC Wild-Card Playoff Game against the New Orleans Saints in 2011.

The 2012 NFL season started with doubt, as the Seahawks lost their season opener against the Arizona Cardinals, after the highly touted Seattle defense gave up a go-ahead score late in the fourth quarter, and rookie quarterback Russell Wilson failed to throw the game winning touchdown after multiple attempts in the red-zone. However, Russell Wilson and the Seahawks went 4–1 in their next five games en route to an 11–5 overall record (their first winning record since 2007). Their 2012 campaign included big wins over the Green Bay Packers, New England Patriots, and San Francisco 49ers. The Seahawks went into the playoffs as the #5 seed and the only team that season to go undefeated at home. In the Wild Card Round, the Seahawks overcame a 14-point deficit to defeat the Washington Redskins. This was the first time since the 1983 Divisional Round that the Seahawks won a playoff game on the road. However, in the 2013 Divisional Round, overcoming a 20-point, fourth quarter deficit wouldn't be enough to defeat the #1 seed Atlanta Falcons. An ill-advised timeout and a defensive breakdown late in the game cost the Seahawks their season, as they lost, 30–28. QB Russell Wilson won the 2012 Pepsi Max Rookie of the Year award.

2013: First Super Bowl championship

In the 2013 NFL season, the Seahawks continued their momentum from the previous season, finishing tied with the Denver Broncos for an NFL-best regular season record of 13–3, while earning the NFC's #1 playoff seed. Their 2013 campaign included big wins over the Carolina Panthers, New Orleans Saints, and the San Francisco 49ers. Six Seahawks players were named to the Pro Bowl: Quarterback Russell Wilson, center Max Unger, running back Marshawn Lynch, cornerback Richard Sherman, free safety Earl Thomas, and strong safety Kam Chancellor. However, none of them were able to play in the Pro Bowl, as the Seahawks defeated the New Orleans Saints, 23–15, and the San Francisco 49ers, 23–17, in the playoffs to advance to Super Bowl XLVIII against the Denver Broncos. On February 2, 2014, the Seahawks won their first Super Bowl Championship, defeating Denver 43–8.^[25] The Seahawks' defense performance in 2013 was acclaimed as one of the best in the Super Bowl era.^[26]
The following season, Seattle advanced to Super Bowl XLIX, their second consecutive Super Bowl, but they were dethroned of their title by the New England Patriots by a score of 28–24.
They got off to a slow start the next year starting 0-2 and 2-4 through 6 games but finished 10-6 on the year clinching a wild card berth. They beat the Minnesota Vikings 10-9 to advance to the divisional round. Against Carolina, they were down 31-0 at halftime before scoring 24 unanswered points. Their comeback attempt fell short and they failed to make the Super Bowl.
Since moving into the NFC West, the Seahawks have had considerably more success, having won 8 of 15 division titles, and making the playoffs in 11 out of 15 seasons.