The Seattle Seahawks (est. 2012) are a professional sports franchise that plays in the top professional league of American Football, colloquially called the “NFL.” The team is headquartered in the northwest corner of the United States and has several fanatic followers, also called “fans.”

You are one of them. How did you come to be one?

The double poll system below serves us well today because a lot of you can remember being fans of our fine team for your whole life. But if asked what the first Seahawks game you remember watching is, that’s maybe a different starting point entirely.

We’ll find out a lot about our Field Gulls population today. If you’re new, own it. If you’ve been on board since ‘76, wear it. If like me and many others, you got hooked between the opening season and the 2012 run of greatness, fill in the blanks. And share details below, if you’re so inclined.

As for me, I adopted the Seahawks about the same time they adopted Mike Holmgren. I had just married my wife in December of ‘98, and with her being from the Seattle area, we spent significant time out here in ‘99, just as Holmy was getting settled in, before moving out here permanently in 2000. I’d always loved my friends’ teams, such as the Raiders and Chiefs. I’d watched a couple Super Bowls with my dad, namely XXIII when Joe Montana drove the 49ers the length of the field as time expired to nip the Bengals, and then XXIV when the same Niners brought a flamethrower to a knife fight with the Broncos.

In other words, I liked all the wrong teams at first, but my family-in-law set me straight.

So my fandom really dates back about 18 years, which means I missed most of the relentless pursuit of mediocrity you guys called “the nineties.” However! The first Seahawks game I remember watching was in college in ‘94, when they crushed the Oakland Raiders on the road in Week 2 to go 2-0. (Seattle finished the season 6-10.) “That was dumb,” I remember telling my Raiders-loving buddy at the time, while secretly thinking “those uniforms are totally radical.”

When did you officially become a sucker fan like the rest of us?

Poll When would you say you became a Seahawks fan? This poll is closed. 26% 1970s (651 votes)

29% 1980s (704 votes)

14% 1990s (hopefully after ‘92) (355 votes)

19% 2000s (474 votes)

9% 2010s (228 votes) 2412 votes total Vote Now

Plus the bonus poll.

Poll What is the time frame of the first Seahawks game *you remember watching*? (Be as specific with dates and games and memories as you’d like in a longer answer below.) This poll is closed. 27% Jack Patera Years, 1976-1982 (630 votes)

31% Chuck Knox Years, 1983-1991 (714 votes)

3% Tom Flores Years, 1992-1994 (80 votes)

7% Dennis Erickson Years, 1995-98 (169 votes)

21% Mike Holmgren Years, 1999-2009 (what? what? shut up that’s correct shut up) (479 votes)

7% Pete Carroll Years, 2010-infinity (180 votes) 2252 votes total Vote Now

Detail: Seahawks coaches have the most boring first names in the history of first names.