Mike Meherin isn’t the longest-tenured Seattle Seahawks fan — with no childhood memories of the expansion team joining the National Football League or of future Hall of Fame receiver Steve Largent catching passes from quarterback Jim Zorn — and he isn’t a season ticket holder, driving 160 miles north on Interstate 5 to watch the team’s eight home games at CenturyLink Field.

But the 52-year-old Vancouver man is a loud and proud Seahawks fan, one of the team’s thousands of 12s.

And he considers himself the first line of defense for the team as people enter Washington. That’s because Meherin is that enthusiastic Seahawks fan motorists see waving a big blue 12 flag from the 29th Street overpass of I-5 in Vancouver.

“I don’t know why I do it, other than it gets my heart pumping and gets people excited for the game,” Meherin said.

“People are looking,” he said. “They depend on me being there.”

Meherin is at the overpass every game day. Rain or shine or snow. Morning game, evening game or weekday game (his boss lets him leave early for those Monday and Thursday night games). And in the off-season, he heads out anytime he gets the urge.