Pop the champagne bottles tonight, 12s. This isn’t just any ordinary Friday night, it is the 10th anniversary of the Seattle Seahawks’ triumphant and dominant 43-8 victory in Super Bowl XLVIII.
It has been a recent joke about how much the city of Seattle owns Denver, specifically when it comes to the Seahawks and Broncos. But Feb. 2, 2014, is where the one-sided bullying truly began.
The greatest single-season offense in NFL history vs. the greatest single-season defense to ever take the field. Peyton Manning vs. the Legion of Boom. A showdown for the ages!
Or so we thought. The Broncos folded like a cheap suit against the immense physicality of the LOB, who shut them out for three whole quarters of play.
10 years ago today, we won Super Bowl XLVIII. 🏆 pic.twitter.com/JgJVBmjDOc
— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) February 2, 2024
Super Bowl XLVIII Champs. 🙏 pic.twitter.com/f89lzyzgFD
— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) February 2, 2024
It’s truly hard to believe it’s already been a decade since this glorious moment. In many ways it feels like a lifetime ago, and yet it feels like it happened yesterday. The highlights from the single greatest moment in franchise history live on forever, and highlight reels are most assuredly revisited countless times by the 12th Man.
While these memories are still fun, I cannot help but feel something I haven’t felt before when it comes to this Super Bowl: a sense of finality. This is the first anniversary of Super Bowl XLVIII where Pete Carroll, the grand architect of Seattle’s first championship, is no longer the head coach. They say all good things must end, and we’ve reached the conclusion to this story.
But with this sense of finality is a renewed sense of gratitude. What Carroll built in the Pacific Northwest was truly the golden era of Seahawks football. While Seattle was certainly no stranger to making the playoffs before Carroll, they weren’t going to be confused for an NFL blueblood either. Typically, when teams that aren’t routine Super Bowl contenders finally win one, they quickly fade back into obscurity, such as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Not Carroll’s Seahawks. It says a lot about Carroll that he remained with Seattle for a decade after winning a Lombardi. His team returned to the Super Bowl the following year and remained contenders for the remainder of his tenure in the Pacific Northwest.
So take a moment tonight, 12s, to raise a glass to Carroll and soak in the glory from Super Bowl XLVIII. Watch highlights, wear the old championship hat or T-shirts, and reminisce. Not every fan gets to say they watched their favorite team win their first championship, and we did because of Pete Carroll.
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