In 2023, I wrote my first opinion piece as a photographer for The Beacon. That piece was an ode to my dad.
My goals for that article were simple: to thank my dad for making me a Seattle Seahawks fan, to talk about how important the team is to my family and most importantly, to make him cry. If you’re curious, I definitely achieved those goals.
Now here I am again, three years later, writing yet another ode to my dad and the Seahawks. Except this time, their season is far from over.
On Feb. 8, the Seahawks will play in their most important game of my life: Super Bowl 60. The Seahawks will be competing for their second Super Bowl win against the team that cost them their last Super Bowl in 2015.
Let me recap: So far this season, the Seahawks have won 16 games and lost three, including the playoffs. Their new quarterback, Sam Darnold, is on the revenge tour of his life. Their second-year head coach, Mike Macdonald, is scheming out of his mind. And the Twelves? Well, they’re back to causing earthquakes.
This season has been the best I have ever witnessed, and I’m hopeful we can end on the highest note: the Lombardi Trophy. But my personal highlight would be the divisional round of the playoffs, when the Seahawks played their rival, the 49ers.
Spoiler alert: The Seahawks won 41 to 6. Where was I? Standing — and screaming — in the stadium, next to my dad.
Everyone will have a few moments in their life where they and their loved ones experience what can only be described as jubilation. During the opening kickoff, when Rasheed Shaheed ran 95 yards for a touchdown on the very first play of the game, was one of my moments.
As I was jumping up and down and screaming so loud I could barely hear anything around me, I turned and saw my father having the exact same moment that I was. For a few seconds, we got to experience something together that can never be recreated.
I could drone on and on about community and my love of sports, which I’m sure by now you know I care deeply about both, but I would rather thank my father.
To my dad, thank you for seeking out those moments with me. Thank you for ensuring I have a relationship with you where we can have those moments. Thank you for forcing me to be a Twelve. I can’t wait to call you after the Super Bowl is over.
To the Twelves, thank you for creating the community I know only sports fans can. This season, I have had more gleeful responses to my Hawks hats than ever before. Let’s keep it going.
Oh, and one last thing.
We might as well go win the whole thing. Go Seahawks.
Natalie Gordon is a photographer for The Beacon. She can be reached at gordonn26@up.edu
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