Hawk's House Episode 1: FIRST EPISODE!!

The speaker, Dylan, is a college student and a die-hard Seahawks fan who has been supporting the team for about 10 years. He started a podcast called Hawks House to talk about the Seahawks. In the first episode, he discusses his journey as a fan, his favorite players and moments, and his plans for future episodes. He also sends thoughts and prayers to injured player Damar Hamlin. Dylan shares his excitement for being able to share his opinions and ideas about the team with others who care as much as he does. Welcome to the first episode of the Hawks House podcast. My name is Dylan, and I'm a college student and a die-hard Seahawks fan. I've been a fan for about 10 years now, and I get crazier and crazier about the Hawks every season. I wanted to start a podcast where I talk about the Seahawks for years now, and I finally decided to actually do it. I appreciate everybody for listening, and I'm so excited to start this journey. In this episode, I'm going to talk a little bit about myself and how I became a Seahawks fan and my journey these last 10 years or so. I might even touch on a few of my favorite players and moments throughout my time of being a fan. As we're going forward, I plan on making a couple episodes each week discussing my thoughts on the previous games played and the upcoming games for each week, as well as any news surrounding the Seahawks, because we are going to be getting into the draft and free agency season in a couple of months. But, before I start talking about the Seahawks, I do want to quickly send my thoughts and prayers to Damar Hamlin and his family. What we saw on Monday Night Football between the Bengals and the Bills was a dark truth on how dangerous the game of football actually is, and I believe it shook a lot of the world. I am recording this a few days after, and thankfully, since the event, we have heard great news that Damar is awake and able to breathe on his own, and he's able to talk with his friends and family. While this is amazing news, he is not totally out of the woods yet, and we need to continue to send our love and support to Damar and the Hamlin family, along with his friends, teammates, and everyone who loves him. Now, let's begin with my story. It all starts back in the 2013-14 season. The Seattle Seahawks had just come off winning one of the most lopsided Super Bowls in NFL history by crushing the Broncos at MetLife Stadium. Unfortunately for me, that was the last NFL season I did not watch, so I have yet to see a Seahawks Super Bowl, but that's besides the point. I decided that I wanted to start watching football regularly with my dad, but for some reason, I decided that my dad's favorite team, the Dallas Cowboys, would not be a good team to root for. That is probably the best decision I have ever made. But, as a young kid, I decided to do what most kids do and become a bandwagon and start liking the best team in the NFL, which at the time was Seattle. I really liked the color of their jerseys, and some of the players, like Richard Sherman, seemed super cool to me, so I decided to go all in. I got a Richard Sherman jersey for Christmas that year, and I tried to watch every game that I could when they were televised. The Hawks had another great year in 2013 and were heading to the playoffs once again. This was my first ever taste of a true NFL playoffs, where your team is in the mix. The only game I really remember watching was the NFC Championship where the Green Bay Packers came to Seattle for a trip to the Super Bowl. I think most people remember how this game went, but I was so demoralized watching my team get smoked by Aaron Rodgers. But then, like a phoenix rising from the ashes, Seattle decided to fight and came all the way back and beat the Packers on a walk-off bomb from Russell Wilson to Jermaine Kurse in the end zone. I have never experienced such strong positive and negative emotions in such a short span, and at that point I knew I was hooked. There was nothing that was going to stop me from becoming a fan. The Seahawks had made the Super Bowl once again, and I was ecstatic. I wore my Richard Sherman jersey to school all the time in the two weeks leading up to the game. But I do live in New England, so everybody else were Patriots fans. Again, this was my first season as a fan, so I didn't know much about Tom Brady or the Patriots. All I knew was that it was the hometown team against my team, and I knew we were going to win. So, I decided to talk a little trash to everybody that I felt deserved it because I was just that confident. In my head, I was thinking, how would the Patriots be able to stop a team with names like Russell Wilson, Marshawn Lynch, Jermaine Kurse, Doug Baldwin, Richard Sherman, Michael Bennett, Earl Thomas, Cam Chancellor, Bobby Wagner, and the list just kept going. Then, the game actually started. Seattle was playing pretty well, and they had a lead going into the third quarter, but this game was much closer than the year prior. I then witnessed and understood the horror of Tom Brady for the first time, and I saw the Patriots just completely take over. But, at the end of the game, we still had one chance left, one drive at the end of the game to win it all. We were moving up the field in decent increments when, all of a sudden, Jermaine Kurse had one of the greatest and most forgettable Super Bowl catches of all time and got us down to the goal line with merely seconds left on the clock. It was electric. I was so happy. Then, on first down, we ran the ball. It didn't get us anywhere, but I was fine with it because we still had three more downs. But then, on second down, Pete Carroll tries to fool the Patriots defense and has Russell Wilson try to throw a quick two-yard slant to Ricardo Lockett that gets jumped by Malcolm Butler and intercepted. Game over. I was devastated. I'm not going to lie, I cried for a long time. And I tried to refuse to go back to school the next day, but my parents made me anyway. To this day, I have still yet to hear the end of that interception, and it haunts me. Every year since, I have only gotten more and more addicted and emotionally attached to the Seahawks, and I have had so many good memories. Most of my love for the team comes from just how much I love the players. Seattle has had so many amazing players over the years that I have become so attached to. Cam Chancellor is my favorite Seahawks and NFL player of all time. But more recently, players like DK Metcalf, Jordan Brooks, and Tariq Woolen have really made me such a happy fan. The Seahawks haven't had much postseason success since the 2013-14 Super Bowl, but I still love hyping myself up and believing every year. We have also had some pretty good moments since, as being a fan base. I mean, the wild card win against the Eagles a few years ago where rookie DK Metcalf had a huge game was absolutely awesome to watch. Fleecing the Broncos with a Russell Wilson trade was pretty amazing. And even though the Seahawks at the time of recording this are 8-8 and probably not going to make the playoffs, this season has been such a blast to watch, and truly has probably been my favorite season since 2013-14. We were expected to be terrible, and I've had such an amazing story from Geno, along with so many rookies playing such huge roles, all while watching the Broncos absolutely crumble and making our first round pick that much better. The Seattle Seahawks are my life, and I am so excited that I finally get to share my opinions and ideas about the team with others that care just as much about them as I do. So, as I finish the first ever episode of the Hawks House Podcast, I just want to truly thank you for listening. Go Hawks!