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A '12' flag flies over the San Francisco skyline during Super Bowl week. (Photo courtesy of Anna and Erik Peterson)
For the past week, the Golden Gate Bridge remained relatively untouched by Super Bowl propaganda as visitors have flocked to the Bay Area for Sunday's big game. But that all changed Saturday thanks to a dedicated group of Seattle Seahawks fans.
Flying above San Francisco's iconic landmark was a 35 feet by 35 feet blue flag with a bold white number 12 on it. While it might not be an immediately identifiable symbol for everyone, many local sports fans know it represents their bitter NFC West rival. The number - which the organization even retired in 1984 - represents "The 12s," the nickname for the Seahawks fan base who serve as the 12th man on the field for Seattle. The flag always flies high at their home games, after a franchise legend or celebrity fan raises it as part of a pregame ceremony.
Tansey Allen, a lifelong Seahawks fan now living in Southern California, wanted to do something that Seahawks fans who were priced out of the Super Bowl could celebrate at the big game's host city. At the same time, she wanted the team to know the fans were still with them and showing up, even as they were away from home, something she's well versed in, having organized fan road trips since 2004.
She began to kick around ideas with Anna Peterson, president of Seattle booster club the Sea Hawkers and a friend of Allen's since 2017. Peterson is also no stranger to the road warrior approach to her Seahawks fandom as she needed to build her own hub of fellow fans when she and her family moved to Georgia just over a decade ago. The original plan was a bit more garish.
"She was like, ‘What if we could get a 12 flag flying on the Golden Gate Bridge?'" Peterson recalled with a laugh. "Logistically, they were probably not going to let us do that."
But from there, it didn't take too long to land on the idea of getting a plane to fly one over the San Francisco skyline. Allen's research brought her to a pilot who had actually flown a 12 flag over Seattle after the Seahawks won Super Bowl 48, who was more than happy to do it again, although the price looked to be a big hurdle at first. The cost for chartering a plane for the whole weekend would have been $30,000. Even with their planned fundraising campaign, and one generous donor promising to match up to $6,000, it was a steep financial hill to climb. As they were preparing the fundraiser, a miraculous call came in.
"The pilot called me right as we were doing the fundraiser, and last minute said that an opening came up for the Super Bowl," Allen said. "He's like, ‘I don't know how it happened. We never get any last minute cancellations like this.' So we were able to cut the cost down to $20,000 for the whole weekend, instead of having to charter, which was mind blowing."
What also helped was the enthusiasm of Seahawks fans in and out of the country. The group reached their donation goal within just four days of launching it, and was cut off eight days ago. One of the first donations came from the East Coast, and they've had money come in from as far as Germany. Perhaps equally as surprising is how little pushback they've gotten, which Tod Gomes, a Bay Area lifer who's been a Seahawks fan since Jim Zorn was their quarterback, knows all about.
"Nothing negative yet," he told SFGATE over the phone. "Normally we'll get some 49er fans on our page - and, you know, I get it this year. But everything's been positive."
Peterson also said that local fans have been cool about this. Part of it, she believes, is that it's the 12 flag and not an outright Seahawks flag, which is a touch less aggressive. Both her and Allen said that this would have been the plan in any city hosting the Super Bowl. Yes, it does feel a little good that this is happening in a rival's city, but their goal isn't to spike the football.
"Camaraderie amongst fans, of all fan bases in the NFL, is very, very important to us," Peterson said. "We've had really good conversations with 49ers fans here in the area who've been super cool. I can only imagine if the 49ers were playing in the Super Bowl on our field while we were not playing, it would be a very difficult thing to digest, so our goal is certainly not to troll anybody. It's about our pride for the 12s."
It's a consistent sentiment with Gomes too, who was also inducted into the Pro Football's Ultimate Fan Association in 2011. He used his position as NorCal Sea Hawkers president to give team memorabilia to Seahawks fans in Paradise that lost theirs in the 2018 Camp Fire.
"It's fine to smack talk of course, especially living here," he told SFGATE. "But you know, at the end of the day, I'm a fan of fans, to take words from one of the other PFUFA members."
That being said, it's not like the rivalry was out of mind when the flag flew over the bridge. Before the flyover, Allen said she would think of the Super Bowl 48 victory, but also Richard Sherman's tip against Michael Crabtree in the 2013 NFC Championship game that preceded that Super Bowl. Peterson, who said her hands were shaking as she thought about the work that went into this plan, says she'd think about the Kam Chancellor hit on Vernon Davis from 2012.
Gomes said his mind would be on the flag flying high "in enemy territory," but also said his mind has started to wander over to next season, and a possible divisional sweep with the flag.
"Other than the Seahawks stadium, our logo has now been at the Cardinal Stadium, at the 49ers stadium," he said. "I don't want to jump the gun because any given Sunday, but next year's Super Bowl is at the Rams."
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This article originally published at Why a giant flag with a number on it flew over the Golden Gate Bridge today.
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