12s

In 1984, the Seahawks decided to retire "12" as a jersey number, designating the fans as a whole as a "12th man" in support of the 11 players on the field. In 1990, Texas A&M, who had originated the "12th Man" in 1922, agreed to grant a limited license for the Seahawks to use the same terminology. In 2016, the Seahawks decided to not renew the license, which had just expired, retiring the "12th Man" formula in favor of simply referring to the fans as the "12s". ==Fan support==

representing the Seahawks before their appearance at Super Bowl XLVIII Throughout much of the franchise's early history in Seattle, the team suffered from poor attendance; culminating in former owner Ken Behring attempting to relocate the franchise to Los Angeles in 1996. Despite this; fan interest grew rapidly in the early 2000s under new owner Paul Allen who had purchased the team from Behring in 1997. In 1999, the franchise's prospects were seen as improving with the hiring of coach Mike Holmgren. Under the new coach, the Seahawks managed four consecutive division titles, and in 2006, they appeared in Super Bowl XL. The team's fans became even more devoted to their team during Holmgren's tenure; in 2003, the organization placed a large flag in the endzone with the number 12. In the 2010s, the fanbase grew significantly with the hiring of Pete Carroll as their head coach during the 2009 offseason. The Seahawks narrowly beat out the division rival St. Louis Rams for the division title as both finished with a 7-9 record, but the Seahawks managed a famous upset victory over the defending Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints. During the fourth quarter, the Seahawks led by four points prior to snapping the ball in Marshawn Lynch's famous Beast Quake run that returned the ball 67 yards while breaking 9 tackles to secure the victory. Fan reaction was so loud that seismologists reported that the crowd had created an artificial earthquake in the process. The Seahawks' fans have set the Guinness World Record loudest crowd noise at a sporting event on two occasions. First which being on September 15, 2013, registering 136.6 dB during a game against the San Francisco 49ers and again on December 2, 2013, during a Monday Night Football game against the New Orleans Saints, with a roar of 137.6 dB. In May 2016, mountaineer David Liaño González carried a 12th Man flag to the summit of Mount Everest. In 2025, researcher Mark Grant noted a dozen Seattle-related appearances of the number 12 in Super Bowl 48—the year of Seattle's first Super Bowl win. Grant also reported that the city of Seattle was exactly 12 × 12 × 12 months old earlier that NFL season, when the 12s broke the world record for crowd noise during a Monday Night Football game played against the New Orleans Saints. ==Controversies==

In the latter half of the 2010s, the Seahawks fanbase were accused of being obnoxious and superficial in tandem with the improving results of the team. Many highlighted the team's prior attendance woes of the 1990s as proof of them supporting the team once they found success during the 2000s. In addition to their own growth in playoff success, their fellow rivals such as the Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers had also made prominent returns to playoff success during the decade, leading to frequent clashes with rival Rams, or 49ers fans often escalating into violent confrontations. Conflict with Texas A&M For a long time, continuing into the 2010s, the Seahawks were marketing The 12th Man name heavily, although its origins were known to have begun as early as 1921 at Texas A&M, who actually trademarked "The 12th Man" in 1996. A legal agreement was reached in 2016 between the Seahawks organization and Texas A&M to cease use of the name in their marketing. Currently, the Seahawks fans are officially referred to simply as "The 12s". ==See also==