Mr. Love talks about being a Seahawks fan yesterday, today, tomorrow … and how it’s all about perspective, energy, and passion.
-by Jim Wall, seahawkstailgating.wordpress.com
“Shame on you for criticizing band-wagon fans,” Mr. Love scolds me, then proceeds to remind me that every fan was a band-wagon fan at one time when they are starting out.
I pause and realize he is right. In a way we are all just fans. Although I have seen him at Seahawk locations around the stadium, and in the front row of the notorious south end zone at games, this was the first time I was learning about just who Shannon Love is. It’s Friday afternoon and I have arguably the most famous Seahawks fan on the phone… and we’re talking “Fans”.
That is what Shannon Love maintains he is all about: the fans and their drive to express themselves.
Better known as “Mr. Love”, he didn’t appear overnight and remembers his roots well from the early days in the Kingdome where his father, a former judge and mayor of Bellevue (Judge Love), stepped up and bought a stack of tickets to the expansion Seahawks in 1976. The following year, a new section in the front row by the Seahawks tunnel was opened and Judge Love picked up the first 4 rows, or 24 season tickets in all. The stage was set for what was to come.
“At that time Seattle was a (Washington) Huskies town,” says Love, “and the Seahawks first rival was the Huskies.” At the young age of 15, Love was a Coke-a-Cola vendor at Huskies games, and boated to work across Lake Washington, absorbing all the UW booster game day experiences, and in particular the passion and energy of the crowd.
He goes on to explain that in those early Kingdome years, he wanted to help create a new distinct brand of fan energy, similar to what Husky fans exhibited, but unique to Seahawks fans. This was Love’s first experience with being a part of increasing fan passion and he liked it. He fondly chuckles about watching a wave that he started in one game, circle the field 28 times in a row – a Kingdome record that lasted the lifetime of the iconic stadium – “a proud moment to this day”, Love says.
But Love admits he had to learn how to be a fan, to which he credits his father, Judge Love.
“I love my mother, and I got my passion from her,” Love recalls her being the most vocal and expressive in the family. “But what I learned from my dad was accountability in being a fan, and that you need to be accountable to yourself if you want to be a proper fan.”
From conversation with Love, his eternal respect for his father and his father’s values are emphatic.
“He called me out if I was out of line,” Love states. “He taught me about credibility; things like staying positive, never booing, taking the high road, having class and observing rules and laws, staying until the end of games. Those are some of the lessons that have helped form my personality.”
Love talks about how his game day associate Big Lo whom he sits with, couldn’t sit down during a game in the newly opened Seahawks Stadium in 2002. Other fans complained and security was called. So Love decided to stand with Lo in support, then others, and another Seahawks fan tradition was started – something the “ahead of the curve” Love says wouldn’t happen in other stadiums. “We’re the most unique and best fans in the NFL at this time,” he claims.
Times have changed, but Love still finds “the fans” his biggest passion inside and out of the stadium, and with a team superior to those early teams that were better known for trick plays and player personalities, than fans. “The fan base has changed over the years, but that’s not a bad thing,” he says when asked about how the 12s are different today. Love identifies the 2006 Superbowl as a stark recognition point for Seattle, describing his trip to Detroit and finding Hawks fans outnumbered 9 to 1 by Steeler fans.
“We realized at that time that we needed to start travelling better. We learned a valuable lesson… that these older teams around the league had many generations of fans, and that Seattle had to make up more than 57 years of fan base evolution to catch up with them. We needed to step up further.”
Love also singles out the signing of Brian Bosworth in 1987 as an earlier turning point for the Hawks and the fans, which until that time had never had a diva superstar football player with the media buzz that the Boz brought.
“Throw out all the bad stuff about Boz like the Bo Jackson play and the injuries,” says Love, who believes a return of the Boz is eminent in future Seattle fandom. “The fact is that it was the first time everyone in the nation was looking at Seattle, and that elevated the stage for the fans, who in turn were able to step up. Boz gave us permission to be anyone we wanted to be.”
And that’s when Love started dressing up to an entirely new level. He says that he loves the era of the suit and tie and explains that stepping up requires attention to details: accessories such as cuff links, stick pins, and looking sharp. He just feels most comfortable in the attire that suits his personality. Love’s consciousness and observation of the 12s comes naturally for the best dressed 12, who claims he likes to observe the fans’ passion and growth as he strolls on game day, and doesn’t need to beg for attention. True, he is a larger than life character, taller and with more presence than expected when you meet him in person, probably much like one of his childhood idols Elvis, who had the ability to radiate modestly without even raising a finger.
“When I’m stepping out on game day, I feel like I’m invisible,” Love claims amazingly for someone so impeccably dressed and noticeable. “I’ll walk tall, with my head up and shoulders back. But in my own thoughts.” Love maintains that what he does is express himself in his own “fan way”, thus encouraging other fans to express themselves individually and to raise their own energy levels and accountability. He admits that some other fans or Superfans may be looking to compete, but Love doesn’t see it as a competition or a hierarchy, even though he feels he’s not outranked by anyone. He states there isn’t a fan he looks up to in Seattle other than his father, the Judge, who taught him what a fan should be.
Actually Love doesn’t even like to be called a Superfan because it often carries the stigma of self-glossing or egotism, and he maintains he isn’t working towards an image or costume, he just enjoys being himself. He seems to truly enjoy the moment of expression, much like an artist who feels a connection with his peers and audience, and most comfortable in that moment. And the more the merrier.
“(As a fan base) we have to evolve,” he claims when asked about the expeditious development of Hawk Alley and other tailgate activities over the past few years, coinciding with the growing 12 nation and the team’s meteoric rise to stardom. He sees it as a natural process of fans discovering themselves in a comfortable family. “It’s about unity and friendship.”
Love does acknowledge the position of a highly visible personality such as his can come with a price tag of jealousies and criticism from those that place recognition and notoriety as a top priority. He believes that the Seahawks shouldn’t let a fan raise the 12th man flag, as it would trigger other fans (perhaps even himself) asking just how he or she jumped the line of worthiness. (Love admits that he’s not quite sure if Seattle fans are ready to celebrate other fans yet, but believes one day perhaps.)
When asked about the criticism that individual fans or organizations receive with respect to charity events they run, Love explains that he unfortunately no longer wants his name involved with charity events because of the un-defendable criticism a high-profile person risks, and that it has happened to himself in the past, as well as others that he knows. Asked if it was a matter of jealousy of the attention the organizers receive, (certain people claim the only reason some organizers run charity events is to gain recognition and finance their own participation activities) Love replies that it may be the case with some. He brings forth the argument that public recognition comes with the territory, and is part of the reward for the hard work and time donated in raising money and awareness for very good causes. “People shouldn’t be penalized for taking the lead on charity events,” he says, “But there are people out there who will unfairly punish you on social media and with gossip, and there’s not much you can do about it. It’s unfortunate.”
Perhaps that’s why today Love (who has attended almost every home game and many away games), takes the time to really enjoy a Seahawks game day in his own way: “Invisible” in his mind. He still arrives at the crack of dawn and parks in Occidental Alley behind the Silver Cloud Hotel where he has breakfast and coffee, and relaxes before being shuttled up to the newly formed Hawk Alley Tailgate to enjoy the fans and the energy. Love enjoys walking back along Hawk Alley, and while he will stop for a photo if asked, he doesn’t seek social engagement opportunities, but rather enjoys just taking it all in and helping to encourage and energize other fans with his presence and easy smile. He’s back at his car at Occidental Alley for a few minutes, before strolling up Occidental Avenue to the Alaska Airlines Hanger tailgate then heading to the game.
It’s a game day journey many other fans may take, but perhaps not in the peace of mind that Love evidently travels in … decked out, but just being himself with nothing to prove, only to share. Even opposing fans don’t shake him. “We all have to remember that we’re NFL brothers first, then Seahawks fans. We need each other.” A concept perhaps incomprehensible to some fans that may lose sight of the fact that having a villain is a good thing in the overall picture.
Asked what the difference between a Fan and a Superfan is, Love explains it in one word. Impact.
“A Superfan has an impact,” he explains. He was one of the first fans to have an impact on the Seahawk fan base (today known as the 12s), “Another fan had suggested that one day I would be remembered as (Father of the 12’s) and it resonated with me,” Love recalls the conversation. “I paused, and then said that would be an honor.”
Love knows that he has had an impact on a great fan base, built the right way. He explains what he believes the Seahawks fan base to be about in one word, “Love. The 12s built their fan base on love.”
And Shannon Love, dressed to the nines, invisible in his mind at least, is enjoying every minute of being part of something in which his passion plays a key role.
-Jim Wall
SeahawksTailgating.wordpress.com
Carolyn Sullivan Seahawks Tailgating
All rights reserved
Seahawks Tailgate Wall Blog 