The 12th Man

These “12th Man” flags are being hoisted all over town, including the top of Two Union Square, Seattle’s third tallest building (top picture).

Now, I’ve already addressed the topic of this “12th Man” stuff, but I’ll briefly touch on it once more.

Located at 280 Park Avenue in New York City, the National Football League is a big business. As people who watch their reality television shows, we, are customers. The NFL does not care about me, does not care about you, does not care about Seattle beyond what money they can make from their local reality show franchise. If the Supersonics have taught you anything, it should be that professional sports teams are nothing more than businesses.

Entertaining businesses? Absolutely. But businesses nonetheless.

As such, this “12th Man” thing is a little nutty.

Let me give you an example.

Let’s say that I like Big Mac hamburgers. I don’t, but let’s say that I do. Imagine that I pay $5 (or whatever) for a Big Mac every day.

Now, imagine that I like the hamburger so much that I begin to identify with the Big Mac. I pay a huge markup to buy shirts with “Big Mac” emblazoned across the front, I buy flags that say “Big Mac” and dangle them from my window, and I start screaming at people who prefer The Whopper. Imagine that I became convinced that McDonald’s is making the hamburgers solely out of loyalty to me. Imagine that I start saying “we cooked a good one today” when I get a particularly inspired burger, and even though I’ve never seen the inside of a fast food kitchen, imagine that I start referring to myself as “The 2nd cook”.

You would think me a loon, and for good reason. The above behavior would be insane.

It is through this same lens that I see the Seahawks “12th Man”, however. The NFL is a product and we are the consumers. The NFL’s only goal as a company is to extract as many federal reserve notes from me as possible. I know this.

I understand wanting to watch the games, I understand the entertainment value, I understand the excitement in the moment, but this superfan thing for a corporate entity is beyond my comprehension.

As one of the mostly highly educated cities in the USA, it does surprise me somewhat that so many Seattle citizens allow themselves to be used as corporate tools in this manner. I would expect this behavior from Texans, but Seattleites?

In the end … I suppose I just have to take my hat off to the NFL’s marketing department.

In any event, I will be watching the game tomorrow. As the 12th Man, I promise to try my best to help the team win.

I just hope sitting in front of the TV in my boxers is enough.

Go Us!

Related Articles:

1. 12th Avenue Festival
2. Photo of the Day: 12th No Longer