Seahawks huddle at Spokane theater

The Seattle Seahawks experienced a role reversal Thursday afternoon when they exchanged their places on the summer practice field in Cheney for seats at a Spokane theater to watch a football movie.

Their film of choice: an advanced screening of Disney’s new “Invincible,” set for release Aug. 25.

The 85-man team took a break from the rigor of training camp at Eastern Washington University to watch the movie at AMC River Park Square 20. Starring Mark Wahlberg, the film tells the true-life story of Philadelphia Eagles walk-on Vince Papale, a part-time bartender who played three seasons for the team during the late 1970s.

After arriving in three chartered buses, players clogged the escalators leading up to the theater as surprised mallgoers looked on. One young man talked eagerly on his cell phone as the athletes passed.

“Hey, would you believe me if I said the whole Seahawks team was ahead of me on the escalators?” he said.

Players also jammed the upstairs concession stand, ordering a stream of Icees, nacho plates and candy. They also grabbed some of the 150 medium bags of popcorn and 44-ounce sodas that theater staff prepared before the onslaught.

This isn’t the first time the team has traded pads for popcorn. They’ve watched “Miracle” and “The Longest Yard” in the past, said Jeremy Young, team travel and training camp coordinator.

The movies can inspire the players, he said. “I think Coach Holmgren wanted to give the guys a little break and have fun as a team,” Young said.

For defensive end Joe Tafoya, No. 69, the movie was a welcome change in schedule. “I think it’s kind of breaking up the monotony of training camp,” he said.

Forty-eight-year-old Rose Schimanski and her daughter, Alicia, 15, bought tickets for a movie so they could see the players. Spokane Valley residents, they drove to Cheney only to find the team was absent. So they drove to the theater, where Alicia had a poster signed by kicker Josh Brown, No. 3.

Players laughed heartily several times during the first hour of the movie, especially when it showed the overweight, motley fans who turned out for the Eagles’ open tryout. Some whistled faintly when the Eagles’ coach in the movie tells his squad that they will be doing six straight weeks of twice daily training sessions.