John Blanchette: 12th Man movement first found traction at EWU

On those thick, laborious August afternoons, John Yarno would look beyond the fence and see something that made the practice burden a little lighter.

Faces.

Come the weekend, they might be two or three deep along the grassy fields at Eastern Washington University, eager to be part of this new toy of professional football in the Northwest – and with no idea how strong the bond they were establishing would grow. A long pass from Jim Zorn to Sam McCullum would elicit a roar. An autograph from Jarvis Blinks was as treasured as one from Steve Largent.

These were the baby steps of the Seattle Seahawks, and at training camp just outside his hometown of Spokane, Yarno sometimes couldn’t believe the goo-goo eyes he and his teammates were getting.

“It just seemed sort of amazing how many people would come out to watch,” the former Seahawks center said. “My dad would be out there, people I knew. After practice, we’d stand around and talk to the fans. It was relaxed and easy.”

Today, the Seahawks play in their third Super Bowl and second in 12 months, aspiring to become the first back-to-back champions in a decade. Now, the fan base has its own nickname – the “12s” – bestowed by coach Pete Carroll as shorthand for 12th Man.

The relationship is not exactly relaxed and easy anymore. Obsessive is more like it.

A look through the accompanying gallery of 12s from the Inland Northwest gives you an idea.

More than a few have never been across the state for a Seahawks game. The youngest ones don’t recall when the team took over Cheney for training camp. Some would go apoplectic if they had a Russell Wilson sighting on the street but wouldn’t know they’re pumping gas at the same self-serve island in Coeur d’Alene with back-in-the-day Hawks like Yarno and John Friesz.

That doesn’t make them bandwagon fans or come-latelys or lacking pedigree.

But the dynamic has certainly changed.

“It’s obviously a lot easier, right now,” said Friesz, a Seahawks quarterback in the mid-1990s. “Everybody does like a winner. But the fans have always been vocal – if you were ever in the Kingdome you know how loud it can get. And that’s always been there.”

Both University of Idaho alums, Yarno and Friesz saw the relationship at different stops on the timeline.

Yarno was a fourth-round draft pick in 1977 after Seattle’s inaugural 2-12 season. He got to experience the franchise’s first winning seasons, and the first valentines of a football romance.

“It became a hot ticket pretty quickly,” said Yarno, who now works at Westside Motorsports. “We had thousands on a (season ticket) waiting list. I remember going to Sea Hawkers meetings and doing tours in the off-season, bringing the highlight film and trying to foster that connection. People always want to see the human side of players.”

And the franchise’s first owners, the Nordstrom family, were attuned to that. It was a priority.

By the time Friesz was acquired in 1995, the devotion had taken a hit. The team had foundered in the standings. Ken Behring had purchased the franchise, intent on moving it to California. Fostering a connection in the Northwest didn’t matter anymore – until Paul Allen rode to the rescue and purchased the team.

Training camp, moved to Kirkland after the team’s first 10 years, returned to Cheney in 1997. That Allen was trying to win a statewide vote for a new stadium was surely just coincidental.

“Ownership is a huge part of the success in how they connect with the fans,” said Friesz, who would later play for both Super Bowl coaches – Carroll and Bill Belichick – with New England. “I think Paul Allen and his people get that.”

Next season is No. 40 for the Seahawks, a shake-your-head number for the first fans who drove out to Cheney, parked on the rise west of the practice field and opened their coolers.

The 12s – even before they were known as such – have been through the five stages: new love, first success, disenfranchisement, revival and now mania. They’re obviously thrilled to root for a Super Bowl champion, but they dig the personalities – Wilson, Marshawn Lynch, Richard Sherman – and the style just as much.

“The young talent level is amazing,” said Yarno, “and the way they play – the unity of the team – it draws people in.”

But especially on Super Bowl Sunday.