Silent in Seattle minus the ‘12s’
Seahawks to miss home-field frenzy
RENTON, Wash. — For a normal Sunday night game in Seattle, the fans would start showing up in the morning, giving themselves plenty of time to find parking and begin their preparations for the evening’s festivities.
Those parking lots will be empty this Sunday. No tailgates. No party buses. No fans. CenturyLink Field, a venue designed for maximum noise and regarded as one of the best home-field advantages in the NFL, will sit empty when the Seahawks host the New England Patriots.
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Seattle will not be able to have fans in the seats vs. New England, or on Sept. 27 vs. Dallas and or Oct. 11 vs. Minnesota. Instead of the deafening roars that have caused seismic activity in the past, controlled background noise will be piped in.
“This is one of the great spectacles in sport, playing here in front of our fans. Notably the loudest venue that you can find. The excitement level and the energy and the connection with the people of this area has been unique and extraordinary, nothing but a spectacle. That’s not going to happen,” Seattle coach Pete Carroll said.
“But that doesn’t mean that when we score or something, make a big play, sack the quarterback, people can’t go out on their front steps and start screaming, yell out their windows. I’m hoping that’s what happens.”
Seattle’s home-field advantage is real. The Seahawks are 63-23 at home in the regular season and playoffs combined since Carroll arrived in 2010. Going back to when the stadium opened in 2002, the Seahawks are 109-46.
Good players, good coaches, good teams are certainly the main reason. But the fans have helped.
“There have been games when we played the 49ers where you can’t hear yourself, and we’re standing right next to each other, because the crowd is so loud,” linebacker Bobby Wagner said. “It just depends who we are playing, the time, but you definitely love it when it’s loud and the offense can’t hear.”
The Seahawks plan to continue several of their fan-related traditions, most notably raising the “12” flag above the south end zone before kickoff. The flag will be raised Sunday by Dr. Eliot Fagley, an anesthesiologist who leads the COVID-19 response in the critical care unit at Seattle’s Virginia Mason Medical Center. It’s part of the team’s season-long effort to honor frontline workers.
Fagley and his family will be the only “12s” in the stands.
QB Russell Wilson previously said he believed the empty stadiums would be similar to his experience playing minor-league baseball in small ballparks. But he also acknowledged the fans’ influence in Seattle’s 19-3 home record in prime time games since 2010.
LIONS: Matthew Stafford penned a powerful essay for The Players’ Tribune website Friday in which he detailed racist behavior he experienced while with some of his teammates this spring and urged everyone to continue fighting against racial injustice. He said his proudest day as a Detroit Lion came in August when the team called off practice to demonstrate against the Jacob Blake shooting.
Blake was shot at least seven times by Kenosha, Wis., police, and the Lions’ protest sparked other demonstrations across the sports world, with some games in the NBA, NHL and Major League Baseball being canceled.
“We can’t just stick to football,” Stafford wrote. “Not as a team. Not as an organization. And we shouldn’t as a country.”
Calling them “human problems” not political statements, Stafford detailed one incident he saw this spring while working out with teammates in Atlanta.
He wrote he secured a field to host passing drills, and spent four days throwing there with wide receiver Danny Amendola.
“No problems at all. It was great,” Stafford wrote. “A week later, I went to do the same thing, at the same field, with four of my black teammates. We were just starting to dump all the footballs out on the field and some of the guys were still stretching when a gentleman came out and told us that we were trespassing — and to leave immediately.”
Stafford wrote the man pulled out his cell phone, called police and told them the group was being “uncooperative” and “not leaving the property.”
“We were there for maybe 10 minutes total. Nobody said a bad word to him,” Stafford wrote, adding, “Obviously, we got out of there immediately.”
COWBOYS: The team isn’t optimistic about Pro Bowl left tackle Tyron Smith’s availability for Sunday’s game against the Atlanta Falcons. He suffered a neck injury going through individual drills and didn’t practice on Thursday or Friday.
Owner Jerry Jones called Smith a game-time decision for Sunday, while coach Mike McCarthy said they are still gathering information on Smith and will know more on Saturday.
FALCONS: Atlanta will be without a key member of its cornerback rotation for the second week in a row after ruling Kendall Sheffield out of Sunday’s game against Dallas.
JETS: Receiver Jamison Crowder has been ruled out for the game Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers because of a hamstring injury. Crowder had seven catches for 115 yards and a touchdown in the season-opening loss at Buffalo last Sunday.
RAMS: The Associated Press reports that receiver Robert Woods has agreed to a four-year contract extension worth up to $68 million. The Rams announced the deal Friday but not the financial terms. Woods’ extension includes a guaranteed $32 million, and the veteran receiver is now signed with his hometown team through the 2025 season.
CHARGERS: Defensive end Joey Bosa (triceps) and right guard Trai Turner (knee) both came off Los Angeles’ injury list Friday and will play against Kansas City. Running back Justin Jackson (quadriceps) is doubtful.