The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle, Washington. They currently belong to the Western Division of the National Football Conference (NFC) in the National Football League (NFL). The team, along with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, joined the NFL in 1976 as expansion teams. The Seahawks have one Super Bowl appearance, losing to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XL.

Franchise history

Seattle is the only NFL team to play in both the AFC and NFC championship games. The Seahawks were defeated by the Los Angeles Raiders in the 1983 AFC championship game.

The Seahawks are the only NFL team to switch conferences twice in the post-merger era. The franchise began play in 1976 in the NFC West division. After one season, Seattle switched conferences with Tampa Bay and joined the AFC West. This realignment was dictated by the league as part of the 1976 expansion plan, so that both expansion teams could play each other twice and every other NFL franchise once during their first two seasons.

In 2002, the Seahawks were returned to the NFC West as part of an NFL realignment plan that gave each conference four balanced divisions of four teams each. This realignment also allowed the NFL to restore the NFC East and the AFC West to their original post-merger rosters. The original AFC West teams (Broncos, Chargers, Chiefs and Raiders) were original AFL franchises and the realignment preserved those natural rivalries. Seattle has won four division titles in their franchise history: the 1988 and 1999 AFC West titles, and the 2004 and 2005 NFC West titles. The team set two franchise records with an 11-game winning streak and 13 regular-season wins in 2005.

Before 2005, Seattle had the longest drought since its last playoff win of any NFL team, going back to the 1984 season. That drought was ended with a 20-10 victory over the Washington Redskins in the 2005 playoffs.

The expansion years (1976-1982)

The franchise's first win came on October 17 when they beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 13-10 at Tampa Bay. On November 7 they won their first home game in a 30-13 victory over the Atlanta Falcons. The 1977 season highlight happened on October 30 when quarterback Jim Zorn came back from an injury to throw four touchdown passes in a 56-17 win over the Buffalo Bills at the Kingdome. In 1978, the Seahawks achieved their first winning season with a 9-7 record as WR Steve Largent finished second in the NFL with 1,168 receiving yards and Jack Patera was named NFL Coach of the Year. In 1979, the Seahawks set the NFL record for the lowest total offense in one game (minus 7 yards) in a 24-0 loss to the Los Angeles Rams at the Kingdome. However, the team rebounded from that embarrassment to finish the season with a 9-7 record. In 1981, when the Seahawks lost five of their first six games on their way to a 6-10 record, Steve Largent had another stellar season with 1,224 receiving yards. In the strike-shortened season of 1982, the Seahawks fired their first coach, Jack Patera, after losing their first two games. Interim coach Mike McCormack would finish out the rest of the season and the Seahawks compiled a 4-5 record.

The Chuck Knox Era (1983-1991)

After a disappointing 1982 season (which was shortened because of a players' strike), the Seahawks moved interim coach Mike McCormack back into the front office and hired Chuck Knox as their head coach. In 1983 the Seahawks were battling for a playoff berth with a 6-6 record. Then in week 13, the Seahawks beat the Kansas City Chiefs 51-48 at the Kingdome to start their winning ways. They would win 2 of the next 3 games to earn their first ever playoff berth. In the wild-card playoffs the Seahawks shut down the Denver Broncos and their rookie quarterback John Elway 31-7. The next week at the Miami Orange Bowl the Seahawks drove 66 yards in 5 plays that ended with a game-winning touchdown for the Seahawks' 27-20 victory over the Miami Dolphins and their rookie quarterback Dan Marino. The Seahawks' miracle season ended in the AFC Championship as they lost to the eventual Super Bowl XVIII champion Los Angeles Raiders 30-14. Despite the 1983 season ending on a sour note, it was the first breakthrough season for the Seahawks, because Curt Warner was named AFC Rookie Of The Year and Chuck Knox was named AFC Coach Of The Year. In 1988, Ken Behring purchased the club from the original owners, the Nordstrom Family. A year later he would name former Los Angeles Raiders head coach Tom Flores team president and general manager.