Have you ever wondered what a Seahawk is? Well, it actually is two words, sea hawk, but they really do exist. It's a predator bird from the raptor family and is sometimes called an osprey. They are brown and white not the blue and green colors that infect the Seattle uniforms. Seattle Ospreys just doesn't work though does it?
In 1946 in the All American Football Conference Miami was awarded a franchise and they were the first team to be called the Seahawks. The Seahawks were the first professional sports team to play in Miami and since they played in the Orange Bowl their colors were orange and white. In 1947 the Miami Seahawks folded. Their all time record was 3-11, and a lot of debt.
In 1960 Ralph Wilson came very close to putting his AFL franchise in Miami, but chose Buffalo instead and named them the Bills. Then in 1966, 20 years after the Miami Seahawks took flight for professional football, the AFL added the Miami Dolphins.
The Seattle Seahawks began play in 1976, 30 years after the original Seahawks. The franchise was awarded to Lloyd Nordstrom. He was part of the Nordstrom family who founded avant garde department stores of the same name. He died before the Seahawks ever played their first game.
Eventually Ken Behring bought the Seahawks from the Nordstrom family. He later sold them to Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, one of the richest men in the world.
In 1976 the Seahawks were awarded the second pick in the NFL Draft. Fellow expansion team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were awarded the first pick. These two teams had the exact same draft spots in 1977 after the Buccaneers were 0-14 and the Seahawks 2-12.
The 1977 Draft featured two RBs taken at the top of the Draft. John McKay, the former Head Coach of the USC Trojans grabbed former Trojan RB Ricky Bell at the top of the Draft. In doing so they had passed on Pittsburgh Heisman Trophy winner, Tony Dorsett. Tex Schramm and the Dallas Cowboys quickly swooped in to make a trade with the Seahawks.
The Cowboys originally owned the twenty fourth pick in the 1977 Draft. They traded up with San Diego to the fourteen spot. From number fourteen they traded up to the second pick from Seattle. The Seahawks also received the Cowboys second round pick, number forty one, which had also been acquired from the Chargers. With the fourteenth and forty first picks the Seahawks selected Steve August, an OG from Tulsa, and Terry Beeson, a LB from Kansas.
If you saw those names and said "who?" you are not alone. I think it is one of the most lopsided trades in NFL History. Tony Dorsett's addition to the Cowboys vaulted them to their 2nd Super Bowl victory in Super Bowl XII.
The Cowboys and Seahawks have met twelve times in the regular season. The Cowboys lead the all time series 8-4. They are 5-2 in Dallas and 3-2 in Seattle. They have also met one time in the Post Season. That was the 2006 infamous bobble game.
