Top Rejected Names for Seahawks – Team Celebrates 40th Anniversary This Week

Hard to believe, but it's been 40 years since June 4th 1974, when the NFL officially awarded a franchise to the city of Seattle.   While it would be two more years before the team actually took to the field,  the naming process began almost immediately.   Over 1,700 different suggestions were made (many of them multiple times).   Here's a few of the top rejected names.

Besides the obvious "Sea Chickens,"  which became a popular label during some of the lean years,   here's a list of actual suggestions (Courtesy NW Cable News Network and the Seahawks):

• Vampires
• Trafficjammers
• Dome Busters (which is ironic because the Kingdome would actually be blown up a number of years later.   Foreshadowing?)
• Nut Crackers
• Killer Whales
• D.B. Coopers (In honor of the, at that time, still fresh in people's minds highjacking of a Northwest Orient 727 in 1971).
• Bigfoots
• Rainhawks
• Space Needlers
• and perhaps our favorite,  The Crabs

As we all know, Seahawks was chosen, and the team logo (since modified) was a combination of a predatory seabird known as the Skua, and an image from a Northwest Indian totem pole.

For all you 'Hawk fans, you're probably glad the Vince Lombardi trophy doesn't have Bigfoots or Crabs inscribed on it.

Below is an image from the Bottom Feeder Bowl, when Seattle (2-12) played Tampa Bay (0-14) in a battle of the expansion teams.   Which uniforms do you like best? Old or New Hawks?  (Courtesy of uni-watch.com by way of ESPN).