Watch for These Seattle Seahawks Super-Fans at the Game on Sunday

Being a Seattle Seahawks fan is like being part of one huge, slightly crazy family.

And if you come to a game at Lumen Field this Sunday, you might notice some of the family members who stand out a little more than the rest.

Yes, that is me in the costume at the top of this story. The one that looks like a cross between the Grinch and a swamp monster.

I've been known as the Sea-Squatch for the last 12 years. This will be my 13th season doing it.

But the story really started years before the green Bigfoot suit.

I Learned From a Seahawks Super-Fan

Before I became the Sea-Squatch, I spent years going to Seahawks games and watching some of the fans who had already become part of the experience.

One of those fans was a guy named Brad, better known as Cannon-Ball.

I had seen him on television since I was a kid, and eventually I got the chance to have a conversation with him.

He told me something I've never forgotten.

Being a Super-Fan is something you just do.

But he also gave me some pretty important advice: Do it for the right reasons, and come up with something that is your own.

"Make sure everything you do is about the team, and not about YOU."

Cannon-Ball understood something else about being a Super-Fan. You can't just sit in your seat the entire game.

He would watch for those moments when the stadium got a little quiet. Then he'd gather some of us up, and we'd run around the walkways and stairs near our sections, getting people on their feet and trying to bring the noise back.

I still do that today.

I probably spend about half of every game roaming around the stadium, taking pictures, giving high fives, and trying to get people fired up when the energy drops.

Seattle Has a Long History of Super-Fans

The Seahawks have had some pretty memorable Super-Fans over the years.

One of my favorites didn't need a costume at all.

He had a voice.

Bill Scott, better known as Bill the Beerman, became a Seattle sports legend by doing what Super-Fans do best: getting people to make some noise.

Bill started working as a beer vendor at the Kingdome in 1976. He would spontaneously encourage fans to cheer during Seahawks and Mariners games.

If you lived in the Seattle area back then and went to a Kingdome game, chances are you knew exactly who he was.

Eventually, the Seahawks hired him as a professional cheerleader in 1981. The Mariners followed, and his career took him to other teams and sports as well.

Even after his regular Seattle gigs ended, Bill couldn't stay away from the stadium.

He was still showing up and leading cheers.

That's the kind of Super-Fan he was. That is the kind of SUper-Fan I try to be.

The Super-Fans Become Family

Over the years, I've met so many other Seahawks Super-Fans that I've lost count.

Many of them have become family to me.

Some, like Mama-Blue, sadly aren't with us anymore. But you'll still find plenty of the original "legacy" Super-Fans at Seahawks games.

Before we ever get inside and start screaming our guts out at Lumen Field, there are hugs, handshakes, pictures, and catching up with people I might not have seen since the last game.

Then the game starts.

And we go to work.