Why Seattle’s Seahawk Isn’t Even A Seahawk
Today marks the anniversary of the Seattle Seahawks officially becoming the Seattle Seahawks. So, it’s time for another look at one of the interesting animal mascots in the NFL. The Seahawks’ story stands out for a couple of reasons. First, there is the fact that they are one of the few teams to still have a live mascot out during games. We’ll look at Denver and the rumor about a Detroit Lion in later editions. Second, that live mascot isn’t actually a Seahawk. Before we look at what Taima the Hawk actually is and her role with the team, we need to go back a few steps. What is a Seahawk, and how did the team get this name?
Seattle’s football team desperately needed a name in the summer of 1976. They’d had their franchise awarded on June 4th, 1974, and were ready to play, but they couldn’t just be Seattle. So, the team had a naming competition where fans — a word deserving a lot of air quotes here — could submit suggestions. There were 1741 names suggested in total. Many were clearly joke names with their derogatory tone. I’ll put a link to the official list here so you can see some of the other candidates. There were a lot of hawks on the list, with Sky Hawk and Water Hawk also proposed. 153 had said Seahawks, and that was the obvious winner.
A common question that followed was, what is a Seahawk? It is a made-up bird, or does it actually exist? The name refers to the Osprey, a large bird of prey that fishes for its food. It’s a skilled hunter, taking large fish straight out of the water and flying off with some heavy catches. Some people call them “fish hawks” because of this. Whatever Seattle residents call them, they are an important part of the ecology of the Pacific Northwest. They can see wintering in coastal areas, and there were 20 breeding pairs in Seattle in 2018.
So, it would make sense for the Seattle Seahawks mascot to be a Seahawk, right? Well, it both is and isn’t. Seattle has a pair of traditional person-in-suit mascots and a live bird. Blitz is the 6ft 1 giant bird who does all the media events and most of the crowd entertainment. He is an impressive Seahawk that matches the team logo and has some similarities with the real Osprey. Obviously, the Osprey doesn’t have the same neon green feathers as Blitz though. Boom, his adolescent friend, joined the team to work on family events.
Then there is Taima. Taima is an Augur Hawk, a type of Buzzard, who arrived in Seattle from Spokane in 2005. She’s a star attraction and works with her handler on game days to bring the team luck. She’s a beautiful bird, but why isn’t she a Seahawk? Well, it turns out that using a real Seahawk would be against the law. The team wanted to train one for authenticity’s sake. However, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said no. It’s illegal to use a native bird for commercial purposes. The Augur Hawk was the next-best thing in size, appearance, and trainability.
With all the entertainment Taima has brought over the years, fans probably aren’t that bothered. And that includes the time she landed on a fan’s head during a Rams game. With an average lifespan in captivity of 35–40 years, she should continue to be an important part of the Seahawks family alongside her anthropomorphic cousins for a while yet.
The series so far
Part 1: Miami Dolphins https://medium.com/@d.e.bradley/miamis-dolphins-from-misguided-mascots-to-axed-aquariums-ea3f05c750e9
Part 2: Arizona Cardinals https://medium.com/@d.e.bradley/why-is-arizonas-mascot-a-cardinal-dc62bb70e16b
Part 3: Cincinniti Bengals https://medium.com/@d.e.bradley/cincinnati-bengals-and-white-tigers-07d299cf371c
Part 4: Seattle Seahawks https://medium.com/@d.e.bradley/why-seattles-seahawk-isn-t-even-a-seahawk-2a79872179ab
Part 5: Best Horse Mascots https://medium.com/@d.e.bradley/the-best-horse-mascots-in-the-nfl-d2c30b787aad
Part 6: https://medium.com/@d.e.bradley/could-the-detroit-lions-get-a-live-lion-d668ba09b648
