Jody Allen didn’t score a touchdown in Super Bowl 60. She didn’t drag down Drake Maye for one of the Seahawks’ six sacks. She didn’t do anything on screen at all — besides thanking “all the 12s around the world,” hugging coach Mike Macdonald and holding up the team’s second Lombardi Trophy.
But don’t underestimate how much ownership matters.
Culture, whether flourishing or dysfunctional, trickles down from the top.
After weeks of speculation, the Seahawks are for sale, as Paul G. Allen’s estate honors his directive to sell all sports holdings and repurpose the proceeds for philanthropy. The price tag could challenge the record for a North American sports franchise, after the Los Angeles Lakers went for $10 billion last year.
Since we’re on the subject: there’s a reason Daniel Snyder, Washington’s previous owner, oversaw two total playoff wins and zero NFC Championship Game appearances in his ruinous, scandal-stricken 24-year reign. The Commanders ended that NFC Championship Game drought in their first season sans-Snyder, as a toxic fog finally lifted.
There’s a reason Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, who believes he’s bigger than the star on his players’ helmets, hasn’t graced a conference championship game in three decades. At AT&T Stadium, dubbed “Jerry World,” the owner’s enormous ego stifles everything else.
There’s a reason defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence, who spent his first 11 NFL seasons in Dallas, said this to blogger Brian Nemhauser after signing with the Seahawks last spring: “Dallas is my home. I made my home there. My family lives there. I’m forever going to be there. But I know for sure I’m not going to win a Super Bowl there.”
For a while, you wouldn’t win a Super Bowl in Seattle, either. There’s a reason the Seahawks mustered four playoff appearances, one division title and zero Super Bowl trips in their first 21 seasons, before Allen bought the franchise in 1997. There have been 17 playoff appearances, 11 division titles, four conference championships and two Super Bowl wins in 29 consistently contending seasons since.
Obviously, ownership isn’t everything. Coaching matters. Drafting matters. Development matters. Players matter most of all. It takes a thousand individual oars, operating with unwavering synchronicity, to row through seasonlong storms.
But don’t discount the value of top-down leadership — an unflinching, accountable commitment to success. Don’t discount who hires the coaches and executives, fuels facilities and training tables and nutrition, etc., and empowers an entire organization to chase every edge. Don’t discount who decides, after coach Pete Carroll’s 14 successful seasons, a stagnated status quo is no longer enough.
Don’t discount who bought the boat.
Regardless of who sits in it, some are bound to sink.
Under Paul and Jody Allen, the Seahawks sailed to Super Bowls, and not by accident.
As Macdonald said three days before bombarding the New England Patriots: “Jody is a fantastic owner — supportive, steadfast in what she believes and what she wants the Seahawks team to be and what it should mean to the community. It’s very clear what her expectations are. She can kind of see through the fog, that sometimes in the first year [as coach in 2024] I had a hard time doing. To have that type of guidance and that type of support has meant a lot.”
Added general manager John Schneider before the Super Bowl victory parade: “Jody, Paul would be so proud of you the way you’ve led this organization. It allowed us to be where we are. To Jody Allen!”
The Seahawks are here, in part, because Jody Allen saw through the fog, allowing this organization to avoid icebergs. Because she signed off on the Russell Wilson trade — which brought three-time Pro Bowl cornerback Devon Witherspoon, mainstay left tackle Charles Cross and more to Seattle. Because she fired Carroll and empowered Schneider to embark on a new era. Because she signed off on the hire of Macdonald and trades of quarterback Geno Smith and wide receiver DK Metcalf. Because she saw the future through that threatening fog.
Consider how catastrophic any one different decision could have been.
Now? The franchise’s future may hinge on what happens next.
The Seahawks already have Schneider (the NFL’s reigning executive of the year), Macdonald (a 38-year-old coach with countless more wins in his future than his past), the league’s third-youngest roster, a renowned stadium, superb facilities and a ravenous/revered fan base. They have everything necessary to annually rule the NFC West.
Except the owner.
Maybe it’s former Microsoft CEO and current Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer, who gave an enthusiastic “Go Seahawks” before entering Levi’s Stadium for the Super Bowl. Maybe it’s Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, whose leadership I’d be leery of as he dramatically downsizes at both Amazon and The Washington Post. Maybe it’s a largely anonymous ownership group.
Regardless of who it is, the commitment they embody and culture they cultivate will trickle down from the top.
It’ll take the right person, or people, for the Seahawks to stay there.