Fresh out of high school, Joe Hoffman told his wife-to-be that he wouldn’t marry her unless she was a Seahawks fan.
“You can quote that,” his wife, Jodi Hoffman said.
Thirty-seven years later, Joe said his wife would probably file for divorce if he ever sold their season tickets.
“I would be gone before the tickets were gone,” Joe said.
“And you can quote that, too,” Jodi added.
For the past five years since becoming season ticket holders, the Hoffmans have only missed one home game per season. The couple was on the waiting list for season tickets for nearly as long as they’ve been married.
The Hoffman’s left their Spokane home Saturday morning and embarked on the familiar odyssey over the Cascades and into Seattle. Their jubilation for the upcoming NFC Championship matchup between the Seahawks and the Los Angeles Rams is off the charts, much like the decibel level inside Lumen Field.
And after the way the Seahawks obliterated the San Francisco 49ers last week, 41 to 6, the couple is hoping the team can carry that momentum forward. Joe said he is supremely confident that the Seahawks will first win the NFC Championship and then the Super Bowl.
He believes the Seahawks are the best team in the league and that the Rams are a close second, meaning that the stakes on Sunday are even higher. Whoever wins the NFC, will probably win it all, he said.
When it comes to where this team ranks all-time, Joe said this year’s team is the best ever. He said it’s even better than the ‘Legion of Boom’ team that dismantled the Denver Broncos, 43-8, in the Super Bowl in 2013. That year, the Broncos finished 13-3 and are the only team in history to reach the 600-point threshold in a single season. But the Broncos stellar offense was overshadowed that game by the ‘Legion of Boom’s’ suffocating defense.
This season, Joe and Jodi said the ‘Dark Side’ defense of the Seahawks is eerily reminiscent of that defensive powerhouse .
“Our defense will be on the forefront,” Joe said. “It will show the entire country that beating them with the 2-point conversion wasn’t a fluke. I feel very positive about this game.”
The Seahawks first matchup against the Rams, during week 11 of the NFL season, resulted in a 21-19 victory in favor of the Rams. The Seahawks quarterback, Sam Darnold, threw four interceptions during that game.
Jodi believes that the 28-year-old quarterback has only to stay out of his own head for the team to pull out a win this Sunday. Somewhat worryingly, Darnold suffered an oblique injury that could limit his abilities during the game. In addition, other valuable players will be sidelined on Sunday, such as running back Zach Charbonnet who suffered a season-ending injury in the second quarter of the divisional round against the 49ers. Seattle’s top three options at left tackle are also all injured.
Regardless, the Hoffman’s have confidence in the Seahawks abilities, particularly their defensive line and excellent and efficient run game.
In the most recent bout with the Rams, the Seahawks won, 38 to 37, in week 16. Linebacker Ernest Jones IV, who happens to be Joe’s current favorite player, said in a post-game interview that when the Seahawks were down 30-14, the offensive players for the Rams were talking smack a bit too early.
“It’s disrespectful to the game because there’s too much time on the clock for you to be thinking it’s over,” Jones said in a post-game interview.
What followed those unsavory comments was a furious comeback. As Michael Jordan said in the “Last Dance” documentary, they took it personally.
Another key to victory, for Joe and Jodi, involves containing the quarterback for the Rams, Matthew Stafford. The graying 37-year-old led the league in passing yards (4,707), passing touchdowns (46), and threw only eight interceptions, making him the front runner for NFL MVP in 2026.
“I don’t think we’re going to have enough injury tents for the Rams,” Joe said, before taking a moment to reflect. “That wasn’t very nice, I’m sorry.”
Both Joe and Jodi have an extensive love for the Seahawks that stretches back long before they met. Jodi was about 10 when her mother and father brought her to her first Seahawks game in 1981. One of her favorite memories from that time was when defensive end Jacob Green returned a fumble 79 yards for a touchdown. Green, who also wore number 79, is still Jodi’s favorite player . When the Seahawks used to practice at Eastern Washington University , Jodi’s parents would take her to watch them and Green.
“The very first time I ever went out to watch them practice at EWU, I just thought, especially being a young girl, that he (Green) was just so nice,” Jodi said. “He gave me an autograph, and I’ll never forget his number was 79 and he ran a touchdown for 79 yards. Needed oxygen right after it.”
Joe has memories of visiting Kingdome, where the Seahawks used to play prior to 2002, and being transfixed by the echoing grandeur of enthusiasm inside. He attended his first game in 1977, with his grandparents, when he was 6. He remembers legendary teammates, left-handed quarterback Jim Zorn and wide receiver Steve Largent, who were drafted by the Seahawks during their inaugural season in 1976.
Another Spokane man who remembers how great Largent was is a man who shares his first name, Steve Murphy.
Murphy works for a trucking company that transports trucks and cars to and from auctions. On the side, he shoots freelance videos for Gonzaga, Eastern and other colleges in the area, in part to pay for his two season tickets that cost around $4,000 for 10 home games.
He remembers first getting into Seattle football in 1987 and immediately idolizing Largent, because they shared the same name and because Largent seemed to be a worthy role model. He claims Largent is the greatest receiver of all time.
“People give me Jerry Rice and Randy Moss, I’m like, sure, but they played in passing offenses, and they played with better quarterbacks and all these things.” Murphy said. “Steve Largent could still play today and people are like, ‘no way, he was too slow,’ and I’m like, ‘He’d be Cooper Kupp, dude.’”
Murphy has worn a Largent throwback jersey to every game, except one, since 2004. He doesn’t wash it until the end of the year, unless he gets ketchup on it, but assures that the jersey does not, in fact, stink.
In 2002, Murphy’s mother got him season tickets when he was in college. Since then, he’s stayed in the same spot, 18 rows from the field, “right down the goal line.” At the time his mother got those tickets, two season tickets cost around $1,240 for ten games. Today, they’re triple, even quadruple that amount, depending where one chooses to sit.
While Murphy loves this year’s “Dark Side” team, he thinks recent bias has made people forget just how great the 2013 “Legion of Boom” squad was in comparison.
“This has got to be a top five Seahawks team of all time,” Murphy said. “And that seems pretty easy to say. But I mean, unless they win the Super Bowl, you can’t say it’s like their best team.”
If someone became a fan of the Seahawks after 2012, that person has really only known Seattle to be a successful franchise. Prior to that, and apart from one Super Bowl appearance and Shaun Alexander winning the MVP in 2005, Seattle has been plagued by often sub-par seasons.
“I remember, after they won the Super Bowl, I was at my buddy’s bar, waiting in line, and this kid came up next to me,” Murphy said. “I must’ve been wearing a hat or a shirt or something. I wear Seahawks or Gonzaga stuff every day. I’m a nerd. And he said something like, ‘Oh my god, man, finally we won it.’ And I just looked at him, he’s probably 21, 22, and I just went, ‘what suffering have you endured?’ In your lifetime, they’ve been pretty good.”
When thinking of the best franchises over the last 20 years, Murphy believes the Seahawks should be mentioned in that conversation. Sure, the Chiefs have won three Super Bowls since 2020 and Tom Brady has effectively been labeled the greatest football player of all time after winning six championships with the New England Patriots since 2002, but the Seahawks have had consistent winning seasons and deep playoff runs.
Even Murphy said he didn’t expect Seattle to be as good as they’ve been this year. He expected them to come into their own next season.
His favorite player on the team is defensive end Leonard Williams. He praised Williams for being a “beast” and for being unafraid of having fun out on the field. While he respects former coach Pete Carroll for the winning culture he cultivated, he admits that the arrival of Mike MacDonald has been a positive change.
Murphy said this Sunday is many fans’ Super Bowl, given he, and many others, won’t be spending thousands of dollars to travel to Santa Clara on Feb. 8.
Given their previous two regular season matchups against the Rams, Murphy said fans have a right to be nervous for Sunday. With the best offense and best defense in the league set to square off, Sunday will be nothing short of a battle, likely to be decided by a single field goal score. And if it comes down to it, Murphy is begging the team to please, please run the ball.
“You’re going to get the best from both teams,” Murphy said. “I just want to see Seattle try not to get cute. Don’t get cute. Run. Run what you brung… Just stick with what got you there because I think ultimately Seattle’s the better team.”