A Sea Hawk, or more commonly known as an osprey. Photo via Flickr user AcrylicArtist.
A sea hawk, or more commonly known as an osprey, will be Washington’s state bird on Sunday. Photo via Flickr user AcrylicArtist.

In yet another example of the Seahawks craze going on in Seattle right now, local politicians are changing the names of ferry vessels, mountains, cities and the state bird to show support for the 12th Man.

superbowl-pageOn Friday, Issaquah Mayor Fred Butler announced that on Super Bowl Sunday, his city will be known as 12Saquah.

“We are the 12s, and we could not be more proud of our Seahawks,” Butler said in a statement. “I know I speak for our entire community when I say, I’m in.”

Issaquah, a suburb of 32,633 located 17 miles east of CenturyLink Field, is so far the only town to rename itself in honor of the Hawks.

The state of Washington is also getting in on the fun, re-naming Mount Rainier to “Mount Seattle Seahawks.” Here’s the official wording in the proclamation:

SENATE RESOLUTION 8676

By Senators Hargrove, Dammeier, Conway, McAuliffe, Ranker, and Hobbs

WHEREAS, The Washington State Senate is VERY confident the Seattle Seahawks will defeat the Denver Broncos on Sunday; and
WHEREAS, With all due respect to the fine people of the State of Colorado, the 12th Man numbered 30,000 strong just to see their team off to the Super Bowl, while Colorado managed 300 or so to see their Broncos off; and
WHEREAS, The Seattle Seahawks gave their fans much to be proud of, indeed, inspiring them to not just set the world record for stadium noise once, but TWICE in one season; and
WHEREAS, The 12th Man has been known to trigger seismic events (that would be earthquakes for you middle of the country folk), for real; and
WHEREAS, Colorado makes some fine craft beverages, but really? Do you want to start that fight with the state that invented the genre? Between fine coffee, brewers, and wineries, Seattle is the beverage capital of the United States, if not the world; and
WHEREAS, We wholeheartedly agree and hope that your admittedly incredible quarterback does resemble Mount Elbert: A little rocky and immobile; and
WHEREAS, Your 14ers are really nice, but c’mon, have you seen Mount Rainier? Cloaked in glaciers and rising nearly 2.5 miles above its surroundings, it is more singular, more monumental, and more intimidating than any of Colorado’s 14ers, much like the Seahawks over the Broncos; and
WHEREAS, The Great State of Colorado has named 53 individual 14ers after 53 individual players, because the Broncos are a band of individuals, however the State of Washington resolves to name one magnificent mountain after the Seahawks because they are and act as a TEAM;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, That the Washington State Senate does hereby rename Mount Rainier as “Mount Seattle Seahawks” from this point until 12:00 a.m. Monday, February 3, 2014; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the Washington State Legislature respectfully request of the United States Department of the Interior that Mount Rainier’s namesake National Park (yeah, our Mountain is that cool, it warrants its own National Park) be retitled “12th Man National Park” for the same time period; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That Sunday, February 2nd be proclaimed SEAHAWK SUNDAY in the great State of Washington.

I, Hunter G. Goodman, Secretary of the Senate, do hereby certify that this is a true and correct copy of Senate Resolution 8676, adopted by the Senate January 31, 2014

HUNTER G. GOODMAN
Secretary of the Senate

In addition, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, who spoke at GeekWire’s Startup Day this past October, made his own Seahawks-related proclamation Friday by changing the state bird from a Willow Goldfinch to the Seahawk for Sunday only.

Here’s the official wording in that proclamation:

WHEREAS, we are confident the Seattle Seahawks and the 12th Man will be bigger, faster, stronger, LOUDER than the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XLVIII on February 2, 2014; and

WHEREAS, the 12s literally cause earthquakes (#beastquake) when the Seahawks play at CenturyLink Field, leaving teams shaking in their cleats; and

WHEREAS, the Seahawks have the top defense in the NFL, with a defensive rush experienced in running over, around and through the most mountainous offensive lines, for forty-seven sacks; and

WHEREAS, the Seahawks have a DangeRuss offense, with a Beastly running game, a Golden receiving corps and an immovable offensive line; and

WHEREAS, Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson is the only NFL quarterback to ever win 23 games in his first two seasons; and

WHEREAS, Coach Pete Carroll is the most inspirational and upbeat coach in the league with a jaw of steel; and

WHEREAS, the Seahawks’ season has brought all of Washington state together; and

WHEREAS, Washington’s state bird, the Willow Goldfinch, has served us well for 63 years,

NOW, THEREFORE, in honor of the 12th Man, I, Jay Inslee, Governor of the state of Washington, do hereby proclaim

Washington’s Official Super Bowl Sunday State Bird as the Seahawk on February 2nd

and I urge the 12th Man to cheer LOUDER on Sunday, Feb. 2 to help the Seahawks bring the Lombardi trophy back to Washington state.

Inslee also announced that the state’s ferries will be re-named on Sunday after individual Seahawks players. It’s a similar move to that of Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, who changed the name of Colorado’s mountain peaks to players on Denver’s team.

Here are Washington’s temporary vessel names:

M/V Cathlamet: “M/V Malcom Smith”
M/V Chelan: “M/V Zach Miller”
M/V Chetzemoka: “M/V J.R. Sweezy”
M/V Elwha: “M/V Chris Clemens”
M/V Evergreen State: “M/V Byron Maxwell”
M/V Hiyu: “M/V Breno Giacomini”
M/V Hyak: “M/V Kam Chancellor”
M/V Issaquah: “M/V Russell Okung”
M/V Kaleetan: “M/V Doug Baldwin”
M/V Kennewick: “M/V James Carpenter”
M/V Kitsap: “M/V Bobby Wagner”
M/V Kittitas: “M/V Tony McDaniel”
M/V Klahowya: “M/V Bruce Irvin”
M/V Puyallup: “M/V Marshawn Lynch”
M/V Salish: “M/V Max Unger”
M/V Sealth: “M/V Brandon Mebane”
M/V Spokane: “M/V Golden Tate”
M/V Tacoma: “M/V Russell Wilson”
M/V Tillikum: “M/V Michael Robinson”
M/V WallaWalla: “M/V Earl Thomas”
M/V Wenatchee: “M/V Richard Sherman”
M/V Yakima: “M/V Red Bryant”

These are just the latest displays of support for the Hawks before the team faces Denver on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. for a chance at a world championship. We’ve already seen Boeing design a 747 with Seahawks emblems, and on Friday 7,000 Microsoft employees gathered to form a human “12,” at the company’s Redmond campus. There’s also people changing their names to “Seahawk,” and naming babies after the 12th Man.

It’s safe to say Seahawks fever is bursting from the seams in Seattle.

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