It’s no secret that many residents of Alaska are fans of the Seattle Seahawks. Some residents of Barrow got a surprise when Seahawks Kevin Pierre-Louis and defensive tackle Jimmy Staten showed up to thank fans for their support.
“A lot of us Seahawks fans knew the team was doing their tour throughout the state, but none of us expected them to come up here,” said Jeff Seifert, general manager of Barrow radio station KBRW.
Barrow is 1,976 miles north of Seattle.
“It’s not only difficult and time consuming, it’s expensive,” Seifert said. “They went to a lot of trouble to come see our little piece of heaven here.”
The city has 4,500 year-round residents, and a large contingent of Seahawks fans.
“Every winter, we all get together for a group picture out in 20-below weather in our jerseys, and we send it down to the team to show we’re supporting them,” he said.
About 200 people showed up on Thursday to see Pierre-Louis and Staten. The two players raised a “12th Man” flag over Barrow’s city hall. They also were scheduled to play flag football on the city’s famous blue turf football field.
(The high school football team used to play, essentially, on the beach, until the construction of a bright blue turf football field. The Barrow Whalers were profiled by Sports Illustrated.)
But Seifert says the weather had other plans.
“Although it’s summer here, the temperature was in the mid-30s … and the windchill was down in the mid-20s,” Seifert said. “A little too chilly for flag football.”
The trip to Barrow is part ofthe Seahawks' "12 Tour,"visiting fans around the Northwest.
