Long before Seahawks’ 12th Man, there was Mama Blue

Patti Hammond is a hair stylist who, at 82, still works. Here’s how she does her hair — well, not her own — the hair that made her famous.

“I just buy a blond wig and spray it myself, with blue acrylic paint,” she said Friday. “I add little blue and green fuzzy balls. I make a new one every year. It gets rained on in a season.”

It takes that wig, a blue-and-green feather boa, sequined shoes and gloves, crazy green-and-blue eyeglasses, glitter, makeup and about two hours to transform her into “Mama Blue.”

That’s the name thousands of Seahawks fans know. That’s what she is called on the Seahawks website, which dubs her “team superfan Mama Blue.”

“I must get stopped 100 times every game. It just kind of snowballed,” said Hammond, who lives in Shoreline.

Her daughter Fran Hurley, of Mill Creek, said so many Seahawks fans stop her mom for autographs “it takes her two hours to get from the parking lot to her seat.” Outside CenturyLink Field, Hammond has her own spot to park the blue Cadillac she drives.

“She is amazing, and not just because she’s my mom,” Hurley said.

All done up as Mama Blue, Hammond will make an appearance in Mill Creek on Saturday to help bring in donations for the Mill Creek Food Bank. She will hand out Mama Blue photos to the first few hundred donors. The event, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at 13212 Bothell-Everett Highway, is sponsored by Heart of Rock &Roll Espresso, owned by Jim and Kitty Jarriel. Until a year ago, the business then known as Heart to Heart Espresso was owned Hurley, who held annual food drives.

“We hope to bring in tons of food,” Hammond said.

In 1999, Mama Blue and fans from other NFL teams were inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. “What an awesome honor,” she said. It won her an appearance on “The Roseanne Show.” Her story is also included in the book “Pro Football’s Most Passionate Fans,” by Harvey Aronson.

Dressed as Mama Blue, Hammond spoke up for Seahawks fans in Olympia in 1996 when Ken Behring, a previous team owner, wanted to move the Hawks to California.

Her super fandom started with a birthday gift. In 1976, the team’s first year, Hammond bought Seahawks season tickets for her husband Richard “Tricky” Hammond’s birthday. He had played football at Roosevelt High School in Portland, Ore. They graduated together in 1948. She was a cheerleader — and still is.

Being a high-profile fan has its rewards. After the Kingdome was demolished in 2000 and Qwest Field, now CenturyLink, opened, “They asked me, ‘Mama, where do you want to sit?’ I said, ‘Where do my boys come out?’” Hammond recalled. She has six front-row season tickets. Family members take turns going with her to games. Hammond has three children, four grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

An honor in 2007 was tinged with sadness. At the Seahawks opener against Tampa Bay that year, Mama Blue was the first fan ever to raise the 12th Man flag. It was the last game her husband could attend. After nearly 60 years of marriage, he died of pneumonia on Dec. 28, 2007. The year before, they had traveled to Detroit to see the Seahawks in the Super Bowl.

“The Seahawks have been very kind, and so generous with me and my family,” Hammond said.

Hurley, 61, said the family often gathers at Hammond’s Shoreline home to watch away games. That house is decked out as though every day is game day. The carpet is blue and green. Cases are packed with Seahawks memorabilia, including a football that Head Coach Pete Carroll signed for Hammond’s 80th birthday. “She even has Seahawks toilet paper, toilet seats and a shower curtain,” Hurley said.

Hammond’s nickname came years ago. She works as a hair stylist two days a week at home, but once owned a salon near Seattle’s Northgate called Hair-i-tage. One customer was the grandmother of a Sea Gal. “They named me Mama Blue,” she said.

She was a longtime president of a Sea Hawkers Booster Club chapter, and has met many players. Hammond still keeps in touch with the mother of Dave Krieg, a former Seahawks quarterback.

“I’ve had so many different teams,” she said. “It’s a fun thing when the old players come back. If I see Warren Moon or Steve Raible, they’ll say ‘Are you still here?’ And the young guys, they’re great.”

After 37 seasons, does she have a favorite Seahawk? If so, Mama Blue won’t say. “I just can’t,” she said.

Out of the spotlight, Hammond is still a football fan. Her great-grandson Steven Maynard plays for Eisenhower Middle School’s eighth-grade team. She goes to his games, too.

“She loves her boys,” Hurley said.

Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460, jmuhlstein@heraldnet.com.

Help ‘Mama Blue’ at food drive

Flamboyant Seahawks fan “Mama Blue” will appear at a food drive 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at 13212 Bothell-Everett Highway, Mill Creek, at the Jiffy Lube building. The food drive is sponsored by the Heart of Rock &Roll Espresso. All donations, nonperishable food and cash, will go to the Mill Creek Food Bank. For information, call the food bank at 425-582-5154.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Everett mall renderings from Brixton Capital. (Photo provided by the City of Everett)
Topgolf at the Everett Mall? Mayor’s hint still unconfirmed

After Cassie Franklin’s annual address, rumors circled about what “top” entertainment tenant could be landing at Everett Mall.

Everett
Everett man sentenced to 3 years of probation for mutilating animals

In 2022, neighbors reported Blayne Perez, 35, was shooting and torturing wildlife in north Everett.

Dorothy Crossman rides up on her bike to turn in her ballot  on Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Everett leaders plan to ask voters for property tax increase

City officials will spend weeks hammering out details of a ballot measure, as Everett faces a $12.6 million deficit.

Starbucks employee Zach Gabelein outside of the Mill Creek location where he works on Friday, Feb. 23, 2024 in Mill Creek, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Mill Creek Starbucks votes 21-1 to form union

“We obviously are kind of on the high of that win,” store bargaining delegate Zach Gabelein said.

Lynnwood police respond to a collision on highway 99 at 176 street SW. (Photo provided by Lynnwood Police)
Police: Teen in stolen car flees cops, causes crash in Lynnwood

The crash blocked traffic for over an hour at 176th Street SW. The boy, 16, was arrested on felony warrants.

The view of Mountain Loop Mine out the window of a second floor classroom at Fairmount Elementary on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
County: Everett mining yard violated order to halt work next to school

At least 10 reports accused OMA Construction of violating a stop-work order next to Fairmount Elementary. A judge will hear the case.

Imagine Children's Museum's incoming CEO, Elizabeth "Elee" Wood. (Photo provided by Imagine Children's Museum)
Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett to welcome new CEO

Nancy Johnson, who has led Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett for 25 years, will retire in June.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.