EVERETT — Chris Watts had already held the flag aloft for hours by the time the rally started, but his arm wasn’t tired.
The 31-year-old was waving the 12th Man banner earlier Friday as he skateboarded along Evergreen Way from Everett Mall. Once he arrived downtown, he was a standard-bearer joining a sea of blue and green.
“I was just skating around Everett showing the love,” he said. “I did it last year, too, so I had to keep up the tradition.”
Fox Sports 1380 and the Snohomish County Sea Hawkers booster club organized the 4 p.m. demonstration. Unless you’ve been sojourning in North Korea, you probably know why: The Seattle Seahawks face the New England Patriots Sunday for Super Bowl XLIX.
The rally left the Snohomish County campus in downtown Everett awash in color-coordinated jerseys, Mardi Gras beads and wacky hairdos. A championship flag from last year’s Super Bowl flew from a fire truck’s extended ladder.
A dinosaur mascot sported a blue 12 jersey with the name “Rowdy” on the back. Someone wearing an osprey-like bird mask mingled with the crowd. Animal from the Muppets was there, showing off his Hawks pride.
A stranger walked up to Terri Foust-Rogers to get a picture with her. That might have had something to do with the way she was dressed: blue and green wig under a neon-green fedora; beads, team buttons and green-striped stockings, with matching bracelets, gloves and shoes.
“I can do this naturally,” said Foust-Rogers, who’s also a professional clown. “This is a wig, but I do have blue in my hair normally.”
The Snohomish woman joined the Seahawkers recently, but she’s been a fan since the franchise’s first season in 1976, when she was in elementary school.
Her friend Roy Edwards, 46, said he’s confident in their team.
“I don’t mean it’s going to be easy,” Edwards said, “but we will win the game.”
Soon, attention turned toward a stage where the morning host of Classic Country 1520 KXA was amping up the crowd.
“Who wants to hear ‘repeat’ at about 7 o’clock Sunday night?” Stitch Mitchell yelled.
Game time is 3:30 p.m. If you’re not lucky enough to catch the game in Arizona, watch it on NBC. Hawk Nation’s counting on you.
Noah Haglund: 425-339-3465; nhaglund@heraldnet.com.
Twitter: @NWhaglund.
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