Memory Lane - 1976 Seattle Seahawks Preview

The expansion team, Seattle Seahawks enter the season with head coach Jack Patera. He was the defensive line coach for both the Rams “Fearsome Foursome” and Minnesota’s “Purple People Eaters”. A good defense or even an adequate defense would be an enormous help to an expansion offense. For those curious, $16 million was the entry fee for both the Buccaneer and Seahawk expansion teams.

After Seattle was awarded a franchise and before they hired a head coach, the Seahawks had 59,000 season ticket sold and a waiting list of an additional 5,000 fans. But much like the Buccaneers, the roster is filled with players other teams felt were expendable. Which translates into players who were mostly special teamers, second or more likely third string role players. That means their initial draftees have a good chance to break into the starting lineup. Going into training camp all twenty-two positions are wide open to anyone showing promise.

A spoiler alert: The opening day starting line up against the Cardinals does not show WR Steve Largent as the starter. But that is the way of expansion teams, every player is an unknown and the roster is always in flux. You get to relive the Seahawks initial season as an NFC team because a year later the expansion teams switch conferences and the Seahawks end up in the AFC West until the realignment in 2002 which sees them back into the NFC West. It is something that doesn’t happen often in the stable NFL structure.

1976 NFL Draft additions: RB Sherman Smith, WR Steve Raible, DB Don Dufek

We made it through all 28 teams, next the 2025 NFL Preseason