Super Bowl XLIX

  by Alec Newell

 



 

Super Bowl XLIX: Football Mascots and Logos

Before there were Super Bowls, Jumbotrons, professional cheerleaders, wardrobe malfunctions, and million dollar players who prayed or danced obscenely in the end zone, there was the game of football.  Whether you favor the Boston Patriots and their flaccid footballs, or the Seattle Seahawks with their on-field temper tantrums, it's becoming increasingly difficult to get excited about any of the Super Bowl match-ups these days.  As football  descends deeper and deeper into the realm of performance spectacle, it has begun to look more like professional wrestling than a legitimate sporting contest.

So how do you pick a favorite?  Most fans are bonded to their favorite teams through some notion of regional identification or brand loyalty.  After that, reasons to favor a team become as arbitrary as the betting selections of novice aficionados at the local horse track.  If you based your selection on team mascots or the uniform colors this year, Seattle was probably your team.   There was nothing too imaginative about the name change from Boston Patriots to New England Patriots.  There is no catchy alliteration in the name and nothing sexy or terrifying enough in the team's logo to get the blood racing.  As to the Patriot's team colors, there is nothing new or imaginative there either.

On the other hand, the Seahawks have a logo that could have been inspired by a Native American tribal mask or an Intuit totem pole - a  brilliant stroke of politically correct marketing when compared to a team like the Redskins.   But what is a Seattle Seahawk?  Some mythical creature like the Thunder Bird or a Phoenix?  Or something as arbitrary and obscure as a Cleveland Brown, a Nittany Lion, or a Green Bay Packer?  Turns out it's none of the above.  A sea hawk is  another name for an osprey, the same bird that doubles as the local mascot for the University of North Florida.

Unlike the Detroit Lions, Tennessee Titans, or the Jacksonville Jaguars, it seems like a team's name or mascot should reflect some kind of regional identity.  How is a Jaguar any more descriptive of Jacksonville than say a giraffe or a rhinoceros?  At least there are still very real sea hawks indigenous to the Seattle area, and the logo has an authentic association with tribes native to the North West Coast of this continent.

PS:  If you bet long green on the Seahawks because you like their uniforms, you just lost.  The final score was New England Patriots - 28,  Seattle Seahawks - 24.