Last week, the Seahawks 2022 Fan of the Year Larry Bevans was named NFL Fan of the Year at NFL Honors. Later in the evening, he took the stage at NFL Honors to announce Seattle quarterback Geno Smith as Comeback Player of the Year on stage live in front of millions of fans, a moment that summed up Bevans experience this season.
The husband, father, community advocate and fan reflected on earning both Fan of the Year honors and on his purpose in life after returning from Arizona.
Born into a family of San Francisco 49ers fans, Bevans strayed, becoming a die-hard Seahawks fan as a kid.
"Most of my family is 49ers fans," said Bevans. "Growing up as the youngest in the family, I just couldn't root for them."
Fandom turned into passion for Bevans, supporting the team at home, on the road and abroad. A season-ticket holder since 2009, Bevans travels to at-least one game per year, and has supported the franchise abroad in London. But it's Bevans' commitment to changing his community through sports that led to him taking home Fan of the Year honors for both his favorite-franchise and the league.
In partnership with wife, Deanna, the Bevans family has devoted their lives to giving to others in the Seattle-area and beyond. The couple has been taking in children as foster parents for more than two decades, providing a stable, nurturing home. The Bevans family routinely feeds the less fortunate, providing everyday resources for those without stable housing. Spearheading the Southwest Washington Seattle SeaHawkers Booster club, the couple leads a large group of 12s devoted to supporting their team and giving to good causes. The club hosts fundraisers at different bars across the area on gameday, along with car shows to raise money for their charities of choice. The Bevans' love of the Seahawks serves as a focal point for their charitable acts, yet Bevans manages to balance it all. While driving to a meet-and-greet following his 2022 NFL Fan of the Year win, Bevans reflected on parenting, and not forcing his Seahawks love on his kids.
"My 13-year-old she's not really into football," said Bevans. "She's more into girly things. Right now, she'll do the Seahawks stuff with us, but she's not fully interested in it. If we go to a game, if we ask her 'Hey do you want to go?' And she says 'No,' we're not going to force it on her. I don't think any person needs to be forced to go do stuff, as a kid it's easy for an adult to be like 'No you're going.' But at an age limit, you say, I understand you're not into that sport, but if she was into it she'd probably really be into it. She's into softball, she's into other things so that's a bigger thing for her. I understand, at 13, we don't know what life is really about yet. We're trying to test the waters in many things. Sometimes children know they are ready to be a fan of a certain team, but truthfully 9 out of 10 times most children are not."
Now it's Bevans' moment to bask in his hard work, and others have taken notice. After representing the 12s on the highest stage in Phoenix at the NFL Honors, Larry and Deanna packed their custom Seahawks gear for Glendale. The NFL Fan of the Year, head-to-toe in college navy and action green was on full display. From walking the red carpet at the various events, Bevans sported his custom 22 Fan of the Year jersey, taking selfies with stars like Pittsburgh Steelers Legend Terry Bradshaw, Cincinnati Bengals wideout Ja'Marr Chase, and more importantly, Seahawks wideout Tyler Lockett. Bevans went live on social platforms from the endzone before pre-game ceremonies began at Super Bowl LVII, posing for cameras to show off his various Seahawks tattoos. The NFL also gave the couple seats to the Super Bowl.
Bevans discussed the experience of finding out that Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith was the Comeback Player of the Year.
"That thing was so amazing," said Bevans. "It was crazy because I didn't know who the Comeback Player of the Year was at the time. They were showing Christian McCaffrey, they were showing Geno, they were showing Saquon Barkley. They showed those three on the screen and I was like 'Holy Crap!' You hear about it and you're like can it be, will it be? I didn't even know that I was going to announce it. They said 'Larry, you've got to tell them what's on the screen.' When it came up as Geno Smith, man I was ecstatic, but then it was like 'Man he isn't here. This isn't fair I don't get to give him the award.'"
But even on a getaway to the Super Bowl in Arizona, the couple was at work, partnering with several other Fan of the Year nominees to help those in need in Glendale. Waking up at 5 a.m., the couple joined Washington Commanders Fan of the Year nominee Chris Bryant in handing out meals to the less fortunate. It took a young Kansas City Chiefs fan to recognize Bevans at the NFL Experience and ask for a picture for the Vancouver native to truly bask in the moment.
"We were up doing the Lombardi trophy," said Bevans. "Me and my wife are taking pictures and this little kid comes running out of the crowd. Saw me from wherever, and he's like 'Mom, Mom, Mom it's the Fan of the Year.' So me and my wife were on this stage, we're 12 feet above where he's at, and his mom comes running over like 'Can we take a picture with you?' And so she puts him in front of the stage and I'm like 'No, I'll come around and we'll do it out there.' So we were sitting there talking for a couple minutes, and I asked him what's his desire as he grows up. He's like, 'I just want to be as respectable as the other people that were the Fan of the Year with you.' It touched everything that we had all been talking about forever. Because we're all not superheroes. We do work in our community. We do it silently. Not like we're putting our names on billboards. We're just trying to make a difference in our community and make our community stronger. That was near and dear to my heart that that little kid said that. Me and my wife were just looking at each other. There's nothing else that you can say about it, other than thank you for seeing us and seeing that we're human just like you guys are. But we just got to a bigger platform because people wanted to recognize what we do in our community."
Larry turns 50-years-old this week, as the NFL prepares to send its Fan of the Year to the upcoming NFL Draft. Don't pinch Bevans yet, the dream is still going.
