Eye On the Hawks - #SB49 Game Week
Team photographer Rod Mar continues his Eye On the Hawks series, this time on the way to Phoenix, AZ following the team during the week leading to Super Bowl XLIX.
Fans lined the parking lot at VMAC as players and coaches loaded the buses.
SUNDAY - JAN 25 -- As defensive backs coach Kris Richard, left, prepares to board the team buses to the airport, his wife Chandra and Seahawks mascot Blitz comfort the Richard's tearful youngest son, Asher.
Russell Wilson and Earl Thomas board the team buses at VMAC for the trip to the airport for Super Bowl XLIX.
Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch boards Bus #2 in his matching gold headphones and shoes.
Fans not only lined the sidewalks and streets along the route to the airport, they also lined freeway overpasses to send good wishes to the team.
Seahawks Bus #1 makes its way along Interstate 405 to the airport as fans cheer.
Quarterback Tarvaris Jackson films the throngs of Seahawks fans along the route.
Fans were lined up 8-10 people deep along parts of South 188th Street as the Seahawks motorcade headed to the airport.
This fan's hat had a certain "ring" to it as he used both hands to photograph the passing buses.
As the Seahawks buses neared the airport, the throngs grew deeper, with the busiest intersection at South 188th Street and International Boulevard in SeaTac.
Delta employees and their friends and families jammed the hangar next to the Seahawks charter to send the team off.
Dion Bailey, Jeron Johnson and O'Brien Schofield took a moment before boarding the charter to capture shots of the airport send off.
Richard Sherman made his way to the crowds and personally thanked them for their support as he also took video of the scene.
Michael Bennett once again borrowed a bicycle from police officers, and this time rode along the tarmac to salute airport workers gathered to send the team off to Arizona.
Once airborne, safety Earl Thomas wasted no time and continued his film study in preparation for the game, still a week away.
Russell Wilson walks from the charter to the bus as sunny skies greeted the Seahawks upon landing in Phoenix.
MONDAY - JAN 26 -- Receiver Jermaine Kearse was one of the first into the meeting room at the team's Arizona Grand Resort headquarters. As customary, a basketball hoop was stationed to one side of the room for the traditional shooting competitions that begin each team meeting.
In the team's meal room, Jeron Johnson shows off his "selfie stick" to teammate Michael Bennett. At left is linebacker Bruce Irvin.
The Seahawks practiced at Arizona State University in Tempe. Linebacker Bobby Wagner "taps in" as he leaves the locker room to head to the team's first practice in the Valley of the Sun.
Teammates Kam Chancellor and Russell Wilson strike a pose on the team bus on the way to practice.
Head coach Pete Carroll patrols the field as the team stretches for the first practice in Arizona.
Two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson was a visitor to practice on Monday, and he and quarterback Russell Wilson chatted after the workout. Watson was in town to play in the Waste Management Phoenix Open golf tournament. Watson finished tied for second in the tournament, which concluded on Super Bowl Sunday.
After the workout, the team headed back to the hotel where Kam Chancellor, Doug Baldwin and Bobby Wagner boarded a golf cart for the quick ride to a media session with reporters.
Reporters, photographers, cameramen, producers, and every sort of media member packed the floor of the U.S. Airways Center for Media Day.
Seahawks fans packed the lower bowl of the U.S. Airways Center in downtown Phoenix to watch Media Day unfold. Chants of 'SEA-HAWKS!" rang out frequently during the one-hour session.
TUESDAY - JAN 27 -- Tuesday of Super Bowl week is always Media Day, and the NFL set up a hair-cutting station in the team's VIP room. Receiver Ricardo Lockette took advantage of the perk to get his hair trimmed before the team headed out to face the cameras and microphones.
Most of the media was interested in Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch, who appeared at a player station and engaged reporters, often with a smile.
Cornerback Richard Sherman is no stranger to miss and cameras, and answered questions for the full length of the session.
After their media obligations were finished, avid golfers Bryan Walters and Jermaine Kearse visited TPC Scottsdale, where PGA tour members were playing practice rounds for the Waste Management Phoenix Open. Both players met PGA pro Michael Putnam. Putnam, who was in the final round of a tournament in Hawaii on the day of the NFC Championship game, told Kearse that he had rushed into a strangers house on the fairway during a break in the golf to watch the Seahawks thrilling overtime finish against Green Bay.
After Kearse and Walters watched PGA pro Rory Sabbatini tee off on the famed par-three 16th hole, Sabbatini offered his club to Walters. A very good golfer with a -4 handicap, Walters drove his ball and landed it pin-high on the green, to the raucous (and somewhat drunken) applause of the gallery.
Bryan Walters salutes the crowd after landing his tee-shot on the green on the 16th hole at TPC Scottsdale. The hole is famed for its loud and rowdy galleries, who yelled at Walters the entire time, mistaking him for kicker Steven Hauschka.
Jermaine Kearse laughs and takes in the crowd's boos after sculling his tee shot short of the green.
WEDNESDAY - JAN 28 --- On Wednesday, Marshawn Lynch again found himself the center of attention at a mandatory media availability at the team's hotel.
On the lighter side, tight end Cooper Helfet found himself on the other side of the microphone and interviewed teammate Bryan Walters about his experience at the Phoenix Open.
As the team warmed up for practice on Wednesday, kicker Steven Hauschka warmed up with a soccer drill.
Quarterback Russell Wilson spotted a basketball hoop near the practice field and paused to fire off a few three-pointers.
The Seahawks did their daily walk-thru workouts in a covered, inflatable bubble on the Arizona State campus. Defensive coordinator Dan Quinn (now head coach of the Atlanta Falcons) chatted with cornerback Richard Sherman.
Defensive backs coach Kris Richard "intercepted" a tipped pass during a drill and relived his playing days by returning it triumphantly upfield.
At the end of Wednesday's practice quarterback Russell Wilson paused to take a "selfie" with Tarvaris Jackson, quarterbacks coach Carl Smith, assistant Dave Canales, offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell and quarterback B.J. Daniels.
THURSDAY - JAN 29 -- Each team in the Super Bowl is allowed a short window of time in the stadium for its specialists (punters and place kickers) to come in, check the surroundings and take some kicks. Jon Ryan holds as Steven Hauschka kicks a field goal on the field at University of Phoenix Stadium.
Back at Arizona State University, head coach Pete Carroll exhorts his team at the end of practice.
Under darkening skies, the Seahawks walk from the practice bubble to the buses that would take them back to the locker room. From left are offensive line coach Tom Cable, linemen Justin Britt and Drew Nowak, cornerback Richard Sherman, running back Marshawn Lynch, assistant Nate Carroll and receiver Bryan Walters.
FRIDAY - JAN 30 -- Richard Sherman and coach Pete Carroll share a laugh as they wait to enter the locker room at A.S.U. to prepare for practice.
Seattle's preparations for Sunday's game included rehearsing a "mock halftime" in which they met with position coaches, rested and stretched in preparation for the extra-long Super Bowl halftime.
Running back Robert Turbin waits patiently for walk-thru to begin in the indoor bubble at A.S.U.
The Seahawks had celebrity visitor on Friday, as Snoop Dogg brought members of his All-Star youth football team to watch practice. Marshawn Lynch came over during a break in practice to share a few laughs.
General manager John Schneider high-fives receiver Jermaine Kearse during a break at practice as Russell Wilson and Doug Baldwin look on.
Rains fell across the Valley of the Sun for much of the week, forcing most of the Seahawks workous into the inflatable bubble practice field at A.S.U.
SATURDAY - JAN 31 - Head coach Pete Carroll is alone with his thoughts as the Seahawks went through their final walk-thru of the season in preparation for the next day's Super Bowl XLIX.
At the Seahawks final workout in preparation for Super Bowl XLIX, quarterbacks Russell Wilson and Tarvaris Jackson were in the middle as the team came together at the end of practice.
