Aileen Baldwin, wearing the No. 89 Seattle Seahawks jersey of Doug Baldwin, said to the wide receiver: 鈥淲e鈥檙e cousins.鈥�
鈥淚 see the resemblance,鈥� he quipped, in response.
Aileen clearly isn鈥檛 related to Doug Baldwin but she is very much a part of the family in another way. She is a member of Seahawk Nation, palpably alive and well on the Island.
So much so that the Seahawks sent Baldwin, Seahawks mascot Blitz and two Sea Gals cheerleaders to Victoria on Monday for autograph sessions at Jersey City in the Mayfair mall and later the Sticky Wicket in the Strathcona Hotel. The events attracted hundreds of enthusiastic Island fans of the 鈥渓ocal鈥� NFL team.
Shawnigan Lake School-graduate Omar Mawjee, managing director of the Seahawks Regional Marketing Office-sa国际传媒, said ticket-purchase track-back of addresses indicates an average of 300 to 500 Island fans attend each Seahawks game at CenturyLink Field in Seattle.
He said the team wanted to say thanks to those fans and the thousands more on the Island who watch the team鈥檚 games on TV each fall and winter.
Twelve-year-old Glanford Middle School student Carson Vaux, like many in the long queue at the mall, mentioned the 鈥淪鈥� word.
鈥淭hey are really stacked this year and I think they can go to the Super Bowl,鈥� said the 12-year-old Seahawks fan, who was there with younger brother Spencer.
Dad Darren Vaux has been a fan of the team since the Kingdome days of Jim Zorn, Steve Largent and Dave Krieg. Twin sisters Sharon White and Sandy McClary, decked out in blue Seahawks jerseys, also go back that far as fans.
At the other end of the spectrum was three-year-old Mim Campbell, carrying blue and green pom-poms and wearing her tiny No. 12 Seahawks jersey that honours the fans as the 鈥�12th Man.鈥�
鈥淭he Seahawks really try hard to win,鈥� said her six-year-old sister, Lottie.
Dad Jordan Campbell has also been a fan since the Zorn-Largent days.
鈥淚t鈥檚 an exciting year to be a Seahawks fan,鈥� said the elder Campbell, about the upcoming season, in which the team is a Super Bowl favourite.
The reception impressed Baldwin, who had 51 catches and four touchdowns for Seattle in his rookie NFL season in 2011 and 29 receptions and three touchdowns last season.
鈥淭his is unreal. We could not have asked for a better welcome of open arms,鈥� Baldwin said.
鈥淭he fans make it so exciting that it makes us so excited looking forward to the season. We have such a unique fan base because its footprint [Washington, Oregon, Idaho and sa国际传媒] is so unique.鈥�
