Seahawks appreciate ‘true role models’

Lorin T. Smith/Northwest Guardian

We ask a lot of professional football players.

We ask them to entertain us, to push their bodies to the limits for that one extra inch that could equal a first down.

We ask them to travel from one coast to the other, often on sleepless flights, but we expect them to be game-ready and willing to take a hit that might rattle them a bit, but will eventually end up on the evening news highlight reel.

We ask even more of servicemembers. We ask them to inspire us, to go without sleep for days, but still expect them to be mentally ready with razor-sharp reflexes.

We ask them to travel to countries they’ve never heard of, spending months — or even years — away from their Families, missing birthdays and anniversaries.

We ask them to look down the barrel of an enemy firearm, knowing that each day could be their last, in which case they would end up on the evening news as well, but for more somber reasons.

So when the Seattle Seahawks took the field against the Baltimore Ravens Sunday at CenturyLink Stadium, it was quite fitting to have predominantly military veterans cheering on the players.

Yet before the game, the Seahawks put on an epic military appreciation day showcase bedazzled with festivity (See Page B-1 for story).

Every past, present and future veteran were represented by the team, but special attention was paid to Sgt. 1st Class Richard Giertz, an unheard of Reservist to you or me, but a celebrity in the Seahawks organization.

He received a Soldier’s Medal two years ago for saving a 5-year-old boy’s life from a burning house with no regard for his own safety. For six years, he has marched before each game as part of the Military Sea Hawkers’ Honor Guard.

His honor Sunday was literally a dream come true for this die-hard Seahawks fan – to lead the team onto the field in front of 66,500 screaming fans and a nationally televised audience.

The Seahawks praise the efforts of Giertz, but as most Soldiers and Airmen know, his tale is one of many. That’s why he said that he didn’t do anything special when he saved that boy; it was just the right thing for him to do.

His actions speak to the long line of servicemembers who have battled everything from internal demons to the enemy before them, and have overcome.

After the game, many veterans headed to the King Street Bar and Oven a block away from the stadium to continue the victorious mood kindled from the Seahawks’ surprising win over the Ravens just a few minutes earlier.

Besides enjoying a cool adult beverage or gorging themselves on garlic fries and nachos, they each took a moment to remember their brothers and sisters in arms who couldn’t be at the game, as they were serving thousands of miles away in far-away lands with cities that most Americans can’t properly pronounce.

Here, for just a little while, active duty, National Guard, Reservists and veterans came together in a sectioned off area to talk about the game and swap war stories or to discuss current military policy. And that’s the connection between football and the military — the battles servicemembers fight equate to the battles players endure each week.

Seahawks’ cornerback Roy Lewis spoke about that connection best when he said, “We always make comparisons between football and war. But they really go to war. We’re entertainers. They deal in real-life war. They are the true role models.”

Lewis recognizes what many servicemembers already know, as most players don’t face the possibility of death every day.

But veterans still tune in or show up to watch professional athletes toss around the pigskin, because for a few hours, veterans can forget the hardships military life brings and just escape by enjoying the game.

That’s what it meant to Grietz, to the fans in the stadium and to me.