There are fireworks over Vashon. It was a game of Small Domination, of monkey-off-the-back vindication. The Seahawks won the Super Bowl. They became the best team in the National Football League by winning little battles, by making a long string of right decisions. The losers, the New England Patriots, took an almost certain Super Bowl victory away in 2015. This time, the Patriots had to play above their heads to win. The Seahawks only had to do the same things they had all season.
They did, winning 29-13. It wasn’t that close. When Paul Allen passed away in 2018, it was easy to assume the usual sports franchise fate – heirs making a few bad moves before selling out. The management of the team passed to his younger sister, Jody Allen. Technically, Jody does not own the team. If she did, she’d be praised as the smartest and most respected owner in the NFL. It’s time to fix that. She is the architect, the real hero of this story.
As Microsoft founder Paul Allen’s younger sister, Jody Allen became the executor of his estate and manages the affairs of the team. Many fans, myself included, drastically underestimated her abilities in that regard. A low-key mom, manager, and investor who grew up in Seattle’s Wedgwood area, she is the daughter of an elementary schoolteacher mom and UW librarian dad. Her mission is long-term charitable impact in the Northwest, but her lifetime passion is nature.
She loves elephants and whales, and leads the Wild Lives and SeaLife Response, Rehab, and Research (SR3) foundations to ensure the health of their ecosystems. Fortunately, she also loves Seahawks. As we have long suspected, the NFL does not.
Jody must have studied how to build a dynasty. The quarterback for the Seahawks, Russell Wilson, approached her with a deal: fire Pete Carroll, the most successful coach in the team’s history, and we’ll get back to the Super Bowl. In 2022, she traded away Wilson’s league-high salary and shipped his bloated ego to the Denver Broncos, getting a boatload of premium draft picks in return.
The Seahawks used the picks to address problem areas – a porous offensive line, underwhelming pass rush, and expensive, oft-injured players. They drafted Charles Cross, a stellar offensive tackle at #9 overall, Nick Emmanwori the nickel back, a little later and then got a host of other players who won this game. They fit a pattern.
Jody Allen had the wisdom to let Pete Carroll go with dignity after Russell Wilson’s departure. She let him stay on as an advisor after she hired a young defensive genius named Mike McDonald. She had the wisdom to keep on one of the best long-time General Managers in the game, John Schneider, and to let him do his magic.
Making the right decisions not only lead to winning small battles, it’s also what leads to sports dynasties. In his opening address to the Seahawks, Mike McDonald said, “Imagine you’re facing a tough opponent in the NFC Championship Game. Now imagine you’re going to the Super Bowl and you’re going to win that.”
I could quote advanced analytics that didn’t exist when the Seahawks detonated the Denver Broncos and a current Hall of Fame quarterback in the 2014 Super Bowl. This team is better than that one. It beat the second and third best teams in the NFL, the Rams and the 49ers, who happen to be in the same division, four times during the regular seasons and the playoffs.
Mike McDonald isn’t going anywhere soon. Neither is this core of talent. There is still plenty of open salary cap for next season. But like I said, the Seahawks are not the NFL’s favorite team. On Monday, the Wall Street Journal reported that the NFL wants to force the team’s sale. That’s how much the club, or cartel, of other owners hate it. They’re saying Jody Allen isn’t eligible as an owner because she doesn’t have a 30% ownership in the team.
Here is what she released as a response:
“We don’t comment on rumors or speculation, and the team is not for sale. We’ve already said that will change at some point per Paul’s wishes, but I have no news to share. Our focus right now is winning the Super Bowl.”
