They call Seattle fans “the 12s” because Seahawks fans are treated like a 12th player on the field, on top of the 11 players allowed in a football game.

What “the 12s” Means

  • In NFL games, each team can only have 11 players on the field at once, so the crowd is framed as the “extra” player that impacts the game.
  • Seahawks fans are famous for being extremely loud, forcing false starts, timeouts, and communication issues for opponents at Lumen Field.
  • The franchise leaned into this by building an identity around that noise and energy, branding the fanbase collectively as “12s.”

How It Started

  • On December 15, 1984, the Seahawks retired jersey No. 12 in honor of their fans, officially recognizing them as a core part of the team’s identity.
  • Since 2003, home games traditionally begin with a “12 flag” raising ceremony, usually by a former player, local hero, or celebrity, to hype up the stadium.
  • Around Seattle, you’ll see 12 flags on buildings, houses, and businesses, especially during playoff runs or big games.

Why “12s” Instead of “12th Man”

  • The original phrase was “12th Man,” a term that Texas A&M University has used for its own fans since 1922 and later trademarked.
  • The Seahawks had a licensing agreement to use “12th Man,” but after that deal expired in 2016, the team shifted branding to the shorter, cleaner “12s.”
  • “12s” kept the same meaning—fans as the extra player—but avoided the legal and trademark tangle while giving Seattle its own distinct label.

What It Represents Today

  • For many Seattle fans, being one of the 12s is about loyalty, community, and always showing up—through loud support, team colors, and year-round pride.
  • The noise and passion of the 12s helped build the stadium’s reputation as one of the toughest places to play in the NFL, with crowd noise once strong enough to register on local seismic equipment during big plays.

In short, “the 12s” is just Seattle’s way of saying: the fans are part of the team.

TL;DR: They call Seattle fans “the 12s” because the Seahawks view their crowd as a powerful “12th player” whose noise and energy give the team a real on-field advantage, and the team rebranded from “12th Man” to “12s” after the Texas A&M naming issue.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.