SAN FRANCISCO — Seth Nilson joined the Army out of high school because he wanted to jump out of airplanes.
He served bravely in the infantry division, facing pressure situations that buckle the knees of a typical teenager. Nothing, however, brings more stress to Nilson than his Seattle Seahawks.
The anxiety will be at an all-time high on Sunday.
The Stanwood resident traveled to the Bay Area along with many local football fanatics to root on their favorite team in Sunday’s Super Bowl at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.
“When it comes to jumping out of an airplane, you stand up when they tell you to stand up, and you start following the guy in front of you,” said Nilson, 41. “All of a sudden, you’re in the sky. You don’t have much time to think about it.”
“As a fan, being on the sideline, the only thing I can do to help is be loud. It’s one thing to be away from it and know you can’t truly impact the game, but to have some impact on it gives me some relief knowing that I don’t have to just stand there biting my nails.”
While the stakes at a game are certainly not as high as serving one’s country, there’s no feeling quite like sports stress. Nilson’s been riding the highs and occasional lows for every moment of Seahawks football for most of his life.
Shortly after a medical discharge from the Army in 2004, Nilson attended his first NFL game, Seattle’s 28-26 win over the Atlanta Falcons in the 2004 season finale. He and two friends purchased season tickets for the 2005 season shortly after that. The team went to the Super Bowl that season, and though Seattle lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XL, he was hooked.
“We went to all the games all the way to the NFC Championship game,” Nilson said, “and it was one of the most amazing experiences I’ve ever had.”
Seth Nilson of Stanwood (center) poses with his wife, Tabitha Nilson (right) and his father, Barry Nilson, at the NFC Championship game between the Seattle Seahawks and Los Angeles Rams at Lumen Field on Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. (Photo courtesy of Seth Nilson)
He’s got five seats these days so he can be surrounded by even more family and friends. After 20 seasons of attending virtually every game, he’ll see his first Super Bowl in person on Sunday. He’ll enjoy every moment of it, but he also sees it as a business trip.
He intends to bring the noise to help put the New England Patriots offense in a funk.
“I don’t go to a Seahawks game to watch it,” Nilson said. “I got to a game to participate, and know that it matters. Me going and representing matters. And that’s just an awesome feeling.”
Nilson, who works in finance, purchased Super Bowl packages with a friend after they were unable to acquire them through the team, which was “heartbreaking” initially for Nilson. Only 17.5% of a Super Bowl site’s tickets are made available to each team’s season ticket holders, leaving people like Nilson searching the secondary market.
Super Bowl tickets through a team’s ticket office start at $2,500 apiece. Prices fluctuate in the secondary market but generally start at around $5,000 for one ticket.
And there are other sacrifices. Airfare and accommodation prices are higher than normal, and not everyone can drop everything with just a few days’ notice.
That includes Seth Nilson’s wife.
Tabitha Nilson has a competition of her own this weekend. She’s the cheerleading coach at Stanwood, and the Spartans will compete at state for the first time, Saturday at Battle Ground High School.
“Tabitha was very bummed and disappointed that she could not come,” he said.
It only takes one
During Nilson’s 10th year as a season ticket holder, a 12-year-old boy named Trae Tinglestad attended his very first game, a Seahawks 38-17 win over the New York Giants.
Nilson has never met Tinglestad, but he remembers the game well.
“The Giants had 11 false starts that day,” he said.
Tinglestad’s father took his boy to the game for his birthday, and the 12-year-old fell in love with the experience of being a part of the fan base, known as the Twelves, due to the impact the group can have on opponents.
One game, and he became a fan for life, he said.
Seahawks fan Trae Tinglestad attends his first NFL game on Nov. 9, 2014 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo courtesy of Trae Tinglestad)
“I vividly remember we were in the highest row in the 300 level, but I was just ears over arms that I was able to get to go to a game,” said Tinglestad, a 23-year-old Marysville resident. “We won, and that just set off my Seahawk career.”
Tinglestad, who will soon graduate from a University of Washington online accounting program, has been able to purchase season tickets the past three years from a family friend. He joined the season ticket waiting list when he was in sixth grade, and was No. 82,000 in line. His number is down to 14,000 now.
He’s seen some great games in his 12 years of fandom, but nothing compared to the most recent win over the Rams.
“The best one was obviously two weekends ago, the NFC Championship. I was able to attend that and just the whole experience — an experience I won’t ever forget. …It was just a wholesome moment with 68,000 Twelves by my side, just cheering and super happy for this team.”
He knew then that he had to get to the Super Bowl.
Tinglestad finishes each game with his voice hanging on by a thread from screaming. He high-fived his friend so hard when the Seahawks clinched a Super Bowl berth that it cut Tinglestad’s hand open.
“I’ll sacrifice anything for a good Seattle win,” he said.
Winning the lottery
On Sunday, Jan. 25, Daniel Abad watched his favorite team beat the Los Angeles Rams and earn a trip to the Super Bowl.
It was the thrill of a lifetime. An hour later, he found out he won the lottery.
It was not the kind of lottery that means millions of dollars for the winner. This particular good fortune affords a person the right to spend a small fortune for Super Bowl tickets. Abad had gone 0-for-3 in lotteries for Seattle’s first three Super Bowls in 2006, ’14 and ’15, but his number finally came up in 2026.
“I got that email from the Seahawks saying, ‘You’ve been selected to purchase tickets for the Super Bowl,’” said Abad, an Everett resident. “It was great. I’ve been on cloud nine ever since that Sunday.”
Daniel Abad holds up a rally towel during the NFC Championship game between the Seattle Seahawks and Los Angeles Rams at Lumen Field in Seattle, Washington on Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. (Photo courtesy of Daniel Abad)
Abad, 60, was born in California and spent much of his childhood in Hawaii. But, he’s been a Seahawks fan since 1979 and a season ticket holder for 26 years. He stood in long lines at the team store earlier this week, buying a load of new team gear, including a new jersey for his sister, Debbie Abad.
“I got some hats that were going off the shelves like Cabbage Patch dolls,” he said. “Everybody was grabbing them.”
He arrived in San Jose — about 6 miles from Levi’s Stadium — with his friend, Donald Kracht on Thursday, ready to soak in the experience.
Like Nilson and Tinglestad, Abad intends to be loud on Sunday. He needed the bye week for his voice to recover from the NFC title game, and he’ll be locked in for kickoff. His seats are up high, but anywhere in the building will do just fine.
He’s going to the Super Bowl.
“I’ll be in the nosebleed — I’ll have one nostril bleeding,” Abad said. “I have one row behind me, and one row from heaven. I’m in a good place right now. Seahawks, top row, and then to heaven.”
Aaron Coe: aaron.coe@heraldnet.com
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