Games against the Raiders used to be a regular occurrence for the Seahawks back when they were members of the AFC West, but now a regular season game in Oakland is something unique. Also unique, of course, are Raiders fans, who are know for their rowdy ways and elaborate costumes. Add in the fact that the game happens to be on Halloween, and it should be a crazy day at the Oakland Coliseum.
“Obviously Oakland’s going to be a raucous place,” defensive tackle Colin Cole said. “It’s Halloween day, fans might be that much more…”
As he paused, a reporter chimed in “Festive?”
Cole responded: “I was going to say liquored up, but I guess festive is a better word to use. It’s going to be an extreme environment. They’re going to be excited for their team obviously after a huge win last week.
“Obviously they’re notorious. You hear a lot of stories about the Oakland crowd, you hear a lot of stories about the city as a whole, and it’s going to be interesting to see how it goes… They’re going to be yelling at us and cussing at us, but that’s all a part of it.”
Matt Hasselbeck, the only player on Seattle’s roster who was with the team when it was in the AFC West (Seattle moved to the NFC in 2002), is also expecting a wild crowd.
“It should be interesting,” he said. “When you talk about fans around the league, stadiums around the league, I know our fans are known for being loud and they take a lot of pride in it. I think the Raiders fans are known for really getting into their costumes and really supporting their team that way. I’m sure they’re going to live it up even more… The NFL’s probably not upset [that Oakland has a home game on Halloween], I’m sure the networks are as well. It should be great entertainment.”
As festive—or liquored up—as the crowd might be, it could be worse, however.
“The best thing is that we’re not playing them at night time, which would make it ever more freaky,” linebacker Aaron Curry said. “They’ve got a great group of fans that really get into it with their face paint and all of that stuff.”
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