Seahawks fans celebrate Super Bowl win into morning hours

SEATTLE (NEWS1130) – It was a crazy night (and early morning) just down the I-5 in Seattle, as Seahawks fans celebrated their first ever Super Bowl win, 43-8, over the Denver Broncos.

The celebrations stretched into the wee hours, with the streets packed around Pioneer Square in the city’s downtown core; there are also predictions that more than a few partiers will have called in sick with the “Seahawks flu.”

“Absolutely,” laughs KOMO News anchor Liz Dueweke, who celebrated the home team’s victory at a bar in Seattle.

“At KOMO alone, we have a couple of people who called in sick. Well, not ‘sick,’ but they already took the day off because they were hoping for a celebration. Not a lot of work will be getting done in the city of Seattle for the next week or so. I think the party will continue,” she tells News1130.

KOMO Newsradio‘s Corwin Haeck was out with the last stragglers at 8 a.m. today.

“There were a few, but most of the celebrations ended early this morning after going on late into the night, following the big win in New Jersey. Boy, the crowds spilled out of the bars and apartment here around Pioneer Square. As you people in Vancouver know very well, a sports crowd can turn ugly in a hurry, so luckily we had victory on our side this time so things didn’t get out of hand,” he says.

There was a very large police presence in downtown Seattle, ensuring celebrations stayed relatively peaceful, though at one point a bonfire was started in Pioneer Square before police moved in, firing flashbangs to disperse the crowd. There were a few arrests and bottles thrown, but the incident ended calmly.

“There was a small fire. This historic area has a big glass and iron pergola… someone climbed on top of that pergola and bashed out a couple of the glass panes on top. Someone else started a small fire at the corner and a Starbucks nearby had one of its glass panes busted out. But in spite of all of that, I’d say the crowd, overall, remained peaceful. It certainly could have been worse.”

Seattle’s infamously loud “12th Man” — the fans — have been waiting for this kind of celebration since the team was founded in 1976. Haeck tells us they are savouring it.

“You better believe it! That’s what I heard from fans over and over again; we have been waiting a long time. More so, they said this is something we deserve.”

“The 12th Man takes a lot of credit and a lot of pride in helping cheer this team to victory and they feel they have had an effect on this winning season with their presence at the games and the way their noise can disrupt the opposing team. They say they deserve this and they take a lot of the credit,” adds Haeck.

The Seahawks are inviting fans to join them for a victory parade in downtown Seattle on Wednesday.  The parade will begin at 11 a.m. and celebrations will continue at CenturyLink Field.