Seattle Seahawks

The Northwest is a prime nesting spot for this football team. Football Northwest owns and operates the Seattle Seahawks professional football franchise. The team joined the National Football League during the league expansion of 1976 (the same year as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers) but suffered through mostly disappointing seasons until a resurgence beginning in the late 1990s. Fans were finally treated to a Super Bowl appearance following the 2005 season; however, Seattle fell to the Pittsburgh Steelers in that game. Founded by department store magnate Lloyd Nordstrom, the Seahawks franchise has been owned by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen since 1997.