Animals are usually used to symbolize a group’s or individual’s desire. A particular characteristic which the chosen animal clearly would possess and exhibit would be the reason why they would be chosen. Indians use to do this in their traditional ways in order to harness the strengths of that person. In Kung Fu, various styles and techniques would be based on animals in order to take advantage as to how they protect themselves and attack their opponents. It is no wonder that even modern times, the same concept would be adapted. In various sports clubs, in is no surprise that animals such as rams, bulls, cougars, panthers, and other animals are used as names and logos. They somehow help drive the players in order to be able to be that driving force behind whatever it is that they are attaining for. But the question now is how far each team would go for in order to get that specific name that they are after. What are the costs of this and how many names do they actually go through before selecting just one?

Let us then take the Seattle Seahawks as an example. This club started as an extension group together with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In 1974, it then awarded to Seattle its 28th franchise which then had its 64,984-seat Kingdome to call its home. This team did not easily get its name. It had to run through 20,365 entries and 1,741 different names. Imagine all of those entries and all you would need is one. That would be a tough call for anyone in position to select. The name “Sea Hawks” which was another word for Osprey was selected and was publicly announced on June 17, 1975. From here we can see that the fact that they opened the door to the public for suggestions and they went through this suggestions thoroughly, you can just imagine what a nightmare it must have been to be the ones to organize, analyze, and select which one would be best fit for the club. Not only would it have been tough, one would also have enough courage to stand up to those who had a different opinion. After all, the name chosen would be more than just a name announced to the public; it would be the identity by which the whole franchise would be recognized. From the name, logos would have to be made, uniforms would have to be designed, and marketing items for the fans would be sold in order to solidify the house name of the club. If this is not enough, don’t forget that the mascot for the football club should also match the name. You can’t have a sea hawk as your name and a pigeon as your mascot right?

Indeed selecting a name is tough enough. But the Seattle based club did a pretty good job. Not only does the name Seahawk have a nice ring to it, as well as being unique, it also symbolizes accuracy, precision, speed, and intelligence. Not a bad choice for a football club!