More than a dozen have moved on, but all the players who helped win the Super Bowl Feb. 2 will gather in the Rose Garden Wednesday as the Seahawks are hailed by the chief, President Obama.
The team is scheduled to arrive around 11 a.m. PT. The traditional White House ceremony that honors American sports champions will begin with a tour that includes the Oval Office, with a 15-minute ceremony to follow.
KCPQ Channel 13 is planning live coverage, as is the NFL Network. Seahawks.com will stream live.
Returnees will include starters WR Golden Tate (Detroit), DEs Red Bryant and Chris Clemons (both Jacksonville) and Breno Giacomini (Jets), who will get a final chance to say good-bye to the group that scaled the pinnacle of American team sports.
“This is big, real big,” DT Brandon Mebane told Seahawks.com. “Going to the White House after winning the Super Bowl, I’ve been seeing it on TV all this time. Now I’m actually going to it.
“This is really something. I’m going to take a lot of pictures for my kid and my wife.”
Richard Sherman, Earl Thomas and Russell Wilson will also get an audience with First Lady Michelle Obama.
The tradition of Super Bowl champs visiting the White House began with the 1969 New York Jets and President Nixon. In the 1980s, the salute became a staple for college and pro teams.
The 1991 University of Washington football team shared the stage with the Miami Hurricanes and the first President Bush. The Huskies volleyball team that won the 2005 NCAA title drew a visit, along with 11 other college champion teams at once, for the second President Bush. The Storm’s 2010 WNBA championship was saluted in 2011 by President Obama.
Richardson signs
WR Paul Richardson, the team’s first draft pick and 45th overall, tweeted Tuesday that he had signed his rookie contract.
FINALLY SIGNED. ITS OFFICIAL!
— Paul Richardson (@PRichJr) May 20, 2014
According to overthecap.com, Richardson will get a $1.74 million signing bonus. The standard four-year rookie contract for his draft slot will be worth as much as $4.7 million.
Seattle has five of its nine-man rookie class under contract.