There is a saying in the universe of playing chess: You don’t get better by always playing inferior opponents. This certainly applies to the Arizona Cardinals, who each season have a plate full of difficult teams to play, making their living residing in the NFC West Division.
Last year, three of the division members made the postseason tournament.
RELATED: CARDINALS BIG UNDERDOGS TO SEAHAWKS
Which should mean the Cardinals should get better each year, correct? Well, after losing 14 games last season,
Arizona is overflowing with knowledge and experience, eh?
The Seattle Seahawks finished the regular season 14-3-0 and captured the division crown. They had the NFC’s #1 seed in the playoffs and earned a bye in the first round. In the divisional round, they demolished division foe San Francisco 49ers 41-6, then defeated their other division mate, the Los Angeles Rams, in a tough matchup 31-27 in the NFC Championship Game.
Next up was the AFC surprise team, the New England Patriots, in Super Bowl LX. The result was a 29-13 Seattle victory. It was the Seahawks’ second Super Bowl win in their franchise history since they entered the league in 1976 as an expansion club.
There are plenty of advantages of winning the Super Bowl.
For one, each player, coach, front office personnel, trainer, injured player, and team employee is now crowned a Super Bowl champion. The entire fanbase can now claim to be enthusiasts of a Super Bowl-winning franchise. Extra game checks are given. For each Seahawks player, that means three winner’s checks, which get larger for each winning contest.
Then, there are the rings. Strange how the adornment to represent a violent sport is a piece of jewelry.
The Seahawks revealed their Super Bowl rings this week. It is no secret that each year’s version becomes bigger and more technical. Two years ago, the ring for the Kansas City Chiefs had a hidden second level along with 529 diamonds and 38 rubies, totaling 14.8 carats. The 2024 winner, the Philadelphia Eagles, had a button that, once pushed, the wings on the helmet sprang outward, not to mention the 145 diamonds, which represented the number of points scored in the playoffs.
The rings
Seattle has that #12 things going. They actually don’t own the trademark and rent it each year. Texas A&M owns the trademark. At one point, the Seahawks petitioned the U.S. Patent Office for the ownership of the actual number 12 back in 2015. Yeah, like someone could own a number. After that was shot down, they did get a patent for “12s” and “We are 12.”
These beautiful rings have some relevance to the City of Seattle, its fans, and its history. The players, coaches, and football staff received their Super Bowl rings at a private ceremony on Thursday, June 11.
With the Seahawks’ first Super Bowl win, those rings were produced by Tiffany. This time around, they were created by Jason of Beverly Hills. The jewels encapsulated are sapphires and diamonds. There are also some special features.
In the center are two Lombardi trophies representing the pair of Super Bowl wins. On top of the trophies is the Seahawks logo with the wording “World Champions” on each side. The term “World Champions” came from pro baseball, which has always crowned its league winner the “World Champion.” After all, they play in the “World Series” to determine the winner. The NFL simply adopted this designation.
The Seahawks logo alone has 50 diamonds, which represent the team’s 50th Anniversary from 1976 to 2025.
Each side of the ring has its own message.
On one side, it states “12 AS ONE” above the city’s skyline, plus the Super Bowl LX logo. On the reverse side is the player’s name and jersey number, plus the M.O.B. The saying “Mission over bull#*%&” was the team’s motto this past year. It becomes the first Super Bowl ring to contain the implication of a curse word. More will follow now that the ice has been broken.
The top of the ring is made to be removed.
A special #12 flag has a button that, when depressed, releases, and the words “WORLD CHAMPIONS” appear. Then, the top portion can be removed. It is designed to then become a neck pendant worn on a chain. On the reverse side of the top portion is a piece of an actual game-used football that saw a game during the season.
The design, construction, and presentation
This is a complex instrument made to be jewelry. It took three months from concept to final rendering, with so many decisions to make, alter, delete, and then approve back and forth.
The process involved CAD engineering, concept development, sourcing and selection of the diamonds, casting of the stones, hand-setting each jewel, polishing, and numerous quality-control steps.
The flag mechanism alone was an uphill battle. Several internal mechanisms require a spring system with several levers. Months of development went into this aspect of the ring, amidst troubleshooting to ensure the mechanism worked flawlessly every time.
The premise behind the Eagles rings seemed to be that they had to one-up the Chiefs rendition. But this Seahawks adornment doesn’t have that feel of keeping up with the Joneses. It did not require outdoing the stones involved with over 600. The amount in this ring has a purpose and meaning that everyone who had a job to do with the Seahawks last season will remember and feel that they contributed.
It’s like the ring designers have been tasked to produce the gaudiest ring.
The pennant idea is very much thinking outside the box. A lot of players love the rings, but they have gotten so big and bulky that most don’t ever wear them, even for special occasions. But a low-hanging pennant works for everyone. That is practical as the players are starting to value some form of wearability.
How each player got their rings was really unique.
To start off with, each player had an assigned seat. This would come into play later. As the night went along, all of a sudden, the lighting above began to descend. When the lights reached each seat, it stopped about 18 inches above the table. On top of the lights was a platform that held a box.
Inside the box were the player’s rings.
For the Cardinals, they captured the 1925 and 1947 NFL championships. The franchise has also won one conference title, seven division crowns, and made the playoffs 11 times. The team has played for the league title three times, including one Super Bowl, winning once. At one time, the NFL held a game for third place entitled “The Playoff Bowl” in which the Cardinals defeated the Green Bay Packers 24-17 in 1964.
