Like many, if not most diehard fans of the Seattle Seahawks, I have been living a bit of a pins and needles existence over the past several months since Jody Allen put this team on the market. Almost daily, I have been checking my feeds for updates or news of potential buyers, and, at times, I felt the weight of the uncertainty, and speculations beyond exhausting.

The Seattle Seahawks are my favorite team in all of sports, and it isn’t close. Twenty years ago, the Seattle SuperSonics were a close enough number two, but alas, they are long no more as organization, and the nature in which they were ripped out of Seattle is still very scaring for me. So, it does stand to reason that I might carry a certain degree of anxiety about this whole Seahawks sale biz over the past few months. I am sure that I have not been the only anxious Twelve out there.

In this time, I have been hoping, and praying that someone high profile and controversial would not end up with the team, running the risk of seeing what has grown to become a very stable NFL franchise being reduced to a toxic circus act. Personally, I really did not want Elon Musk to be the surprise buyer of this team, and I wasn’t super thrilled about Jeff Bezos, or Mark Zuckerberg either, as prospective owners. Culturally, they would have felt opposite of what this team has been for a decade and a half with John Schneider as the general manager.

I have also been hoping and praying that whoever ended up as the new majority owner would resemble enough of the fabrics of what made the late Paul Allen and his sister Jody great owners of our prized football team that sits in the Pacific Northwest. I wanted someone who had deep enough pockets with an analytical driven mind to strive for success, and I wanted this person (or people) to not be inclined to meddle in the decision making of Schneider and his front office.

For these months, I have been of the belief, albeit a very hopeful one, that Steve Balmer would probably end up being that person. To me, I just always circled back to him even with the news of the Wyc Grousbeck Boston Celtics group being interested, and then the news that minority owners of the San Francisco 49ers were interested, as well. In hindsight, this was probably fueled mostly by a lot of wishful thinking, but I was really thinking that Balmer was probably going to be one who needed up with the team.

It just made too much sense to me, and when Gregg Bell of the Tacoma News Tribune and KJR Sports radio talked about a big local whale sitting in the wings watching bids come in before making his own in the end, it felt as inevitable as Thanos snapping his fingers in the MCU. Of course it’s going to be Balmer, right? Has to be.

Lo and behold this big local whale never came, and when news broke on Saturday that the 49er group also known that the Khosla Family, I was as shocked as any other Twelve out there. Because of the 49er connections, I just did not take them seriously enough as bidders, and as the dust settles down on this, I honestly think this might be one of the most Seattle Seahawk things ever.

When David Krieg stepped in to replace franchise legend Jim Zorn at quarterback in 1983, as a grade school kid who had only ever known Zorn as QB1 in town, I didn’t think this un-drafted quarterback from some small college in Wisconsin would ever amount to much. All he did was lead the Seahawks to their first ever playoff run, and make pro bowls, and playoffs for year later. To this day when folks bring up favorite Seahawk players of years past, I almost always mention this guy affectionately known at the time as Mudbone.

I also initially didn’t think much of Matt Hasslebeck being brought in as a quarterback years later, and all he did was surpass Krieg’s achievements, and lead Seattle to their first ever Super Bowl appearance. When he came in and struggled, I was as glad as anyone to see replaced by Trent Dilfer, but when he finally got his shot to start again, all he did was prove me wrong, and then I quickly became one of his biggest fans.

I super did not expect Russell Wilson to be anything of a starting caliber QB when Seattle drafted him in the third round back in 2012, and I winced at the idea years later of Geno Smith beating out Drew Lock to replace him. For me, Russ was too short to be a long term starter, and Geno was a scrub player who was simply Pete Carroll’s pet. Both guys vastly proved me wrong.

In 2024, I deeply wanted Mike Vrabel to be the hire to replace Pete Carroll over Mike Macdonald. I was just a bit too nervous about that move of going with an unproven young coach over someone more established, proven, and available. Nowadays, for very obvious reasons, I am incredibly grateful Schneider preferred Macdonald.

So, when I was looking at these reported interested parties, I really was not considering Vinod Khosla and family being serious front runners. Like I said, it was probably due to those 49er connections, but for me, I was choosing to warm more up to Wyc Grousbeck and his wealthy buddy from India because, frankly, Wyc had a great track record as the former majority owner of the Boston Celtics. He stayed out of the way of front office decisions, but was an eager spender in bringing in talent to win titles. This sounded very Paul Allen-esque to me. Even in that, though, I just refused to not circle back to Balmer simply because of his local ties, and vast wealth, and his known willingness to spend.

The thing that I have really learned about myself through this sale process is just how much I am apt to strongly gravitate towards known commodities. As someone who runs his own little Seattle based landscaping business, I always buy Stihl power tools and Ford pickups. An Echo trimmer might be just as effective, and a Chevy might just as reliable, but I just have a very firm belief in the German engineering of Stihl, and the Ford F-150 being the top selling truck of the USA for a very good reason. I get lulled into security going with the known.

Before Saturday’s big breaking news, I didn’t know much about the Khoslas. I knew that Vinod made his wealth in tech and venture capitalism in the Bay Area. I also knew that he was very much sort of an Anti Elon Musk type down there, driven more towards the philanthropic aspects of being ultra wealthy, and I did like that about him as a potential owner.

The more I have read up on him, though, as someone who identifies a bit more with the traditional values of old school blue dog democrats, I also very much like the fact that Vinod has stated in recent weeks like his has no problem with billionaires paying more taxes in America. You can have whatever views you want to in favor of or against this issue, but you cannot deny that this view of his feels pretty lock step with current trends of Seattle politics. I take that as a positive.

That said, I was also aware that he is not without controversy as someone who apparently developed a popular Bay Area surfing beach into a playground for the wealthy, and that has pissed off a bunch of folks in that region. Seahawk fans will forever reflect kindly on the late Paul Allen, but he, himself, was not without similar controversy in Seattle with his real estate developments in and around South Lake Union that reshaped downtown into something that has pissed off numerous folks over the years.

Billionaires, like the most of us, have both good traits, and then they also have traits that will inspire ire out of folks, especially today with so many Americans that are struggling and generally unhappy. It is what it is.

While I get people’s frustration with the ultra rich these days, I will not entertain a holier than thou wrath against the Khosla Family like some reactions I have seen since this news broke. You can have whatever views you want to have about AI tech for which the Vinod as been a major investor and champion of, but the reality of their story is that they are a family of Stafford smart people who have used a lot of their well earned money for philanthropic good as it pertains to the environment, food, education for the needy, and affordable health insurance for all, and you are welcome to look those facts up.

I might add, for those of the Seahawk fanbase who were opening that MacKenzie Scott would be the big local fish stepping up to buy this team in the end simply because of her altruistic philanthropic motivations, you should probably like that fact this it isn’t Vinod himself who will be the controlling owner of this team, but his wife Neeru, who has worked as an educator, and has championed STEM education availability for children of all tax brackets. Like Ms Scott, she is very much driven to helping lower class kids get proper education. If you want to get more of an idea of what she’s behind, I encourage you to look at her CK-12 Foundation.

Personally, when the news broke that it will be Neeru as the controlling owner of the team, I could not control the smile forming on my face. If this news is true, the Seattle Seahawks will stay female owned, and I like that a lot, frankly.

I think Jody Allen served as a fantastic active owner of this team in the aftermath of her brother Paul passing on, and she did so with a lot of online, radio wave, and print material bullshit piled her way, at times. She made the right calls on moving on from Russell Wilson, and Pete Carroll, she trusted the sharp football mind of GM John Schneider, and she did this without an ego that put herself at the forefront of the team. She was an absolute fantastic steward of this organization, and I will forever be thankful of that fact. If Neeru demonstrates any of the patience, and intelligence, and intuition that Jody provided over the years, this team will stay in strong hands. I am very confident in that.

In a short statement to the fans, the Vinod referred to his family as new stewards wanting very much to keep with the winning traditions of the Allens. I trust that this is how they think of themselves, as stewards, and the fact that it will be Neeru as the active owner out of their family, and not Vinod (or their son Neal), I think sends a pretty strong message that these will not be ego based people running the franchise.

Big egos build rockets for the rich to venture into outer space. The more altruistic wealthy will look for ways in which to nurture and preserve what is already on this planet. On the face of what I have dug up, I just do not sense that this family are big ego people. I do not see it, and that does feel like a big relief.

I think this shows that they are perhaps people who will not likely look to meddle with what is working well, but will rather want to help in whichever ways they can as new owners, and learn from John Schneider. Vinod, himself, has stated at age 71 how much joy he receives from still being in the process of learning.

In years to come, Neal will eventually end up as the long term owner of the Seahawks given their ages, but even he does not seem to be a narcissistically driven tech baron as his capitalist endeavor is providing affordable AI driven healthcare for all people, of all things. If anything, I suspect this purchase agreement was ultimately made for him to eventually be the owner, and at age 34, he will have ample time to truly learn the ins and outs of what it takes to sustain a successful NFL franchise. I consider this a positive.

So, yeah, on all these aspects of who the Khosla’s seem to be, I am feeling pretty much better about this purchase agreement. I am pretty hopeful, anyways.

Does any of this initial insight into these people guarantee that they will be good NFL owners? No, not really, but I do like how Vinod grew his little empire of wealth down in the Bay.

He is described as being very analytical driven with a long history of surrounding himself with smart talented people, and allowing those people show forth their talents and ideas as he works to assist, and push forward. He feels classically like a think tank techie, and that is very much who Paul Allen was in that world.

On Saturday night, Brian Nemhauser of the Hawkblogger podcast released an excellent reaction video detailing these aspects of Vinod, and why they extremely important traits in the tech world, and how this can positively carry over to the Seahawks, who under Mike Macdonald’s coaching style are more analytically driven than ever. He also reported in his podcast that the Khoslas had folks throughout the Seahawks organization expressing a rooting interest in them ending up as the group purchasing the team. This is probably the biggest reason why I am more than okay with this group winning out, and am now genuinely excited about them taking over.

The Seattle Seahawks are an extremely culture driven franchise. John Schneider has taken painstaking steps for years laying forth all the building blocks to building up this culture, and maintaining it. He made tough calls moving on from popular players who were no longer fitting the culture. Mike Macdonald was his preference to replace Pete Carroll over other popular coaching candidates in part because of how he felt Macdonald would carry forth the positive culture that was built up.

If John Schneider and others in his front office, and Mike Macdonald and others on his coaching staff feel very good with the Khosla Family becoming the new owners, then I am very much okay with it, as well. I will just leave it at that.

I will also not entertain much of the fact that they are from the Bay, have recently been part owners of the rival 49ers, and were season ticket holders for that team for decades. Pete Carroll grew up a big 49er fan and was their DC on a couple of their Super Bowl teams. Mike Holmgren was a famed coach for them, as well. Sam Darnold credits his brief time on their team as the big necessary step towards reviving his quarterback career. I think it is ludicrous paranoia to entertain ideas that the Khoslas are some sort of 49er driven plant to come up here and ruin our stable franchise.

And no, I do not think they will ever have designs of moving this team, ever.

The Seattle Seahawks will stay the Seattle Seahawks. This is a strong market, and the league will not allow them to move out of this region. So, I will not enterain any thoughts on that, either.

Could we be looking at a new or upgraded stadium down the road, at some point?

Sure, maybe.

We will see on that front, but that is probably years away from being a thing, but if that does ever come up, I would rather have municipal leaders deal with the likes of the Khoslas than I would an Elon Musk, or some dude who lives in London and owns mines in India. That is just my own vibes on that front.

Finally, I will also say this to those whose instant reaction to the news of the Khosla Family being the buyers was filled with toxicity against them. If you can manage it, try to be a bit more open minded, especially if you are a diehard fan of the team. We simply have to be realistic about a number of things.

Aside of the Green Bay Packers being publicly owned, there are no other sports franchises in North America that follow that model. The leagues will not allow it, and the situation in Green Bay was grandfathered in. This is a statement of fact.

The price tags for teams in the NFL, NBA, and MLB are becoming so incredibly steep these days that the number of people on this planet that can afford to purchase them is rapidly shrinking. The billionaire class that is increasingly becoming hated on in these struggling times, is a very small demographic, and most people who have become members of this class probably have some unappealing skeletons or two in their closets. Therefore, aside from possibly MacKenzie Scott in these parts, anyone who was going to end up the majority owner of this franchise was destined to have something about them that feels unappealing to some.

If you hate AI, and don’t love the fact that Vinod took a popular beach away from stoner surfers in the Bay, you are more than welcome to trade in your Seahawk fandom card. I won’t have a beef with that.

If over the years, the Khoslas prove to be very much like the Allens in their stewardship of the Seahawks, and they help keep this team within championship contention, the bandwagon will always welcome your return at a future date, if you choose to change your tune, and climb back on board it. I will be here waiting for you.

For me, as I looked into these people a bit more now in the wake of the announced sales agreement, I am feeling significantly better about this situation more, and more. In fact, I think the feeling I feel now is more relief than anything else.

But if you are not right here with me, for whatever reason, that is okay. I trust in time all of this will be perfectly fine.

Again, I don’t sense it is likely these people will be meddlesome, and difficult, and on the spectrum driven by intense egos. That is not my read at all on who they appear to be, at all, and I am confident that Schneider and his front office probably have a very similar read, and maybe, just maybe this is why we didn’t see Steve Balmer step up in the end. Just saying.

We shall see.

Go Hawks.