Seattle Seahawks Visit Military Base For Team-Building Activity

The Seattle Seahawks paid an important trip to Joint Base Lewis-McChord earlier this week.

Oct 7, 2021; Seattle, Washington, USA; Seattle Seahawks linebacker Jon Rhattigan (59) stands on the sideline during the third quarter against the Los Angeles Rams at Lumen Field. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports / Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports

When most think of this time in the NFL offseason, images of endless practices and workouts likely come to mind. However, it's also an extremely important time for building team chemsitry, both on and off the field.

As a team-building exercise, the Seattle Seahawks took a trip to Joint Base Lewis-Mchord, an army base southwest of Tacoma, to show some appreciation to those who serve.

"I just want everyone to understand why we're here," Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald told players and soldiers. "First of all, pay our respects to the men and women at the tip of the spear for this country, protecting us on a daily basis with their lives and allow us to do this incredible job that we do day in and day out. Secondly, just to have some fun man, let's have some fellowship, everybody get to meet each other and sign some autographs. We want to understand what you guys do and get an understanding of what your day looks like. It's going to be an awesome day."

Notably, this was one of the first true team-building activities for Seattle's rookies. Defensive tackle Byron Murphy II, the Seahawks' first-round pick in April's draft, said it was an all-new experience for him as he had never been to a military base before.

No one appreciated the trip more than linebacker Jon Rhattigan, who played college football at Army and was Seattle's Salute to Service nominee last season. As someone with a military background, Rhattigan watching his teammates learn about the lives of soldiers was a special feeling.

"It really does say a lot [about the coaches], to have a coaching staff come in and understand how much the 12s mean to our organization and how much this [visit] would mean to the 12s and the community that we have here down at JBLM, it's cool to have done this and to have done it so spontaneously, it makes it all the better."

The Seahawks have visited military bases before, but this marks the first time that the entire team made the trip rather than smaller groups. With how well this seemed to go, it wouldn't be surprising to see the team schedule similar trips in the future.

"There are a lot of similarities between football and the military, and this is a really easy event that we can put on to showcase that and build the relationship," Rhattigan said.