The 1997 Seattle Seahawks season was the team's 22nd season with the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). This season would mark a new era for the Seahawks as they drafted two first round picks (

Shawn Springs Shawn Springs (born March 11, 1975) is a former American college and professional football player who was a cornerback in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons. He played college football for Ohio State University, and earned All- ...

and Walter Jones) and traded quarterback

Rick Mirer Richard Franklin Mirer (born March 19, 1970) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons. He played college football at Notre Dame and was selected second overall by the Seattle Sea ...

and signed

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston from its founding in 1960 to 1996 before relocating to Memphis, and later Nashville, Tennessee becoming the Tennessee Titans. The Oilers began play in 1960 as ...

quarterback

Warren Moon Harold Warren Moon (born November 18, 1956) is an American former football quarterback who played professionally for 23 seasons. He spent the majority of his career with the Houston Oilers of the National Football League (NFL) and the Edmonton ...

to be John Friesz's backup. Moon and Jones would go on to be selected to the

Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coach ...

in 2006 and 2014, respectively. They also signed rookie quarterback

Jon Kitna Jon Kelly Kitna (born September 21, 1972) is a former American football quarterback in the National Football League for the Seattle Seahawks, Cincinnati Bengals, Detroit Lions, and Dallas Cowboys. He played college football at Central Washington ...

. After a Week 1 injury to Friesz, Moon led the Seahawks improvement from 1996's 7–9 record to finish 8–8. This would be Moon's last season making the

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

in his career, he went on to win Pro Bowl MVP. This season is notable for being the first under new owner Microsoft co-founder

Paul Allen Paul Gardner Allen (January 21, 1953 – October 15, 2018) was an American business magnate, computer programmer, researcher, investor, and philanthropist. He co-founded Microsoft Corporation with childhood friend Bill Gates in 1975, which h ...

. Allen helped keep the team from relocating and made sure it remained in Seattle.

NFL draft

Personnel

Staff

Final roster

* Starters in bold. * (*) Denotes players that were selected for the

1998 Pro Bowl The 1998 Pro Bowl was the NFL's all-star game for the 1997 season. The game was played on February 1, 1998, at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii. The final score was AFC 29, NFC 24. Warren Moon of the Seattle Seahawks, invited to participate ...

Schedule

Preseason

:Source: Seahawks Media Guides

Regular season

Divisional matchups have the AFC West playing the NFC West. :Bold indicates division opponents. :Source: 1997 NFL season results

Standings

Game Summaries

Preseason

Week P1: vs. Minnesota Vikings

Week P2: vs. Arizona Cardinals

Week P3: at San Francisco 49ers

Week P4: vs. Indianapolis Colts

Week P5: at Cincinnati Bengals

Regular season

Week 1: vs. New York Jets

Week 2: vs. Denver Broncos

Week 3: at Indianapolis Colts

Week 4: vs. San Diego Chargers

Week 5: at Kansas City Chiefs

Week 6: vs. Tennessee Oilers

Week 8: at St. Louis Rams

Week 9: vs. Oakland Raiders

Week 10 at Denver Broncos

Week 11: at San Diego Chargers

Week 12: at New Orleans Saints

Week 13: vs. Kansas City Chiefs

Week 14: vs. Atlanta Falcons

Week 15: at Baltimore Ravens

This was the first time the Seahawks had ever played a regular season game in Baltimore against either the Colts or the Ravens.

Week 16: at Oakland Raiders

Week 17: vs. San Francisco 49ers

Awards and records

, Pro Bowl MVP Award''NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book'', Workman Publishing Co, New York, , p. 202

References

External links

Seahawks draft history at NFL.com

1997 draft at HickokSports.com

1997 NFL season results at NFL.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:1997 Seattle Seahawks Season

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

Seattle Seahawks seasons