Blitz is the official mascot

Mascot

The term mascot – defined as a term for any person, animal, or object thought to bring luck – colloquially includes anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name...

 of the Seattle Seahawks

Seattle Seahawks

The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle, Washington. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team joined the NFL in 1976 as an expansion team...

, a team in the National Football Conference

National Football Conference

The National Football Conference is one of the two conferences of the National Football League . This conference and its counterpart, the American Football Conference , currently contain 16 teams each, making up the 32 teams of the NFL.-Current teams:Since 2002, the NFC has comprised 16 teams,...

 of the National Football League

National Football League

The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...

. A large blue bird, Blitz made his debut on September 13, 1998 at the Seahawks' home opener at the Kingdome

Kingdome

The Kingdome was a multi-purpose stadium located in Seattle's SoDo neighborhood. Owned and operated by King County, the Kingdome opened in 1976 and was best known as the home stadium of the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League , the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball , and the...

 in Seattle.

After his inception Blitz's appearance changed slightly several times (including subtle changes in color in accordance with the team's updated color scheme implemented after moving to Qwest Field

Qwest Field

CenturyLink Field is a multi-purpose stadium in Seattle, Washington, United States. It serves as the home field for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League and Seattle Sounders FC of Major League Soccer...

 in 2002) before a dramatic facelift in 2004, in an effort to make him appear less menacing to children. With the exception of friendlier facial features, Blitz appears for the most part the same as he always has: a blue anthropomorphic bird of medium height, built like a bodybuilder, and wearing a Seahawks uniform (number 0).

Since the character's introduction in 1998, Blitz has been an integral part in the Seahawks' "Ready, Set, Goals!" reading program for children. In addition to all Seahawks home games, Blitz appears at hundreds of community and charity events throughout the year. He has also appeared at the Super Bowl

Super Bowl

The Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League , the highest level of professional American football in the United States, culminating a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. The Super Bowl uses Roman numerals to identify each game, rather...

 and the Pro Bowl

Pro Bowl

In professional American football, the Pro Bowl is the all-star game of the National Football League . Since the merger with the rival American Football League in 1970, it has been officially called the AFC–NFC Pro Bowl, matching the top players in the American Football Conference against those...

.

External links

• http://www.seahawks.com/gameday/blitz/ Blitz at the Seattle Seahawks official web site]