Seahawks coach Pete Carroll had one simple request for those on the team’s staff helping plan the team’s appearance in the first-ever NFL regular season game in Munich, Germany — make it feel as much like home as possible.
So, among the tasks for equipment manager Erik Kennedy in the run-up to Sunday’s game against Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was to buy, and have shipped, a basketball hoop.
The Seahawks have hoops in their meeting rooms and practice field in Renton so Carroll at anytime can conduct a team-building competition. The Seahawks also had hoops for their two Super Bowl appearances in Carroll’s tenure.
“The hoop is big for Pete,” Kennedy said, adding Carroll “wants to keep it all as consistent as possible for the guys.”
The hoop will stay in Munich when the Seahawks leave, with Kennedy saying the plan is to donate it.
The hoop is just a small part of work that began for many Seahawks staffers when the game was announced in May.
Shortly after that announcement, a group that included Kennedy, director of team travel Jeremy Young and vice president of coaching operations Matt Capurro, traveled to Munich to check out the team’s hotel, practice site and stadium.
The game will be the first American football contest held at Allianz Arena, the home of FC Bayern Munich soccer team.
The stadium has a listed capacity of 75,000, and tickets for the game essentially sold out almost the minute they went on sale, with Alexander Stenforth, who is the general manager, Germany for the NFL quoted as saying “three million tickets could have been sold if the stadium had enough capacity.”
The lowest ticket available on Vivid Seats as of Tuesday morning was $433 for one seat in the highest level behind an end zone.
“They are really pumped up about it,” Carroll said. “We are going to try and put on a show, make them see our football, and experience it in a way they never have before. It’s an honor to do that, and we will respect the heck out of every aspect of this.”
But for Carroll, there’s really only one thing that will make the trip a success — a win over the Bucs.
And with this being their second game in Europe in four years — a 27-3 win over the Raiders in London in 2018 — the Seahawks had a pretty good idea going in of the schedule they would follow.
“Having been to London four years ago and it being as successful as it was, we kind of had a blueprint of how to approach it,” said Capurro.
That included deciding to practice in Seattle on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and then leave for Munich following Wednesday’s practice, the same basic schedule as the London trip.
That allows for the team to get in the bulk of its game plan in Seattle while still leaving for a few days to get comfortable to the time change and surroundings in Germany. The Buccaneers are leaving Thursday evening after their practice.
The Seahawks are anticipating about a 10.5-hour flight — about an hour longer than London — which will get them to Munich on Thursday afternoon.
Upon landing, the team will hustle to its practice site, FC Bayern’s training grounds at Säbener Straße, with the Seahawks hoping to quickly get on German time, which is nine hours ahead.
One of Kennedy’s other tasks was to ship out more an 10 containers of practice apparel and other gear to be ready once the team arrives. Last week, Kennedy had players pick out the shoes they wanted for the trip and had those shipped ahead.
“It’s so that when the players get off the plane, they have what they want and they are going to be warm enough and comfortable enough,” he said.
With no indoor facility there, the Seahawks have been crossing their fingers for decent weather. Forecasts call for a chance of showers on Thursday but sun on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, with a high of 54 on gameday for a contest that will be held on a natural grass surface.
Among other items the Seahawks shipped ahead is a battery pack to power the team’s ball machine. The hope is that as more games are played in Germany — it’s expected to become an annual occurrence — such equipment will always be in place. But for now, the Seahawks pretty much had to account for just about everything they’d need to run a practice.
Kennedy said aside from the basketball hoop, some other equipment will be left behind and donated. Kennedy estimates the total weight of everything the team will take to Munich at more than 24,000 pounds.
All of also has to be accounted for with customs. And yes, everyone on the 164-person traveling party has to have a passport — which a team official will gather once the team arrives to prevent anyone losing theirs.
One other task? Young purchased 350 power adapters to accommodate the different plugs in Germany, to assure everyone will have access to one.
All of it, Kennedy said, is to attempt to make the trip “seamless. (Carroll) wants the players to be in same frame of mind there as here.”
The hope, he said, is that by Friday when players have begun to adjust to the time change “it’s just like a normal NFL road trip.”
The Seahawks were targeted for the game in part due to their popularity in Germany.
The team developed a big following there with the success of the Legion of Boom era and the Super Bowl win in 2013 and the Seahawks still have the second-highest social media following in Germany, according to Jeff Richards, the Seahawks vice president of marketing and community engagement.
A number of team and NFL events will be held to promote the game and the league, including meet-and-greets with former players and a Seahawks fan party Saturday night at the Augustiner Stammhaus Restaurant and Beerhall.
“To me, it’s like a (college) bowl game,” Carroll said. “Everything around it, there is somewhat of a celebration everywhere you go as you travel and at the airport. It just seems like there is an added level of attention to it that makes it fun.”
Once the game ends, the Seahawks will pack up and head to the airport for what they hope is a happy flight back home — one that will be about an hour longer than the one to get there.
But first, they’ll have to wait a little while for Tampa Bay. Both teams were not going to be easily accommodated leaving from Munich International Airport at the same time. So one of Tampa Bay’s perks for being the home team is that their flight will leave first.
“We’re shooting for about a 30-minute gap between us,” Young said.
But with a game starting at 6:30 a.m. PT, the hope is that if all goes well, the Seahawks will be back by midnight, “which is pretty crazy to think about,” Young said.
And then they’ll head into their bye week — something the NFL gives to teams who request it following an international game. With international games expected to become more and more of a regular occurrence for NFL teams, Carroll also hopes the trip ultimately feels the same as any other.
“Really, we are going to get on the bus, get on the plane, we will sleep a little bit longer, and we will be in a different country,” Carroll said. “It’s really not that big of a deal.”
