Aden Durde was aware of the 12th man before arriving in Seattle, but the British NFL coach was left shaken by the reality of the Seahawks’ home support at Lumen Field. After linking up with head coach Mike Macdonald to marshal the defense in 2024, what started as a promising journey and a new chapter for a storied franchise ready to turn the page after a legendary run under Pete Carroll, has quickly catapulted Seattle into contention for the Super Bowl in year two.
The No 1 seeds in the NFC, having skipped the wild card round, resume their road to Super Bowl LX against divisional rivals San Francisco tonight. And the exhilarating experience of the NFL playoffs has a genuine British presence entering the divisional round, with Durde, born in Middlesex, poised to confront one of the most creative offensive minds in the sport’s history: Niners head coach Kyle Shanahan.
