Souhan: Why you should root for the Seahawks in Super Bowl XL

If you’re a Minnesotan who isn’t rooting for the Seattle Seahawks in the Super Bowl, no big deal. You just need to leave the state in the next 24 hours.

Rooting for the Patriots means accepting all of the cheating they did during their championship years, accepting the most bland color scheme this side of Penn State and allowing Stefon Diggs back into your life.

Wasn’t your life better without him? (Here everyone should fake a cough, the way Diggs did when skipping practice so he could force a trade.)

I’ll give the Patriots one hat tip: They signed former Vikings center Garrett Bradbury, who had a good year. The Vikings should have kept him, and Bradbury was a thoroughly likeable guy when he was wearing purple. So go ahead and cheer for the interior of the Patriots’ offensive line, if you must.

But if you’re a true Minnesotan, if you love hot dish, sub-zero temperatures, both days of spring, lakes and pro football teams that fail in the postseason, then you are required to pull for Seattle.

Let us count the whys:

Sorry if this one is painful, but Darnold helped the Vikings to 14 unexpected victories before collapsing last year. Then, and now, he has remained as egoless as a winning quarterback can be. He never blamed his bad times on anyone else, and he was known as a quality teammate.

Which reminds me that the offseason before the 1991 season, Twins General Manager Andy MacPhail tried to sign Mike Boddicker and Kirk Gibson. He failed. He settled for Jack Morris and Chili Davis, who proved vital to the team’s World Series championship that year.

Luck has a lot to do with winning.

Seahawks General Manager John Schneider attended St. Thomas. Vice President of Player Personnel Trent Kirchner attended St. John’s. Offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak, who will reportedly become head coach of the Raiders, coached for the Vikings.

Some Super Bowl appearances are fluky. Seattle’s is not. Schneider and Kirchner built a tremendous roster that should overwhelm the Patriots. Kubiak helped Darnold work through a late-season slump and play his best in the NFC title game against the Rams.

In January of 2019, Patriots owner Robert Kraft was charged with two counts of solicitation after visiting Orchids of Asia Day Spa in Jupiter, Fla.

Frazier, the Vikings’ interim coach in 2010 and full-time head coach from 2011-13, is the Seahawks’ assistant head coach. He’s also one of the best people I’ve met.

Frazier’s ability to get the Vikings to the playoffs in 2012 with a rebuilding roster and Christian Ponder at quarterback is one of the great coaching accomplishments of the past 20 years. He should have gotten another shot. But then, this NFL offseason, zero Black head coaches were hired.

The Patriots wear dull uniforms and play in a character-free concrete monstrosity in Foxborough, Mass., a place no one would otherwise visit in winter.

The Seahawks wear cool colors with cool names — college navy, action green and wolf gray. Those colors look just right under the lights of the loudest outdoor stadium in pro football.

The Seahawks play near the waterfront, a doable walk from Pike Place Market.

Attending a Patriots game in Foxborough is something you should try to get out of.

The last time these teams played in a Super Bowl against one another, Super Bowl XLIX, former Patriots coach and known cheater Bill Belichick sent in cornerback Malcolm Butler at the last second before the key play of the game. The Seahawks, trailing 28-24 in the final minute, called for a pass from the 1-yard line that Butler intercepted.

It was as if Butler knew the play.

After the game, Butler said he knew the pass was coming.

Which would be a nice story if Belichick wasn’t known for cheating.

How did Belichick know that play was coming?

Diggs, the former Vikings wide receiver, is with his fifth NFL team.

He’s also the subject of one of my favorite Vikings stories.

Former defensive line standout Brian Robison used to do funny interviews in the locker room. One week he asked his teammates, “Which player would you least want your sister to date?”