Seahawks 12 Tour coming to Othello on Father's Day

RENTON — The Seattle Seahawks announced the summer 12 Tour, presented by Safeway, and the big news for the Columbia Basin is that it will feature a stop at Lions Park in Othello at noon on June 18.

Seahawks offensive linemen George Fant and Germain Ifedi will be the featured players on the first leg and will be joined by members of the Sea Gals, the Blue Thunder drum group, team mascot Blitz, emcee and host Gee Scott from 710 ESPN Seattle and DJ Supa Sam.

City of Othello officials also will be on hand to help raise The 12 flag and raise a ruckus for the Seattle Seahawks.

Last summer, the Seahawks 12 Tour made a stop at North Elementary School in Moses Lake and were met with a voluminous reception of Columbia Basin fans.

“It just makes my heart proud,” said Teresa Williams, who brought her five grandchildren to the event in Moses Lake. “I see them going to the bigger cities and I think, I’d be nice if they’d come here and share some of that 12th Man love. Now here they are. This is great for this community and our town.”

The Seahawks are going to spread some of that 12th Man love in Othello, knowing darn good and well the Seattle fan base is in the farming communities across the state and not just the I-5 corridor.

The stop will be a well orchestrated, choreographed event. Blue Thunder will pound out the beat and the Sea Gals will give Othello a look at the newest dance steps fans will see on the sidelines at CenturyLink Field. And of course, Blitz will strut his stuff.

“Being a pro means being involved and stuff like this, that’s part of it too,” Ifedi told the Columbia Basin Herald last year in Moses Lake. “I’ve been at community summer programs myself. So to come in here is like going back to my roots. It’s fun seeing these kids and how excited they are to be around NFL players. That’s something I would have ecstatic to see as a kid.”

Ifedi, who is headed into his second season with the Seahawks, grew up in Houston watching Texans players like Duane Brown and Adrian Foster conduct themselves. On the basketball side, he admired guys like Rockets players James Harden and Dwight Howard.

“They were always out in the community with kids,” he said. “To see guys that play at a high level, revered players, being a part of of something good showed me a lot. So this is the least I can do.” Fant is a 6-foot-5, 296-pound offensive tackle in his second season out of Western Kentucky. Last season, Fant emerged as an unlikely starter for the Seahawks at left tackle. Having weighed 250 as a basketball player at Western Kentucky in the 2014-15 season, he grew to 296 last season and is now at 320 as the Seahawks finish OTAs (Organized Team Activities) this week.

Othello and the surrounding Basin 12s can mark it on your calendar. On Father’s Day, Sunday, June 18 at noon at Lions Park the Seahawks are coming to town.

The 12 Tour will also make stops in Yakima, Ellensburg, Tri-Cities, Walla Walla, Anacortes, Bellingham and Oak Harbor on its swing through the state.