Othello Seahawks House gets a visit from 12 Tour

OTHELLO — The sun shone bright on the three-bedroom, 2,200-square-foot, two-story on East Oak in this small farming community in central Washington.

Roger and Sharon Ensz began transforming the house, the property, the yard decor into all things 12, a few years back, taking their excitement for the Seattle Seahawks to a new level. But on Sunday, Father's Day to be exact, they experienced the crowning jewel – the Seahawks feather in their cap.

Roger stood in the front yard, leaning against a black pickup decked out in all its 12 pride and glory with Seahawks logos and emblems. What made this particular truck special was the green signature of Seattle linebacker KJ Wright on the tailgate.

It was authentic. Roger met with the Seahawks linebacker during a fundraiser the previous summer in Moses Lake. Using a little creativity, he took the signature he got that day and had it blown up and laminated so that it could be transferred to the tailgate as a permanent part of the paint.

“We had KJ's signature in white. But when it came time to transfer it, we thought it would show up better in green on the black background,” Roger said, explaining the process.

But what made Father's Day in Othello rock was a personal visit by the Seahawks 12 Tour prior to its historic rally at Lions Park.

Yep, the Seahawks came to the Seahawk House on East Oak. As the bus containing second-year offensive linemen George Fant and Germain Ifedi, along with members of the Sea Gals, the Blue Thunder drum group, team mascot Blitz, emcee Gee Scott from 710 ESPN Seattle and DJ Supa Sam, Roger took a deep breath and called out.

“Sharon, they're here,” he said.

His wife suddenly appeared through the gathering of friends and family in the yard.

“This is a dream come true for me,” said Sharon, who moved to Washington from California and married Roger in 2004. “I've always hoped for something like this ever since we started decorating the yard.”

As the bus unloaded with the four-member group from the cheerleading squad, the drum group, the players, Blitz the mascot, the Enszes were the envy of the neighborhood as neighbors gathered in their front yards and driveways to watch the spectacle.

The Seahawks organization has been reaching out to its fan base with the 12 Tour, targeting different areas of the state for an all-inclusive rallying point. Whatever they were expecting with this particular stop, it certainly wasn't the extravagance of the Seahawk House in a community with a population of 7,364 people.

“This is amazing,” one Sea Gal said.

It wasn't just a canned statement, it truly was a compliment to a Seahawks-themed property that includes custom paint jobs, a massive hand-drawn logo and intricate yard decorations. Even the birdhouse in the tree in the front yard donned Seattle blue and green. The gathering chuckled as a black cat scurried out from under the truck, sporting a neon green collar as it darted off into the bushes.

The 12 Tour entourage signed everything from neon green doors to the house, to 12 flags, to posters and banners as they walked through the property to the backyard. Like Wright before them, the Fant and Ifedi signatures will go on the tailgate in their own special place on Roger's truck.

The 12 Tour presented Roger and Sharon with their own special 12 flag. Coming directly from the Seattle organization itself, it will have a special place in the Othello Seahawk House.

“This is cool. The Seahawks have a unique way of doing things up here in the Northwest and we like to reach out and do stuff like this,” said Ifedi, who is expected to start at right tackle this season. “This is Seahawks Country and we like to respect our fans as much as they respect us. This display for our team is really something.”

Fant grew up in Kentucky, played college basketball at Western Kentucky University. Last year, he was part of the 12 Tour that visited Portland. This was his first trip into the Washington farmland.

“It reminds me a lot of back home in Kentucky,” he said. “It's great to be able to come here and give something back to the people that come out and support us year after year. I'm a small-town kind of guy, so this is great to be able to come here and be a part of this.”

Roger and Sharon spent time and money to make their home into something special. Roger is a contractor, who used to build homes before focusing on remodels. So they banked heavily on his skill set during the transformation process. They painted an intense set of Seahawk eyes on the top floor of the house, painted a large 12 on the garage door with an overlapping team logo. They have bird feeders, lawn mowers, yard decor – all things 12 – to make the Seahawks House on Oak Street a thing to behold in Seahawks Country.

But the crown jewel — that special day in June — was the opportunity to show the place off to the men and women who take the field in CenturyLink Field on game day.

Of course the cherry on top was getting to ride to Lions Park on the tour bus with the 12 Tour as it made its historic journey through the streets of Othello.

Rodney Harwood is a sports writer at the Columbia Basin Herald and can be reached at rharwood@columbiabasinherald.com.