CenturyLink Field is "no longer the 'Home of the 12th Man,'" as the Seahawks on Friday confirmed that they have "changed the related signage to read 'Home of the 12s,'" according to Chris Daniels of KING5.com. A Seahawks spokesperson said that the team "made the move because 'Seahawks fans have organically shifted to 12s.'" The club has been using the trademarked "12th Man" term "under an agreement" with Texas A&M, after the school sued "for infringement nearly a decade ago." It ended in an "out-of-court settlement, which banned the Seahawks from using the phrase, establishing an organization or raising a flag with those words." The original deal with Texas A&M "was made in 2006 and renewed" in '11. It is "set to expire" in '16 (KING5.com, 8/14). In Portland, Erik Anderson noted with the new signage, a look at some of the Seahawks' social media accounts "shows reduced use of '12th Man.'" The Seahawks' official Twitter account as well as those of coach Pete Carroll and CB Richard Sherman "have used the term sparingly" since '13. Only Sherman "used it more than once in that time period," while Carroll "never used it." The "last time" @Seahawks wrote "12th Man" in a tweet came in September '12. The Seahawks also "created a Twitter account" -- @12s -- in May '14 to "promote the new branding" (Portland OREGONIAN, 8/16).
