The Packers have JT, Lil Wayne and Ellen; here are six of the Seahawks' most famous fans
Kendra MeinertThe Green Bay Packers can count such A-listers as Justin Timberlake, Ellen DeGeneres, Lil Wayne and Harry Styles among their fans, so who do the Seattle Seahawks have on their side?
Singer Ciara, of course, but she happens to be married to quarterback Russell Wilson, so let's go deeper down the roster. Here's six celebs you can bet will be cheering for the visiting team when the Seahawks take on the Packers for the NFC divisional-round playoff game Sunday at Lambeau Field.
Chris Pratt: The “Guardians of the Galaxy” and “Jurassic World” star was born on the Iron Range of northern Minnesota but escaped Vikings fandom when his family moved to Washington when he was 7. He explained his allegiance to the Seahawks in a 2016 interview: “Because they’re solid Americans who lead by example, because Russell Wilson goes to Seattle Children’s Hospital every Tuesday, and because they’re a dominant football force that puts team first.”
(No wonder he was so nervous about meeting Aaron Rodgers he burned a steak while entertaining the Packers quarterback at a summer grill-out, an incident he humorously recounted on “The Late Late Show with James Corden” in 2016.)
Macklemore. The Grammy Award-winning rapper and the Seahawks go together like Pete Carroll and chewing gum. The Seahawks coach is a huge fan of Macklemore, and vice versa. The two first met at a Macklemore show in 2012 when "The Heist” album had just dropped and have been buds ever since. Macklemore has superfan status, performing at halftime at CenturyLink Field, hanging out on the sidelines and watching games from Carroll’s private suite. Last year, he put former Seahawks defensive lineman Cliff Avril in his video for “I Don’t Belong in This Club” with pop band Why Don’t We.
“Knowing that he loves sports and he loves Seattle and he's so connected to the 12th man and all that, it's been a blast. He's been a big factor. Every time we score a touchdown we play his music (“Can’t Hold Us”). It's a big deal to us,” Carroll said of Macklemore in 2014.
RELATED: 17 famous fans of the Green Bay Packers, from JT to Ellen
RELATED: The Packers gave Lil Wayne a gift any cheesehead would crave
Joel McHale. “This is the coolest thing that’s ever happened to me, and I have two children and I’ve been married for a long time. My marriage pales in comparison to this, and human life being brought into the world,” he said when he was invited to raise the 12 flag during pregame festivities at CenturyLink Field in 2015. The actor best known for TV’s “Community” and “The Soup” is such an astute fan he helped call a preseason game last August for the Seahawks Radio Network broadcast. There was also that time he wore a custom-made bird thong on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show."
Rainn Wilson. Born in the “nerd-friendly city” (his words, not ours) of Seattle, the actor forever known as Dwight K. Schrute from “The Office” partied in the Seahawks locker room after they beat the Oakland Raiders in 2018 in London. “I’m in the Seahawks’ dressing room," he said in a social media video, "and it stinks." Last May, he showed up to the Virginia Mason Athletic Center to watch his team during OTAs. He talked about his connection to the city and team in a 2014 video for the NFL.
Ann Wilson. Heart has been synonymous with Seattle since the ’70s, so it’s not a stretch that she's been crazy on her hometown team. “To me, they seem passionate but they’re kind of ice cold. I’ve seen them come back from places you wouldn’t even think they could come back from,” she said in an NFL video. She belted out the national anthem for the NFC championship game against the San Francisco 49ers at CenturyLink in 2014, drawing mixed reviews for her big finish.
Mike McCready. The Pearl Jam lead guitarist and Seattle native is a lifelong fan. The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer played the national anthem at CenturyLink for the 2017 home opener, and last year, did the honors of raising the 12 flag before kickoff. “Russell Wilson is the best," he said. "He’s just so fast and he’s so intuitive.”
Contact Kendra Meinert at 920-431-8347 or kmeinert@greenbay.gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @KendraMeinert.