Tri-Cities Seahawks superfan ecstatic after team clinches Super Bowl spot
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- Pamela Michelle Kinsey, PNNL project manager, celebrates Seahawks going to Super Bowl.
- She exemplified 12th Man fandom at the NFC title in Seattle.
- She weighs travel and ticket costs before deciding on attending Super Bowl LX.
By day, Pamela Kinsey is a project manager in the national security directorate at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland.
The rest of the time, she’s Pamela Michelle, an inspirational book author and the high-spirited embodiment of the Seattle Seahawk’s 12th Man tradition.
She cheers on her favorite team at home and away and most importantly, when they’re winning important games, like the one Sunday that netted them a trip to the Super Bowl.
Michelle is the kind of fan who says “we won” or “we lost” when others might say “Seattle” or “the team” or “the Seahawks.”
This week, it was “We won!” as the Seahawks defeated the Los Angeles Rams 31-27 in the NFC championship game in Seattle. Michelle, a season ticket holder, was cheering them on alongside her daughter from her seats in Section 320.
The seats are high in the stadium, near the flags. But they’re in the stadium, she said.
Topping off the night, she ran into “Stan Darnold,” the Seattle resident who has emerged as an unexpected celebrity because of his uncanny resemblance to Hawks quarterback Sam Darnold.
Darnold’s doppelganger, Ben Conklin, has been called out by TV cameras, profiled in the New York Times and singled out by fans eager for a photo with their favorite quarterback, or a reasonable facsimile.
On Sunday, Michelle was thrilled to add a photo with him to her collection of Seahawks images. She promptly posted the image to social media and shared it with the Tri-City Herald, brimming with enthusiasm.
“The best game ever last night and to top it off I personally met ‘Stan’ Darnold afterwards!!” she bubbled.
She’s been to what she calls three Super Bowl “experiences” and routinely travels to away games to be near the action even if she isn’t always in the stadium.
She hasn’t decided if she’ll travel to watch the Seahawks take on the New England Patriots at Superbowl LX on Feb. 8 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif.
Airline tickets were a reasonable $344 when she checked, but game tickets started at $6,000 – too spendy for her budget.
She calls herself a lifelong sports enthusiast who has been cheering on anyone and everyone since she was a teen at Stevens Junior High in Pasco.
She cheered at Stevens, at Pasco High and, when her family moved across the Columbia River, at Kennewick High School.
She kept on cheering as a business student at Washington State University, where she was a member of the gray squad, associated with indoor sports. The grays took the field for the annual Apple Cup, touching off a madness for football that persists.
“It’s my personality. I enjoy encouraging people. Whether they win or lose, you’re being a cheerleader for them and lifting them up,” she said.
Seahawks love
She dedicated herself to the Seahawks abut 10 years ago, but her family has mixed allegiances. A daughter shares her enthusiasm for Seattle, but her relatives in New Orleans back the Saints and a son prefers the Detroit Lions.
She’s been known to don rival garb when Seahawk interests aren’t in play.
At Super Bowl LVII, when the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Philadelphia Eagles at Glendale, Ariz., she wore a tutu in Kansas City colors and was photographed at the team’s hotel.
“I’m not a traitor. I’m a person who loves football,” she said.
Now, she’s thrilled to see her favorite team bound for the Super Bowl in her first year as a season ticket holder.
When the Seahawks closed out the season against the San Francisco 49ther at Levi’s Stadium in early January, she knew they’d be back in California soon.
“I knew we would be going to the Super Bowl. I saw it in them,” she said.
This story was originally published January 26, 2026 at 5:49 PM.