Burien residents Mick Purdy, an owner of Mick Kelly's Irish Pub, and Sean O'Rawe both grew up as soccer fans in Ireland.
But living in this Seattle suburb, they have become avid Seahawk fans - and season ticket holders.
So much so that within 24 hours of the Seahawks' Jan. 5 playoff win over the Washington Redskins, they had their tickets and plane, hotel and car reservations for a pilgrimage to Green Bay.
The Packers thumped Seattle 42-20 on Jan. 12, but Purdy and O'Rawe returned to Burien impressed with their experience in Title Town, USA, where they were featured in local television reports on Seahawk fans in town for the big post-season game.
They arrived in Green Bay late on Thursday afternoon before the Saturday game and, dressed in Seahawks' gear, went to a bar named Title Town where they were spotted and interviewed by a Seattle Times reporter.
Later, they would be featured back in the Northwest in KOMO (Channel 4) and KIRO (Channel 7) reports from Green Bay.
After leaving Title Town, they stopped at St. Brendan's, an Irish bar. A reporter from WBAY, the ABC affiliate in Green Bay, who was there asked if she could do a story on them the following day.
"Naturally," Purdy said.
"Of course," O'Rawe exclaimed.
Meanwhile, in a corner of the bar, a couple of Packers - including running back Ryan Grant, who two days later would shred the Seahawks' defense - played pool.
The next morning they met the WBAY reporter outside the stadium. By the time their interview was over, someone suggested that one of them run for mayor of the city because they said so many nice things about Green Bay.
And, O'Rawe remarked last week, "All the [Green Bay] fans were very good, very friendly. They thanked us for coming all the way to Green Bay.
Purdy added that on game day, "as we walked through the tailgate area, and they really know how to tailgate, Packer fans offered us beer and food."
They also ran into two Burien musicians-Dusty and Dave-who also were there to cheer for the Seahawks, as was another Seahawk fan from Tokyo, Japan, and a Green Bay fan from Manchester, England.
"Take the game out of it, and I rate [the experience] a 10 out of 10," Purdy said.
"It was a great time," O'Rawe declared. "The experience of going to Lambeau and the chance of seeing a big snow game."
Green Bay fans, they agreed, are "the best fans in football - apart from Seahawks' fans."
