SEATTLE — There are two loves in Warren Wyatt's life: his wife, and the Seattle Seahawks.
"I love the Seahawks, because they're a fan forward organization that cares about its fans, because it's a great football team, the experience at the stadium, everything," he said, "We look forward to Seahawk season, NFL season like we do for Christmas, so not being able to go is like someone took Christmas from us."
He and his wife Julie have traveled the world to watch the team, attending all three Seattle Super Bowls, and the game in London too.
Yet, even after missing out on watching games in person last year, and the chance to attend games this year, Wyatt is calling a time out.
"I love the Seahawks, I love the experience, I love the fans. I love the team, we just can't do it yet, we don't have the guidance to pull it off. It's not safe," he said, "You can't put 70,000 people next to each other without any kind of real guidance, in a stadium you know we're going to scream as loud as we can for as long as our voice holds out and expect someone's not going to get infected with this delta variant."
Wyatt said he wishes the Hawks would have followed the Las Vegas Raiders lead, which announced this week that fans will need to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 to attend home games, the first such team to make the declaration in the NFL. Fans will be allowed to get shots on site, and wear a mask inside, if they prefer. Unvaccinated fans will be allowed to get refunds on tickets if they choose not to follow the terms.
"We're willing to make the tough decision," Raiders Owner Mark Davis told reporters. "It's not just about you, it's the person sitting next to you, and that's who we're trying to protect as well."
The NHL's Winnipeg Jets have also made a similar mandate for their upcoming season.
The Seahawks are highlighting that there will be 300 hand sanitizing stations in the stadium on Saturday, and encouraging mask use in indoor public spaces. The franchise said there will be touchless technology in bathrooms and enhanced cleaning in restrooms.
The team also said it will "continue to follow all state and local public health and government requirements for outdoor sporting events, as well as NFL protocols, to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all guests, players, and staff. For Saturday's game, in accordance with current guidelines, all guests are strongly encouraged to wear masks in indoor public spaces of the stadium regardless of vaccination status. Unvaccinated guests are required to wear masks at all times except while actively eating or drinking. Per the state's updated mask mandate going into effect August 23, until further notice, future Seahawks games will require all fans to wear masks in indoor areas of the stadium regardless of vaccination status. At this time, guests are not required to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination to attend Seahawks games at Lumen Field. The Seahawks will communicate updates on these policies to ticket holders as they are available."
There is an argument to be made that the Mariners, Sounders and Storm have had already had large groups of fans at events without major implications.
"Just because other people are making poor decisions doesn't allow us to say it's okay," said Wyatt, who added that his silent blue protest will continue until changes are made. "We're committed that until there is some better guidance, not attending games in person, not selling, not giving to family and friends, those seats are going to stay empty."