Profile of Seattle Seahawks

(Reuters) - Profile of the Seattle Seahawks, who play the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl on Feb. 1. Founded: 1975. The Seahawks, owned by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, began play in the NFC West in 1976, but switched to the AFC West a year later. They returned to the NFC West in 2002 as a part of NFL realignment. They played home games in the Kingdome (1976-2000) and Husky Stadium (2001) before moving to CenturyLink Field ahead of the 2002 season. - - NFC titles (season): 3 (2005, 2013, 2014) - - Super Bowl titles (season): 1 (2013) - - Head coach: Pete Carroll. The former coach of the New York Jets, New England Patriots and University of Southern California, Carroll has guided the revamped Seahawks to the postseason four of his five years in Seattle. - - Starting quarterback: Russell Wilson. Considered too short to be an NFL quarterback by many, the scrambling Wilson led Seattle to a second consecutive Super Bowl berth in his third season. He passed for 3,475 yards and 20 touchdowns and rushed for 849 yards and six touchdowns during the regular season. - - Leading receiver: Doug Baldwin. Caught 66 passes for 825 yards and three touchdowns during regular season. - - Leading rusher: Marshawn Lynch. Rushed 280 times for 1,306 yards and 13 touchdowns during regular season. - - Leading defenders: Linebacker K.J. Wright, 74 solo tackles. Defensive end Michael Bennett, seven sacks. Cornerback Richard Sherman, four interceptions. - - Fun Facts - The Seahawks are the only NFL team to play in both the AFC and NFC Championship games, having moved from the AFC to the NFC during league realignment prior to the 2002 season. - Quarterback Russell Wilson had a difficult time deciding between football and baseball until he transferred to the University of Wisconsin after playing both sports at North Carolina State University and signing a minor league baseball contract with the Colorado Rockies organization. He was a third round pick of the Seahawks in the 2012 NFL Draft. - - Famous Players - Steve Largent: The sure-handed Largent spent 13 seasons as a receiver with the Seahawks and was the first Seattle player selected to the Pro Bowl, an honor he won seven times. Elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1995, Largent held all major NFL receiving records, including: most receptions in a career (819), most receiving yards in a career (13,089), and most touchdown receptions (100) when he retired. - Cortez Kennedy: Generally considered one of the best defensive tackles to play in the NFL, Kennedy was an eight-time Pro Bowl selection and a member of the NFL's 1990s All-Decade team. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2012. - Walter Jones: A dominant offensive tackle during his 12 seasons with the Seahawks, Jones was a nine-time Pro Bowl selection and a member of the NFL's 2000s All-Decade team. A first-round draft choice in 1997, he played in 180 games with Seattle and started all of them. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2014. - - Team name and colors: One of the many names of the osprey, a long-wing bird of prey, Seahawks was selected as Seattle's nickname in a fan contest. Colors: Navy, action green and wolf grey. - - Most famous supporter: American rapper Macklemore who won Best New Artist at last year's Grammys. His producer/collaborater Ryan Lewis is also a Seahawks fan. - - City of Seattle: - Seattle is the northernmost U.S city with a population of over half a million (640,500). - Seattle was the first American city to put police on bicycles. - The original Starbucks was opened in Pike Place Market in Seattle in 1971. - - Previous Super Bowl appearances - Seattle has made it to the NFL championship game twice previously, losing to the Pittsburgh Steelers 21-10 in the Super Bowl following the 2005 season and beating the Denver Broncos 43-8 last year. The Seahawks had an NFC-best regular season record of 12-4 in 2014. - - 2014 regular season record: 12-4, won NFC West division Week 1 - vs Green Bay, won 36-16 Week 2 - at San Diego, lost 30-21 Week 3 - vs Denver, won 26-20* Week 4 - Bye Week Week 5 - at Washington, won 27-17 Week 6 - vs Dallas, lost 30-23 Week 7 - at St. Louis, lost - 28-26 Week 8 - at Carolina, won 13-9 Week 9 - vs Oakland, won 30-24 Week 10 - vs New York Giants, won 38-17 Week 11 - at Kansas City, lost 24-20 Week 12 - vs Arizona, won 19-3 Week 13 - at San Francisco, won 19-3 Week 14 - at Philadelphia, won 24-14 Week 15 - vs San Francisco, won 17-7 Week 16 - at Arizona, won 35-6 Week 17 - vs St. Louis, won 20-6 (*) Denotes overtime - - NFC playoff seeding: 1 Path to the Super Bowl - First round bye; Beat Carolina 31-17 in the divisional round; Beat Green Bay 28-22 in overtime for the NFC Championship. (Compiled by Frank Pingue in Toronto, Editing by Simon Evans in Miami)