Back Story

Camping in Cheney: When Seattle was awarded an NFL expansion franchise 50 years ago, one of the first orders of business was establishing a site for the team’s summer training camp. In those days, the hardboiled owners who ran the league were convinced that, during the crucial preseason training period, their mostly youthful players should be housed as far away from “distractions” as possible. The EWU campus, with its relative isolation, seemed to fit the bill. The team would summer in Cheney until 1985, then again from 1997-2006. Pictured is Chuck Knox, the Seahawks’ head coach from 1983–1991, talking to reporters during his first trip to EWU.