How does a guy’s senior thesis about a tyrannical king turn into a rallying crowd chant that would become ingrained in the NFL stadium song catalogue? It’s a story that involves Phish, Russell Wilson, and the perfect intersection of NFL and rock n’ roll fans.
Phish had been performing the song ‘Wilson’ for decades. Taken from lead singer Trey Anastasio’s 1987 college thesis, the track quickly became an audience favorite. Then something else happened, and it took the band entirely by surprise.
The band would play the song’s usual double-E opening notes. (Duh-nuh, duh-nuh.) Unexpectedly, the audience then spontaneously erupted into a unified “Wiiiil-soonnn”. It started happening at show after show, reaching such a level at the band’s Madison Square Garden show that it brought Anastasio to tears. The add-on eventually became a staple at Phish shows from that point forward.
The NFL connection was made on a fateful night in Seattle, when Anastasio was playing a solo show in the Seahawks’ city. While Anastasio is a Jets fan himself, he brought an idea to the crowd: ‘Wilson’ should be played whenever the Seahawks quarterback walks onto the field. The Phish singer was inspired to make the call to action after admiring Wilson’s talent (while maintaining his loyalty to the New York Jets, of course).
At a later Seattle show in 2013, a fan threw a shirt onto the stage with Wilson’s jersey number on the back, and Phish’s name on the front. Not only did Anastasio take the shirt, he changed into it right away and wore it for the rest of the concert. The crowd erupted into the “Wiiiil-soonnn” chant, and Anastasio reiterated his wish.
“We are absolutely sure that this song is going to be in the loudest stadium in the world next season. […] Make it happen.”
From there, the idea snowballed. Seahawks Director of Game Presentation Mark Tamar started getting an influx of emails requesting that the song be incorporated at CenturyLink Field.
The demand became so intense that the Seahawks decided they would give the song a try for Wilson’s first appearance in the game. When he walked onto the field, the stadium cued the band’s ‘duh-nuh, duh-nuh’, and a visual graphic was created to incite fans to join in on the Phish chant.
It didn’t take long for the tradition to take off. Even fans of the opposing team couldn’t resist the two-tone rally cry whenever the quarterback walked onto the field. It became such a stadium staple that NFL Films made a feature about the unexpected crossover.
The fans loved it, the team loved it, and Russell Wilson loved it. Seahawks coach Pete Carroll was so onboard with the idea, that he would often have his assistant call up to the control room and request to get the anthem going in the second half to energize the team and Seahawks fans.
A college thesis turned rock n’ roll jam turned spontaneous crowd chant developed into a Seahawks tradition and it only took a few decades from the song’s creation for it to happen.
Phish has just one stipulation: the chant shouldn’t be used when the Seahawks are playing the Jets.
