This Seahawks super fan is all about the ‘Love’

As he walked through the crowd before a recent home game at CenturyLink Field, Shannon Love was the center of attention. Fans stopped to take his picture, shake his hand and ask if his floor-length white fur coat was indeed real.

Underneath the coat, Love was dressed in an all-white suit and a white fedora with a green ribbon.

“Pimpin’ ain’t easy!” a fan shouted in his direction.

“See, that’s the stuff I don’t like,” said Love, who is known as “Sea-Pimp” among diehard members of the 12th Man who have seen him sit front row in the south end zone at Seahawks games for years.

“I don’t like that because I’m not a pimp and I don’t want anything about that,” he said. “Everywhere I go, it doesn’t matter what part of the country I’m in, people are calling me ‘pimp this, pimp that.’ I don’t like it. I’m trying to change it.”

Love (yes, his real name is Shannon Love), would rather go by “Mr. Love,” but said he answers to a lot of things – although he would rather fans didn’t call him Elton John, which he’s gotten before.

During the Seahawks final regular season game against the Rams, Love showed up near the stadium in an old limousine. He received more attention than usual from fans as he brought with him “Sea-Pinup” girl, Miss Kitty Mansfield. The brunette beauty was clad in a 1940s inspired Seahawks dress that was a hit with fans.

“Do I look okay?” she asked a group of tailgaters as she posed for a picture.

“You look fantastic!” was the overwhelming response.
Love and Mansfield posed for dozens of pictures before making their way inside to take their seats.

“We love him! He’s a legend here, hello?” one fan said of Love.

“Best dressed here. Winner of the best dressed,” said another.

A member of the Blue Thunder Drumline, which performs at each game, walked up to Love to tell him he always looks for him in the stands.

“You always do?” Love asked. “Right on, man!”
While he certainly stands out in a crowd, Love’s game-day attire is not all that different from what he wears every single day.

“My friend’s would say, “I feel comfortable in sweats and jeans,'” he said. “I go, ‘Great. I wouldn’t feel comfortable in jeans and a t-shirt and so-forth.’ I feel comfortable in a suit and tie. That’s where I’m most at home.”

Love also feels at home watching the Hawks. He has sat front row for every single home game for the past 38 years, with the exception of a game that he spent in the hospital, but fellow super fans placed a full-size “Mr. Love” cardboard cutout in his seat.

While he is a regular at games, Love said he is less concerned with what happens on the field than he is with what happens in the stands. While he wants the team to win, he said he has never been one to keep track of statistics.

“I’ve never been that way,” he said. “I’ve always been fascinated with the crowd and the experience of the crowd. I’m all about the love.”

In fact, Love has used his fame as a fan to help others.

Both he and Mansfield are part of a “What a Fan” charity called Fans Against Child Abuse that raises awareness to stop abuse, neglect and bullying. He and Mansfield are currently trying to raise funds to bring their message to the Super Bowl next month.

Love also hopes to bring his message of good sportsmanship to Broncos and Seahawks fans alike.

“It’s a game for crying out loud! That’s my message,” he said. “Let’s all of us fans have a good time and enjoy the game and let the banter begin – in a friendly way.”