Jersey bar offers home away from home for Super Bowl-bound Seahawks fans

Seahawks fans who are lucky enough to be making the trip to New Jersey for the Super Bowl will have two unofficial places to call home.

Hawks bars in Manhattan and East Rutherford are ready to show you a good time. Carlow East in Manhattan has been a Hawks hangout for years.

Rockafella’s in East Rutherford started serving the 12th Man in New Jersey about two years ago.

Both will be offering specials and pep rallies throughout the week.

“A lot of the customers are Seahawks fans and I actually became a Seahawks fan because of some of the players that I had on my fantasy football team,” says Rocko Pasquinucci, who owns Rockafella’s. “So I’ve actually been rooting for the team the past couple of years.”

And Pasquinucci is ready to show Seattle fans a great time, “The rally should be good — on Blue Friday should be good. We’ll get a bunch of us together, it should be crazy. There will be good, drinks. We’ll be flying our flags, it’s like a pep rally. And then we’ll hang out all night.”

It is also hosting a $25 a person viewing party for the game, if you don’t end up finding a ticket.

I asked Pasquinucci about the vibe in north Jersey right now. Who are people rooting for in this Super Bowl?

“Honestly, I think it’s about 50-50. I’m seeing a lot more Hawks fans but the people who are rooting for Denver are only rooting for Denver because of Eli’s brother. Otherwise, a lot of them are just Hawks fans.”

So the decision on who to root for comes down to whether you like a quarterback who isn’t even playing in this game, Eli Manning, Peyton’s younger brother.

And what’s fueling that particular sentiment is the Giants’ fans in town want Eli to be the only Manning with two Super Bowl trophies.

“There is some sympathy for Eli’s brother. But then again, you have all those Giants fans that don’t want to see his brother get a second Super Bowl and outdo Eli. So I would say there is more Hawk fans, from what I’m encountering,” says Pasquinucci.

Rockafella’s is about a mile from MetLife Stadium so you can walk to the game, in the sub-freezing temperatures.