Seattle Seahawks’ Super Bowl LV Trip Was Destiny Following Pope Leo XIV’s Election
If you were looking at the preseason odds back in August, you probably laughed. The Seattle Seahawks were sitting at 60-to-1 long shots to make the Super Bowl. The roster had questions, the NFC West was a gauntlet, and the idea of a deep playoff run felt more like a fever dream than a prediction.
But the oddsmakers missed the one metric that actually matters. Forget DVOA. Forget EPA per play. Forget the PFF grades. If Vegas really wanted to know who was winning the NFC, they shouldn’t have been looking at game film. They should have been watching for white smoke rising from the Vatican. Because, as it turns out, the Seattle Seahawks are the chosen team of the Papacy.
The Holy Trinity Of Seahawks Super Bowl Runs
You can call it a coincidence if you want, but at this point, the data is too spooky to ignore. We are witnessing one of the weirdest, most specific trends in NFL history. Since the turn of the millennium, every single time the Catholic Church elects a new Pope, Seattle books a ticket to the big game.
It started in 2005. The world watched as Pope Benedict XVI was elected. That same season, Matt Hasselbeck and Shaun Alexander torched the league, leading the Seahawks to a 13-3 record and their first-ever Super Bowl appearance. Sure, they lost to the Steelers in a game officiating historians still argue about, but they made it.
Fast forward to 2013. Pope Francis steps onto the balcony. What happens in the Pacific Northwest? The “Legion of Boom” reaches its peak, Russell Wilson finds his groove, and the Seahawks absolutely dismantle the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XLVIII.
And now, here we are. Before the 2025 season kicked off, Pope Leo XIV was elected. And right on cue, despite the doubters, despite the odds, the Seattle Seahawks are heading to Super Bowl LX to face the New England Patriots. Three new Popes. Three NFC Championships. You literally cannot make this stuff up.
Divine Intervention In the NFC Championship?
If you watched the NFC Championship game against the Rams, you might have felt like something otherworldly was at play. The Rams were tough. They had just knocked off the Chicago Bears in the Divisional Round.
And that’s where the narrative gets even better. Rumor has it that Pope Leo XIV is actually a Bears fan. When the Rams sent Chicago packing, did they unknowingly seal their own fate? It feels like cosmic justice that the Seahawks, the team clearly riding the wave of papal destiny, were the ones to avenge the Bears and take down Los Angeles 31-27.
Sam Darnold, of all people, was standing there holding the George Halas Trophy. If you told a Seahawks fan three years ago that Darnold would be the quarterback leading them to a Super Bowl during a papal election year, they would have asked what you were smoking. But here we are.
The Gambler Who Read the Signs
While the rest of us were analyzing depth charts, one bettor was apparently reading tea leaves—or maybe attending Sunday mass with extra focus. Back in August, when the Seahawks were an afterthought to the national media, one bettor at BetMGM dropped a casual $150,000 on Seattle futures. We’re talking $50,000 on them to make the playoffs, $50,000 on them to win the NFC, and another $50k on them to win the whole thing.
He’s already pocketed nearly $1.5 million. If Seattle finishes the job against New England, he’s walking away with another $3 million. Did he know about the Pope trend? Did he have a vision? Or is he just the luckiest fan on the planet? Either way, he put his money where the miracle was, and it’s paying off in a way that defies all football logic.
History Says Seattle Has a Chance
There is one hiccup in the data: 1978, the “Year of Three Popes.” The Seahawks didn’t make the Super Bowl then, when the franchise had only existed for two years. Even divine intervention has its limits when you’re an expansion team building from scratch.
Since becoming a legitimate contender in the 2000s, the trend is undefeated. Now, Seattle faces the Patriots in Super Bowl LX. The last time these two met on this stage, it ended in heartbreak at the one-yard line. It was gut-wrenching. It was a tragedy. But that was under the watch of Pope Francis.
We’re in the era of Pope Leo XIV now. The vibes are different. The quarterback is different. And if history is any indication, the Seahawks aren’t just playing for a Lombardi Trophy; they’re playing to keep the most bizarre streak in sports alive.
