Overview
- In 2005, 2013, and 2025, the elections of Popes Benedict XVI, Francis, and Leo XIV coincided with the Seahawks reaching the Super Bowl.
- Each of those seasons ended with Seattle as the NFC’s No. 1 seed with only three regular-season losses (13–3 in 2005 and 2013, 14–3 in 2025).
- Seattle booked its spot in Super Bowl LX by defeating the Los Angeles Rams 31–27 in the NFC Championship Game and will face the New England Patriots.
- The quirky overlap has been amplified by national outlets and social media, including a widely shared post from The Athletic and Reddit compilations.
- Local reporting notes caveats such as 1978’s ‘Year of Three Popes’ and Seattle’s 2014 Super Bowl trip without a new pope, emphasizing a coincidence rather than causation.