SEATTLE — For Kyle Dreessen, his passion for the Seahawks runs deep. So deep, his marital tattoo is a “12” on his ring finger.
“The Seahawks were his first love,” Kyle’s wife, Blair Dreessen, said.
It’s a love and a support that has meant more the last several years as Kyle battled Grade 4 brain cancer.
As the Seahawks made the Super Bowl, Blair took to social media to try and make Kyle’s lifelong dream of seeing his team play in the sport’s biggest game.
“If the Seahawks are watching, my bucket list is for you guys to go to the Super Bowl and take me with you,” Kyle told KIRO 7 when we spoke to him in November.
He and Blair took to the KIRO 7 airwaves last week, calling for the Seahawks to get them to the game.
The team had all the plans to do so, but an anonymous person close to the Dreessen family swooped in first, gifting them airfare, hotels and the tickets to San Francisco.
“Being a diehard sports fan, it shows you that it’s not always about the Saturdays, or whatever day they’re playing. It’s about the community, the rivalry, the camaraderie.” Kyle said, " You can have teams that just can’t stand each other, but you still have that commonality of coming and being together as a community to share a common interest. It’s something that’s always been there for me."
Treatment has been taxing, and the diagnosis is a weight to carry on its own. The Seahawks and this season’s success have been a savior to the Dreessens.
“When you’re going through something like this, you need to hold on to the glimmers, you need moments of hope.” Blair reflected, “When we got the diagnosis, I wanted to give him something to hold on to hope to continue to keep pushing forward to keep having something in the future that was positive.”
After their segment aired, people they hadn’t heard from for years reached out: even fans across the country, whom they had never met.
“Even Patriots fans were saying, ‘We hope you win the game, we hope that your husband gets to go,” Blair said.
The Dreessons will fly out on Thursday to soak in the entire fan experience as a member of the 12’s.
When they get home, it will be Kyle’s 12th and final chemotherapy treatment.
“The fact that there are people out there and organizations out there that take the time to understand how something as just a thought or a prayer can make a big difference for anyone going through my situation,” Kyle said.