SEATTLE — It’s a moment Seahawks fans have been waiting for -- the team returning to the Super Bowl for the first time in a decade!
For most, it’s a dream come true.
For one man battling Grade 4 brain cancer, it’s everything.
“If the Seahawks are watching, my bucket list is for you guys to go to the Super Bowl and take me with you,” Kyle Dreesen told KIRO 7 in November.
Now, after Sunday’s NFC Championship victory, his dream is halfway there.
Kyle Dreesen is about as diehard as a Seahawks fan as you can get. He has a ’12′ tattoo on his hand and his ties to the team go way back. His mom was a Seagal (Seahawks cheerleader) in the 1980s.
“It’s been a lifelong love,” Kyle said. “We’ve had our rough years, we had our good years, we got our great years, but they’re always there. There’s always a team to root for.”
And they’ve been there through his toughest battle yet.
In November 2024, Kyle was diagnosed with Grade 4 astrocytoma. It’s an aggressive brain cancer with a typical survival time of about two years. He had emergency brain surgery on his 38th birthday.
“We were both just in complete shock. You really don’t have time to process any kind of information at all,” his wife, Blair Dreesen, said.
They say this Seahawks season has been unforgettable.
“That win last night was just so emotional for us on so many levels,” Blair added. “We don’t know how many more seasons we’re going to have together as a family. This has just been a really big season for us.”
Kyle and his family hope he beats those odds, so they’re not wasting a single moment.
“We’re just on wait and pray mode,” Kyle said. “They say it’s not a matter of if, but when, and we’re just trying to get ahead of it as much as possible and enjoy the time with what we have and what we got.”
Between radiation, chemo, and physical therapy, Kyle has found moments to celebrate.
The treatment has taken a toll--he’s lost a significant amount of his vision, but he’s pushing forward.
“On those dark days, why are we pushing as hard as we’re pushing? Well, because of people like that who care for you. It’s because of your family,” Kyle said.
During this season, Kyle got to raise the 12th Man flag with his son at the Veterans Day game.
“It was just being able to hold it and watch it go up and know the significance of what that flag means to us and what that flag’s meant to me as a fan all these years,” Kyle said. “Doesn’t matter how everything is going on in life. You always have the Seahawks you can choose and cheer for.”
And during radiation treatments, a Mayo Clinic tech surprised him with a hand-painted Seahawks mask.
“This was really sweet. I literally get emotional seeing it because just to see that they took the time and the care to do something during a time that’s so difficult and so hard for a family to be going through,” Blair said.
The support has come from social media, as Blair documents his bucket list to-do’s.
“It was just really sweet just to see the outpouring of people that typically were rivals and they were pouring so much love and saying like ‘I’ll cheer for the Seahawks just for your husband,’” Blair said.
The Seahawks have one more game to go in San Francisco.
Kyle is hoping he can go the distance too.
“We made it again. And I want to be able to take it all in and experience it for as much as I can, especially for this momentous occasion, especially with this team and how well they’ve done and performed. It’s been amazing,” Kyle said.
His last chemo treatment is scheduled for the day after the Super Bowl, so he’s hoping to celebrate two victories that week.
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