Seahawks get rings of honor
KIRKLAND — The way Robbie Tobeck figures, he can now accessorize.
The Seahawks center now has two rings from the Super Bowls in which he has played. He first got some NFC championship ice with the Atlanta Falcons for taking part in Super Bowl XXXIII in 1999.
Tobeck and his Seahawks teammates, as well as coaches and staff, were presented with NFC championship rings in a private ceremony at team headquarters Wednesday.
The ceremony took place after the Seahawks' passing-camp practice, as players filed into a white tent with plates of food and accepted their awards.
"I'll wear this one all around," Tobeck said of his Seahawks ring, "because I'm going to live here. When football is said and done, you want to wear those rings around because it can get you in some doors. It depends on what you're wearing. You have to match your outfit."
Players and staff had plenty to be giddy about as they flashed their rings. The items themselves are quite a sight.
The top of the ring features a Seahawks logo embedded in blue volcanic crystallized stone in the shape of a football. There are 58 diamonds in each ring, and each side has a design.
On one side is the player or staff member's last name, above a depiction of Qwest Field and Mount Rainier. The other side reads "NFC Champions" above the image of two carabiners (mountain climbing hooks), which became symbolic of the team's one-game-at-a-time approach last season.
Each ring is wide enough to cover almost half of a person's finger. The ring is cast in 14-karat white gold, with the diamonds weighing 1.7 karats. The entire ring weighs 69.2 grams.
Team president Tim Ruskell's ring has the letters "GM" at the bottom of one side to signify one of his position with the team. He is the team president, but apparently the word wouldn't fit at the bottom of the ring.
"The look on their faces when they opened it up — priceless," Ruskell said. "This is about accomplishment, and that's the way it needs to be viewed. And it's not the end of something. We look at it as the beginning of something that we want to sustain over a long period of time."
Fullback Mack Strong, not ostentatious with rings nor with his work on the field, was nevertheless proud to have such a symbol of the Seahawks' 2005 success.
"We are NFC champions, and that's something that we'll be until somebody replaces us, hopefully years down the road," Strong said.
Asked if this ring made him want a bigger one that says Super Bowl champions, Strong said with a laugh, "Just a little bit more bling, I think, would be appropriate."
José Miguel Romero: 206-464-2409 or jromero@seattletimes.com