During the Seahawks' Super Bowl victory parade Wednesday, a blip of red and gold waltzed its way among a sea of bright green and blue.
The 12th Man booed. The 12th Man jeered.
It was a San Francisco 49ers fan dressed in full team regalia attempting to put a damper on the moods of the estimated 700,000 Seattle denizens that had gathered to bask in triumph.
The brave demonstration did not go unnoticed by Catherine Tate, a member of Niners Nation, who discovered that the teen is a 15-year-old ward of Washington state who lives in homeless shelters.
Tate, who caught wind of the act through a viral photo, has since brought light to the story through Seattle's KING-TV and by an online fundraiser she launched following the parade.
"He lives in shelters," Tate said of the boy. "So this evolved from, let's reward this kid for his bravery on one day, to let's reward him for his bravery every day."
At first, Tate wanted to offer the fellow fan tickets to a game in the to-be unveiled Levi's Stadium next season in San Francisco. After launching a GoFundMe campaign to cover the costs of the trip, Tate quickly learned of the teen's more dire circumstances and subsequently is now doing everything in her power to improve the teen's life.
Niners safety Craig Dahl has even used his platform on social media to promote the benevolent cause on Twitter.
"This is another one of those things of, yes, he belongs to us, but he also belongs to you. This is a Seattle, or Kirkland, native child that is your brother," Tate said. "People from Seattle have donated, saying, 'I bleed blue and green, but this kid needs help and he needs these resources, so I want to partake.'"
As of this writing, 518 people of all walks of life -- including many Seahawks fans -- already have pledged $15,683 via GoFundMe, surpassing the original goal of $5,500. Tate currently is working on legalities to arrange the promise.
Tate wrapped up her gracious act as best as one could: "We're humans; we're all people," she said. "And this is bigger than football."
Follow Manouk Akopyan on Twitter _@ManoukAkopyan_.
