Not intentionally. Over time, McLoughlin discovered his job was less about selling beer than it was building business relationships.The cafeteria at the Seahawks’ headquarters is a beautiful facility, with floor-to-ceiling windows looking across Lake Washington to Mercer Island’s east shore. “All this can only happen when you’ve got Pete Carroll and John Schneider saying, ‘We’re all in this together, there’s no division between the second floor and the third floor, it’s not a football team cafeteria, it’s the Seahawks’ cafeteria’,” McLoughlin said.As if providing a scouting report about a linebacker prospect, Schneider revealed this about McLoughlin: “Peter has a very, very aggressive approach, which, really, is similar to ours. The council, for instance, told him that stadium bathrooms that are clean and well-stocked in the first quarter of the game often need custodial attention later in the game, and behavior in them can be unruly at times.When McLoughlin was introduced as president of the Seattle Seahawks on Sept. 23, 2010, he told reporters that everything he’d done to that point had prepared him for this opportunity.“When I got here, the Seahawks weren’t seen as a national commodity,” All-Pro cornerback Richard Sherman said. Our players completely respect the military and veterans of our country; however, they believe these issues need to come to the forefront. "We fully support our players' use of their freedom of speech and peaceful action to highlight the existing racial and other divides in our country. “It was a message that everyone is valued, everyone is important.”It’s an insight, too, into the Seahawks ethos promoted by Carroll and Schneider. “That was really powerful to be a part of that, and a great learning experience.”“(Peter) said, ‘Wait a minute, we’re all working hard, working toward the same goal … everybody should get breakfast,’” Cindy Kelley said. He looked every bit the Ivy League-minted business executive. Photo courtesy Seattle SeahawksThe Seahawks’ rebuild began on all fronts. Peter understands that, and he’s done a marvelous job building that here.”From left: McLoughlin, Seahawks owner Paul Allen, head coach Pete Carroll, and general manager John Schneider. Peter McLoughlin is an American businessman. One of the sons rising from that depression-era privation also was named John, and was so gifted in math that he earned a scholarship to Harvard and graduated magna cum laude in 1936.“You walk into a grocery store on a Friday, and two-thirds of the people are wearing Seahawks jerseys; everybody wants to be associated with the Seahawks,” John Nordstrom said. “To use John Schneider’s words, we’re smart, tough, and reliable on the field,” McLoughlin said. I don’t think it’s a bad thing for players to go through the (cafeteria) line to see all of us who are working so hard on their behalf.”A huge part of the image is the on-field product, of course. Eliot or John Updike, but because, deep down, he really didn’t like to read.“It was a great opportunity to learn the business of managing a sports team and generating revenue,” he said.
“I think we’re dynamic and I think there’s an expectation that the Seahawks are also going to do things the right way in the community, and with their partners and with their fans.”In the first half of the twentieth century, McLoughlin’s grandfather, John, left impoverished County Roscommon in Ireland for a better life in the United States But after his wife died in child birth he was left to raise their five children in a cold-water flat on the upper East Side of New York City. McLoughlin and his “team,” meanwhile, were prepared to handle the immense fan response with the same attitude. He quickly landed an entry-level position with NBC, serving as a unit manager for live broadcasts of sporting events.But so much was unsettled. But only those in football operations were offered breakfast.Is that about branding?
Peter McLoughlin is out as Seahawks president and chief executive after eight years with the team.