Seahawks Coach Pete Carroll to wear art in Sunday’s game from Tacoma artist Perry Porter
In Sunday’s game against the Dolphins, Seattle Seahawks Coach Pete Carroll will be wearing a pair of shoes designed by a Tacoma-based artist for the #CoachTheVote campaign.
Carroll will be wearing one-of-a-kind custom Nike Air Monarchs courtesy of 30-year-old artist Perry Porter.
Porter is a painter, songwriter and hip-hop artist who had previously worked on the BLACK LIVES MATTER street mural in Seattle.
When reached by The News Tribune, he was in Seattle in the process of working on a relocated version of the mural that is set to be preserved. He was surprised to be selected but jumped into action to get the shoes ready for gameday.
“They hit up my manager,” Porter said. “It was really quick.”
For the design, Porter said he “came up with it on the fly” and had multiple designs in mind. He settled on having the words “Coach The Vote” on one side and green flowers on the other.
“It’s something I never thought about,” Porter said. “It’s nice knowing that my art and a message is being spread in a positive way.”
The #CoachTheVote campaign was inspired by sports journalist Jemelle Hill to encourage teams to set a good example by registering to vote. The Seahawks did just that in August.
Carroll also tweeted about the shoes and encouraged others to “get registered to vote!”
Perry is no stranger to having his art get recognition from the Seahawks. He was profiled by The News Tribune in 2019 when he talked about having his art in Marshawn Lynch’s office.
“He points (it out to) one of his friends and he said, ‘I want that,’” Porter said at the time. “It was like, ‘Wh-what is this for real? Is he talking about me right now?’”
For this campaign, Porter was happy to lend his talents to what he considers an important civic duty: voting.
“It’s your right. You have the privilege of doing it,” Porter said. “It’s dope that they’re getting more people to find ways to encourage it so I’m all for it.”
As for what happens after the game, Porter hopes that Carroll will hang on to the shoes as a memento.
“I would love for him to keep them,” Porter said. “Even if he wanted to stash them away so he’s got a cool collection of art.
“They wouldn’t fit me, it’d be pointless at my house. It’d be cooler knowing that he’s got them.”
In reality, the shoes will be auctioned off at Charitybuzz.com/coachthevote with all proceeds going directly to Seattle’s Urban Artworks.
The Seahawks and Carroll, with Perry’s art on his feet, will face off against the Dolphins in Miami on Sunday.
This story was originally published October 4, 2020 at 6:00 AM.
