Fans ask: Is it loud enough for you?

Howard Smith battled his hoarse voice — the result of almost four hours of screaming — as he reached under his shirt to pull out a chain with a small gold helmet at the end.

The longtime Seahawks fan has worn it for every Seahawks game he has attended, and they've never lost when he has been at Qwest Field. So when things look bleak, he pulls it out, and he calms down.

"We have our diamond in the rough, right there," said Smith, who lives in Seattle.

The charm came in handy Saturday, when even Smith admits his confidence wavered as Washington took a one-point lead in the fourth quarter.

He wasn't alone.

"I was kind of worried — kind of," Smith said. "But we have the 12th Man. They've got us."

Thanks to one remark from a Washington player last week, the playoff-record crowd of 68,297 came to Qwest in full throat. One Seattle radio station measured the decibel level at 103 in the first quarter, though only one false-start penalty was called on Washington in the game.

The racket faded as Washington briefly forged ahead in the fourth quarter, before the Seahawks came back for a 35-14 playoff victory.

"It was scary," said Steve Breeden of Everett. "But the Seahawks stepped up and did what they needed to do."

Breeden, like many fans Saturday, came to the stadium with Washington fullback Mike Sellers' comment on the noise at Qwest Field on his mind.

"That place has to be miked up because the last time we played there, it was ridiculous," Sellers told The Washington Times.

Suspected of using performance enhancers, fans came to clear their name — as loudly as possible.

Jerry Martin of Stanwood came prepared to help pump up the volume with a homemade sign. On one side, the sign read, "Redskins say we are not loud enough." The other side read, "Redskins: can you hear us now?"

Dressed in a blue-and-green velvet suit, with a green feather perched in his blue fedora, Earl Trent — aka "Hawk Daddy" — guaranteed it would be even louder than the last time Washington visited.

"If he [Sellers] thought it was loud before, today the roof is going to blow off the house," said Trent, from Tacoma.

Trent was one of many creatively dressed Seahawks fans. Among the other outfits was a Seahawks princess with sparkly tiara; a Seahawks Mexican wrestler with tights and cape; a Seahawks cowboy with glittering chaps; and a man in a gorilla costume wearing a Lofa Tatupu jersey.

Even with a sold-out, spirited crowd, those hawking tickets on the surrounding streets didn't find enough demand to create a seller's market. One scalper said tickets were going for as little as $80.

"They're just too spoiled here, man," he said.

Don't tell that to Seahawks fans. An impromptu dance party led by Blue Thunder, the Seahawks' drum line, erupted in Qwest Field's north parking lot after the game as fireworks burst overhead. It sent fans into a dancing frenzy.

Rebecca Patton of Seattle begged her boyfriend to wait just a little longer so she could keep on grooving to the beat with a blue, green and white pom-pom.

"I love Tatupu," she yelled over the din. "He's solid. He always gets it done."

Saturday, so did Seahawks fans.

Tom Wyrwich: 206-515-5653 or twywich@seattletimes.com. Seattle Times staff reporter Karen Gaudette contributed to this report.