11 years ago this Big Island Seahawks fan vowed not to cut his hair until they won another Super Bowl

For the 2015 Super Bowl, Mike Hempel, now a Big Island resident, sported a bleached mohawk painted blue and green for his beloved Seattle Seahawks who were trying to repeat as champions.

But with victory just one yard away, New England Patriots rookie free agent Malcolm Butler intercepted quarterback Russell Wilson with just 20 seconds left in the game. It is still ranked as the best defensive play in Super Bowl history.

“We should have ran the ball. Worst play ever,” Hempel said.

He eventually went to his barber to shave off his fading mohawk. And at the start of the 2015 regular season, he vowed he would not cut his hair until the Seahawks won another Super Bowl. Well, 11 plus years later, the now 49-year-old’s black hair is down to his waist — and with some silver streaks.

But this year his Seahawks are back, taking the field Sunday in Super Bowl LX.

“I figured if I am going to lop it off, we might as well make an event of it and raise some money,” Hempel said Monday.

So a GoFundMe was started three days ago called: “Mike’s Seahawks Haircut Challenge.”

A portion of the proceeds will benefit the Hāmākua Youth Center, which supports keiki in the community. His fiancé, Brianna Ronayne, handles social media for the nonprofit.

“Over time, the hair became a symbol of hope, patience and a level of stubbornness that anyone who knows Mike will recognize,” Ronayne said on the GoFundMe page that has a goal of $3,000.

“Donate if you want to see the haircut. Donate if you love the Seahawks. Donate if you simply believe this has gone on long enough,” she wrote. “Mahalo for the support, and go Hawks. No refunds if the Seahawks lose.

“Let’s show Mike how much we want him to cut his hair!”

But Ronayne admitted she actually thinks her fiancé “looks cute” in his long hair, and that she is from Massachusetts and is rooting for the Patriots. While she is not a die-hard Pats fan, her family and friends are.

She also said Monday she would love for the GoFundMe to raise funds for the Hāmākua Youth Center, which began serving kids in 1996 when a grassroots group of community members saw the need for kids aged 6 to 18 to have a safe place during non-school hours.

“It’s a free place or low cost place to go,” Ronayne said. “It’s a place for kids to do homework and go on field trips.”

She said the center provides cultural immersion and summer programs. The kids recently attended a kapa pounding workshop and learned hula.

Hempel, who moved to Konaka’a from Tacoma, Wash., about four years ago, and now works at Foodland in Waimea, said he believes the 16-3 Seahawks and No. 1 seed in the NFC will beat the 17-3 Patriots and No. 2 seed in the AFC.

“For me it is like perfect storm,” he said. “Our first Super Bowl was number 40, our franchise is 50 years old, and we’re now going to super bowl 60. We ran through the (San Francisco) 49ers twice, the (Los Angeles) Rams twice. And we get to face the Patriots in the Niners’ house.”

The game kicks off at 1:30 p.m. HST at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif.

At the start of the season, Hempel didn’t think this was going to be the year he might be able to cut his hair: “But we looked good in the regular season, got into the post season and won and won. It may really happen.”

He thinks the Seahawks are good because they are “just young and spry, play as a unit, do not have a lot of egos involved, and the coaching staff has been great.”

And he said that listening to the Patriots former star quarterback Tom Brady say while broadcasting that he believes in Seattle as a unit, “I think it should be a fun one.”

In addition to raising money for the center, Ronayne said they are looking into donating his hair to a place like Locks of Love, a charity that provides hairpieces to disadvantaged children suffering from long-term medical hair loss.

His cause has caught on back home. Hempel said he will be a guest Tuesday morning on KIRO 710 radio based in Seattle.

If the Seahawks win, the couple knows a barber down the street who will do the big hair cut, likely in their backyard. Hempel plans to put his hair in a braid and have the top cut his head is shaved.

“That will be weird,” he said.

And if the Patriots win?

“I feel like if it turns out to be worthwhile, I’ll do it anyway,” he said.