Super experience: Ephrata native helped record Seahawks' championship season
“Being able to experience a full run of the team ... has been the best experience of my life.”
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — While thousands of fans filled the stands at Levi’s Stadium Sunday for Super Bowl LX and millions more around the globe watched on TV, Caden Sheneman had one of the best seats in the house.
As an intern with the Seahawks’ video production team, the 22-year-old Ephrata native got a first-hand look as Seattle put a 29-13 “Dark Side” beat-down on the New England Patriots in the NFL championship contest.
“Being able to experience a full run of the team from this perspective, playoffs and all, has been the best experience of my life,” Caden said Thursday in emailed comments to GCJ.news.
Now living in Kirkland, Caden is a 2021 graduate of Ephrata High School and last spring graduated from Eastern Washington University with a bachelor of science degree in business marketing. In high school, he was involved in media/creative content classes. After college, classmates and friends urged him to apply for an internship with the Seahawks organization.
So he did. And out of thousands of applicants, Caden was just one of 30 selected, and one of three assigned to the Hawks’ video production crew, joining last July.
“As an intern, we get to dive into every area of video production, editing, shooting, asset management, and pre-production activities,” he said. “My responsibilities this season have focused on shooting coverage of games, community events, behind-the-scenes features, and editing (and) creating content for social media and game presentation ‘hype’ videos.”
Caden said he grew up as a “diehard (Seahawks) fan” and has vivid memories of their seasons leading up to back-to-back Super Bowl appearances in 2014-15.
“So being able to be this connected to the team now and seeing them bring the Lombardi Trophy home is a dream come true,” he said.
Was he rattled at the prospect of working at one of the world’s highest-profile sports events?
“As crazy as it sounds, some of the post-season games haven’t been as nerve-wracking or exciting as you’d think from my perspective,” said Caden. “I felt more nerves and jitters early in the season when I was new.”
He lauded the 15-member production crew – with full- and part-time personnel working with the interns – for their support.
“Our team is full of some very talented individuals who helped prepare me for every situation, so that when we got to the highest stage, I was more than confident with taking on all of my work duties,” said Caden. “I felt super connected to the team, and the organization has done a great job at making me feel part of the team.”
He also credited a family that is deeply rooted in the Ephrata community for their support, along with friends, teachers, and mentors who have reached out and encouraged him over the past year. Family members include mom Shannon and sister Denali, both teachers at Grant Elementary School, and dad Aaron, a risk manager at Clear Risk Solutions. (Editor’s unsolicited personal note: Aaron Sheneman was one of the best linebackers to ever play for the Ephrata Tigers football program).
Caden also referenced his grandparents, Jack Sheneman and Anita Sheneman, and Jim and the late Barbara Cherf. “Although she passed away a few years back, she has been a big supporter during my life and would’ve loved to see this,” he said, adding, “If there’s others out there like me who have big dreams, but feel like it’s impossible coming from a small town, it’s not.”
Since training camp last summer, Caden said daily life consisted of covering practices and press conferences, editing content for social media, traveling to games, and watching the Seahawks progress under second-year head coach Mike Macdonald to a franchise-best 14-3 regular season, followed by playoff wins over the 49ers, Rams, and Patriots.
“Being able to witness all of the work behind the scenes since training camp and hearing all the outside noise (doubters of the team), it was incredible to see the team focus on the bigger picture and continue to prove people wrong every week,” he said.
“From my eyes, winning the Super Bowl didn’t come as much surprise as I saw what this team was capable of early on, and their mindset never changed,” said Caden.
But the full emotional impact of Seattle’s remarkable championship run didn’t fully resonate until the Seahawks’ celebration parade on Wednesday, with nearly a million cheering fans flooding the streets to welcome them home.
“Being on the bus with the team and capturing the chaos was truly one of the greatest experiences of my life,” said Caden. “I filmed that day with the biggest smile of my life.”
