Jacson Bevens does it his way.
In Week 7 of the 2024 Seattle Seahawks season, Field Gulls writer Jacson Bevens announced this would be his final season writing Cigar Thoughts. As a Seahawks fan, born and raised in Seattle, who spent many years riding the blue and green rollercoaster with the big number 12 on the front of it, I can honestly say that there’s been no better friend to have in the next seat. He made bird puns as the car pulled us—with rattling chain—over the drop, then he pooped an egg at the bottom when the ride was a bore.
For 13 years, Seahawks fans have been able to tune into Field Gulls after a game—win or lose—and find Jacson as their co-pilot to help them navigate their wide range of emotions. Next season, we’re on our own. Field Gulls will be here, of course. But our psychological skipper will not.
Who is Jacson Bevens?
He grew up in Bellingham, WA, and, thanks to his parents, has been a Seahawks fan his entire life. “My mom is by far the bigger fan of the two—my dad watches, but my mom loves the Seahawks. I was born the day before the first game of the 1983 season, and my parents didn’t own a television. They paid to stay in the hospital one extra day so I could watch my first football game, even though my eyes were barely even open.”
Jacson got pretty good at baseball as a kid and was eventually offered a scholarship to Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma. He accepted, but after a couple of seasons, he realized he was closer friends with the football team. “It was Hall of Fame coach Frosty Westering’s final season coaching, and I wanted to be a part of it. I’d seen him have a huge impact on my friends in that program, so I asked my baseball coach if I could try out for football instead of baseball. Fortunately, he said yes.”
Jacson walked on and played safety for Coach Westering’s final season, “Well, playing is probably overstating it. I was on the roster as a safety, but as far down the depth chart as you could get.”
Far down the depth chart or not, being on the team that season helped Jacson understand professional football, as a fan, in a much more comprehensive way, “Not at all to equate my very meager football career to anything the pros are doing, but that season helped me understand what goes into getting ready. I got a tiny distilled flavor of what football players do over the course of a week. And I appreciate the sheer talent, athleticism, and preparation that separates pro guys from college guys.”
While at college, Jacson initially majored in broadcast journalism, but he didn’t like it. “It didn’t feel creative to me. There wasn’t any freedom of communication—at least through the traditional channels. So, when I transferred to Western my senior year, I switched my major to English Literature—the most marketable degree in the world. I decided I was going to make my way on this planet more so on relationships and what I can create than what’s on my degree.”
After graduating from college in the mid-2000s, Jacson started a WordPress blog and found his voice. It didn’t occur to him that anyone might be reading it. They were, and from its popularity grew job offers. He picked up a job writing for a site called Next Season Sports and, from there, worked as a fan blogger for 710 ESPN. That’s where (then editor of Field Gulls) Danny Kelly found him. “He asked me to write for Field Gulls, and I, of course, said yes. I’d been reading Field Gulls for a long time. They’ve always had the sharpest coverage, certainly about the Seahawks but also about football in general.”
For Jacson’s first post, he wrote a fake psychological profile on newly acquired running back Marshawn Lynch. “I thought people are either going to like this or not, but I’m just gonna shoot my shot and write my way.”
People not only liked it, but it was the most commented-on piece that Field Gulls had ever had. “After that, Danny said, ‘Write as much as you want.’”
In 2012, Jacson wrote a few times a week about whatever he wanted. He was making picks before games, and then, for fun, he swapped and started recapping the games instead. “I started doing these post-game recaps, and people were really responding to them, which to me was weird because we all watched the same game. There were way more qualified people to write about the game, but what I was doing showed me that presentation was a thing. My whole goal was to write like I was talking to you at a bar. And from there, it grew into a therapy session everyone was invited to.”
Before writing his recaps, Jacson would walk onto his deck in Bellingham to think about the game… and smoke a cigar. “Cigar Thoughts was supposed to be a place-holder name. You know, these really were my cigar thoughts. And it just stuck.”
Where did the love of cigars come from?
“My dad,” said Jacson. “He’s a big cigar guy. I thought it was cool. I got into them in my twenties. I had no money and would buy the cheap grocery store stuff. But I fell in love with the process of a cigar—how it would slow down my breathing and force me to be present.”
By chance, Jacson had a neighbor around the early Cigar Thoughts days who was a cigar aficionado. He couldn’t help but notice Jacson out on his deck smoking cigars while pondering Seahawks storylines. He finally walked over to chat with him, “He was like, what are you smoking? And I showed him. He said: no, no, no, this won’t do. He brought me over and had all of these humidors in his house filled with really nice cigars. He sent me home with a couple of them, and after smoking those, I realized I couldn’t go back. And damn if it didn’t become a much more expensive hobby.”
Luckily for Jacson’s pocketbook, the popularity of Cigar Thoughts brought cigar companies knocking. Eventually, Jacson partnered with Seattle Cigar Concierge, which led to him developing and releasing his own brand of Cigar Thoughts cigars. “That was an extremely cool development that I never saw coming.”
But, really, Jacson, what is it about cigars?
“The nice thing about cigars is that you don’t inhale a cigar. It’s just an oral sensation. I’m not sitting here saying that they’re completely harmless, but with cigarettes, you’re inhaling into your lungs. You don’t do that with a cigar. You get the smoke in your mouth, you taste it, and you exhale. It just keeps me very present. A lot of people I’ve talked to say cigars have made them sick, and that’s because they’re smoking cheap cigars. I didn’t like tequila either. Until someone handed me a really nice reposado. And I was like, holy shit, I like tequila.”
The Seahawks won the Super Bowl in 2012 and went back in 2013. They had Pete Carroll, Russell Wilson, Marshawn Lynch, the Legion of Boom, and they had Jacson Bevens.
And eventually, Jacson Bevens had a podcast. Jacson got together with sports media enthusiast Mike Barwin to reboot his podcast about three years ago. Jacson and friends had a shorter stint in podcasting from the cigar lounge at the Silver Reef Casino. Unfortunately, when the cigar lounge eventually shut down, the podcast went with it.
Since rebooting Cigar Thoughts with Mike Barwin in 2021, the podcast has exploded in popularity. Jacson and Mike have hosted Mina Kimes, Brady Henderson, Antonio Cromartie, Steve Raible, Walter Jones, Greg Rosenthal, and many others. “And it’s all happened organically, which is really cool,” Jacson told me.
One time, Jacson found himself smoking cigars with former Seahawk tight end (and current Los Angeles Ram) Colby Parkinson at a private cigar club in Seattle.
“Colby and his brother Garrett and a bunch of folks in the football world were all sitting around in a room shooting the shit – drinking whiskey and smoking good cigars. And Colby asked me what I did for a living. I said I was a realtor, but I also let him know that I wrote about the Seahawks and have a podcast. He said what’s your podcast called? And I said Cigar Thoughts. His brother goes, ‘Hey, I listen to that, that’s you?’ And Colby goes, ‘Haven’t you sent me his stuff? And Garrett goes, ‘Yeah, that’s the guy.’ And I was like, well, I guess I’m the guy. Colby came on the show and smoked a cigar with me after that.”
True to his college decision to buck broadcast journalism, Jacson has never been beholden to anyone. “I’ve been offered opportunities throughout my career to work in traditional sports media, but they’ve never been enticing enough to pull me from the freedom I enjoy. I like doing things on my schedule. My own way.”
We’ll miss Cigar Thoughts over here at Field Gulls, but will definitely be tuning in to the Cigar Thoughts podcast. Buena Fortuna, Jacson.
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Today, I partnered with Albertson’s to pick up a five-pack of Backwoods Originals cigars for $7.99. I lit up and attempted to let the smoke fill my mouth, but it was putrid, and I coughed and hacked until my wife came outside and asked me what the hell I was doing. Then, she made me wash my clothes and take a shower before putting the kids to bed. I threw the rest of the cigars in the trash and wished I’d taken Jacson’s advice and picked up something better.