Video: Seahawks defeat Bayern Munich in the Crossbar Challenge

Here’s something fun for this last Sunday before Seattle Seahawks training camp begins.

Last week as part of a promotional trip for the Seahawks’ regular season game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Germany, Seattle traveled to Allianz Arena, home to footballing powerhouse Bayern Munich, winners of the Bundesliga for ten seasons running and the 2020 European champions.

No, Bayern Munich didn’t play tackle football with the Seahawks, nor did the Seahawks engage in a fully-fledged game of association football with Bayern. Instead, the two sides played the Crossbar Challenge, which is simply kicking the ball up against the crossbar instead of at a gaping net. The twist here is that the Seahawks had to kick a regular soccer ball from 18 yards out and Bayern Munich had to kick an American football from about 25 yards away.

None of Alphonso Davies, Joshua Kimmich, goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, or Thomas Muller could kick the pigskin up against the crossbar. Neuer wasn’t close, but the other three all gave good efforts.

Then it was the Seahawks’ turn. Up stepped linebacker Aaron Donkor, a native of Germany who’s part of Seattle through the NFL’s international pathway program.... doink! But of the good kind! That was enough to give the Seahawks the victory.

As for Cliff Avril? Well at least he didn’t miss the ball completely. He really liked the seats in Bayern Munich’s dugout and told the NFL that they need this stateside.

Watch the video below and be entertained.

Hopefully that’s not the only win the Seahawks get in Germany. The regular season showdown with the Bucs is on November 13th at the bright and early local start time of 6:30 AM PT.