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Kenneth Walker III barely made it to his senior year at Arlington High School in Tennessee. Summer 2018 – He woke up struggling to breathe.
The subsequent emergency room visit delivered news no teenage athlete wants to hear. A blood clot had formed in both lungs. Walker didn’t know if he would ever play football again.
On Sunday night at Levi’s Stadium, he led the Seattle Seahawks past the New England Patriots and was named MVP of Super Bowl LX. 29-13.
“When the doctor told me I couldn’t play anymore, I thought football was over,” Walker said. “It was a shocking moment, but my dad was there with me through it all and my mom was with me in the hospital. Going through that made me thankful every day that I was able to go out and lace up and play this game and still be alive.”
Walker rushed in. 135 yards on 27 carries. Had 26 receiving yards on two catches against the Patriots. He is the first running back to win Super Bowl MVP since Denver’s Terrell Davis in Super Bowl XXXII following the 1997 season, and his 135 rushing yards are the most by any player in a Super Bowl since Davis.
The nickname “Thunder Shoes” stuck with Walker in high school. Around Seattle’s locker room, he is known for being quiet and hard-working.
But when the Seahawks needed him most in the postseason, his performance said it all.
For the first 30 minutes Sunday night, Walker was the only player on offense for either team. He had rushes of 29 and 30 yards in three plays to set up Seattle’s second field goal. This makes him just the third player in Super Bowl history to rush for 25 or more yards multiple times in a big game.
By halftime, Walker had 94 yards on 14 carries. In Super Bowl XXII in 1988, only Washington’s Timmy Smith had more rushing yards in the first half (131 yards).
“It’s surreal. K9 is one of those,” said Seahawks guard Gray Zabel. “This is a man who has been successful and deserves to continue to succeed. There is no one I would rather stop than K9.”
For most of the 2025 season, Zabel and his fellow linemen split time for Walker and fellow back Zach Charbonnet in one of the league’s most successful backfield minutes. When Charbonnet tore his left ACL in the divisional round against the San Francisco 49ers, everything shifted to Walker.
According to Zabel, Walker didn’t have to say anything. His body language and work ethic made it clear he was ready.
All he did in three postseason games was rush. 313 yardsThat’s just shy of Marshawn Lynch’s postseason franchise record of 318 since the 2014 regular season. Sunday marked Walker’s third straight playoff game with 100 or more scrimmage yards, making him the only player in Seahawks history to accomplish that feat.
That rushing total led all players in the postseason. workers 417 scrimmage yards His four total touchdowns also ranked first or tied for first among all players.
Throughout the postseason, Walker found motivation to make Chabonnet proud. He had Charbonnet’s No. 26 on his wrist Sunday night and planned to show it on camera after scoring a long touchdown in the fourth quarter before being called back for a holding penalty.
Charbonnet wasn’t surprised that Walker won MVP despite entering the game with the longest odds (+850) for a player to win since Patriots receiver Julian Edelman in Super Bowl LIII.
“He’s been at it all year,” Charbonnet said. “That guy is the best. I want him.”
Walker’s closing heyday came at a good time in his career. He is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent for the first time in March after spending the final year of his rookie contract just under the salary cap figure. $2.7 million.
Only three previous MVPs in Super Bowl history changed teams in the offseason after winning the award. The most recent was Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive back Dexter Jackson in 2003.
Ahead of Sunday’s Super Bowl, the soft-spoken Walker mostly stayed away from the podium and bright lights as reporters tried to talk quarterback Sam Darnold about his career resurgence or receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba about his big season. Walker dodged most questions about his future during his speech, but did say he wanted to stay in Seattle.
“I hope it shows the people who doubt running backs that running backs are important, not just here but throughout the league. Running backs have a big impact. People used to love running backs. I hope we get that energy back soon.”
Seahawks RB and Super Bowl LX MVP Kenneth Walker III
After beating the Patriots, Seahawks general manager John Schneider reiterated his desire to keep Walker in Seattle, while acknowledging that the cost of keeping him may have increased.
“I’m happy for him,” Schneider said. “You want to see people being able to do whatever they can to take care of their families and increase their income.
“Obviously we want to get Ken back. That should be done in two weeks. We’ll go to the combine and start talking to everyone and see what the landscape looks like in the spring.”
Although he will soon be a free agent, Walker is taking time to recognize how much of an impact his journey has had on him. Personal adversity has only made him more appreciative of the steps he took to get to the Super Bowl podium as MVP – the people who helped him get there and the opportunity to once again show the worth of a running back on the game’s biggest stage.
“This means a lot to me,” Walker said. “I hope it shows the people who doubt running backs that running backs are important, not just here but throughout the league. Running backs have a big impact. People used to love running backs. I hope we get that energy back soon.”
The 49ers have no plans to trade QB Mac Jones this offseason.
