Kenneth Walker III did it. In fact, he did many things. The Seattle Seahawks running back was clearly the best offensive player on his team against the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX. While several different defensive players for Seattle might have been worthy of winning the game's MVP award, they didn't. Walker did.
Walker became the first running back to win MVP since the Denver Broncos' Terrell Davis did so in 1998. Nearly 30 years later, Walker was rightfully the guy. At times, he was the Seahawks' offense with multiple 25-yard runs and keeping drives alive.
He set the tone for his day on the first play. He ran wide left for 10 years. Many of his 135 rushing yards came outside the tackles. He was too fast for the Patriots and too difficult to bring down. In other words, he was everything Seattle fans knew he could be, but he was at his best in the most important game of his career.
Seattle Seahawks' Kenneth Walker did something in the Super Bowl not done since 1998
He played so well in front of his father, too. Though the running back was finishing his fourth season in the NFL, his father had not yet seen him play. Kenneth Walker Jr. doesn't like large crowds, and who can blame him? But he seemingly wasn't about to miss his son in the title game.
Nobody could miss Kenneth Walker III. He finished with 161 total yards, and the team had 335 total. That means, of course, that Walker has almost half of his team's yards. The only drawback is that he didn't score a touchdown. It would have been magical had he scored from the 1-yard line, erasing the memories of Seattle not giving Marshawn Lynch the ball at the end of Super Bowl XLIX.
The hard work for the team and the running back starts now, though. While Walker has been terrific at times in his career, he also had a bit of an injury history in his first three seasons. This year, his fourth in the league and his free agency season, he didn't miss a game and produced. He saved his best for late in the season, though, and that matters.
How much money does the running back want in free agency? $10 million a season? His asking price surely went up with his late-season excellence. The Seattle Seahawks should pay him something close to that, as he has proven to be worth it. Seeing Kenneth Walker play in a different uniform in 2026 would not be fun.