The Seattle Seahawks are the Super Bowl champions, and one of the big reasons for the team’s success was the prowess of running back Kenneth Walker III. Walker put on a huge performance that included 135 rushing yards on 27 carries and 26 receiving yards on two receptions.
Walker’s Super Bowl performance led to him being named Super Bowl 60 MVP, and the Seahawks back sat down in an exclusive interview to discuss his partnership with Oral-B, his thoughts on where he may go in free agency, and more.
What can you tell me about your partnership with Oral-B?
“It’s been great, you know it’s cool to be able to add them to my routine. You know, they got me the IO series. It’s been great for me. You know, it’s got the two-minute timer on there to me, let me know how long I’ve been brushing my teeth and everything. So it gives me that perfect clean.”
Walker has a lot going on following the Super Bowl win, but the win and the fact that he became the first running back to win Super Bowl MVP since Terrell Davis did so following the 1997 season had not kicked in immediately.
Explain the feeling of not only being a Super Bowl champion, but being the first Super Bowl MVP running back since Terrell Davis won it back in 1997
“Yeah, it’s great. You know, at first, when it happened, it took a few days to, like, really process what happened. And you know, how far we came as a team. And then after that parade is really when it hit that, you know, we were Super Bowl champions.”
Was there any moment during the game where you’re like, “Oh, yeah, they can’t stop me?”
“That was just my mindset going into the game. You know, I watched a lot of film on them, and I seen some of the stuff that he was doing. And, you know, as long as we did our job, we was going to be all right.”
What do you think about legacy? When you think about legacy, what do you want people to say about you 10 years from now?
“I just want them to think I’m a great athlete. You know, the way we talk about the guys like Barry Sanders back in the day and Adrian Peterson and all those guys, even, you know, Terrell Davis was only one of the Super Bowl MVPs. So I think it’s cool, especially being on that list of certain guys that were MVPs as running back, some I think that’s, that’s a good milestone.”
What was the biggest lesson that you learned during the 2025 season that helped you propel yourself to have the success that you’ve had?
“Just staying positive, you know, through the adversity, you know, just staying positive through stuff like that. And just control the controllables, like everything I control. Just control that. And, you know, staying focused on the main thing.”
One of the biggest storylines for the Seahawks was Zach Charbonnet going down with a torn ACL in the Divisional Round of the playoffs. Walker stepped in, and revealed that he and Charbonnet spoke before the Super Bowl.
Zach Charbonnet went down, was there any kind of moment that you guys shared with each other, like, did you say “I got this?”
“I’m not gonna say what we talked about. But after the game is really when we, like, it was later on that day, you know, we always talk and text and call and everything. So we had a talk and everything. So that meant a lot. And I just made sure I let him know I had him for sure.”
Klint Kubiak is now the head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders. How much did he shape your career in 2025, and what were your thoughts on his exit from the Seahawks?
“I would say he was always wanting to get better. You know, no matter how much we want to gain by he still wanted to find things to critique, just so we weren’t satisfied. You know, he knew our main goal was winning the Super Bowl, so he kept our minds on that. You know, I’m saying, and he’s going to be a head coach somewhere. That’s, that’s a good thing, I think that’s a great thing. You know, that’s moving up in your career. You know, whatever you want to be the best at what you do. So him getting a head coaching job is great, and I’m happy for him, absolutely.”
Walker is now a player who could be on the precipice of landing with a new team in 2026. The Seahawks are reportedly not set to use the franchise tag on him, but other big looming contracts could lead to his exit. However, Walker is not concerned with free agency or where he may end up.
There’s been a lot of chatter about free agency, the potential that you may have a new team in 2026 does this kind of concern. you? Are you confident you’ll return to the Seahawks?
“I’m not concerned at all. You know, I’ve been, my mind hasn’t really been on that yet. We still got probably, like, a week or so, so I just been chilling, you know, been here chilling at the crib, playing a game, just relaxing. So once, once the whole process starts, that’s when I feel like I’ll start thinking about it, you know, being more into that.”
To see the full interview, watch the video above. For more NFL news, head to Newsweek Sports.
2026 NEWSWEEK DIGITAL LLC.