EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsSANTA CLARA, Calif. -- After a week of quarterback-centric discussion leading in to Super Bowl LX, it was Seattle Seahawks running back Kenneth Walker III who had the biggest offensive impact on the outcome Sunday night.Buoyed by a first-half surge in which he outgained the entire New England Patriots offense, Walker earned Most Valuable Player honors as the Seahawks ran to a 29-13 victory and the franchise's second Lombardi Trophy.Walker finished with 135 rushing yards on 27 carries, adding 26 receiving yards on two catches to become the first running back to win Super Bowl MVP since Denver's Terrell Davis in Super Bowl XXXII following the 1997 season. Walker's 135 rushing yards were also the most by a player in a Super Bowl since Davis.For the first 30 minutes Sunday night, Walker was the only player generating any offense for either side. He broke off runs of 29 and 30 yards in a three-play span to set up Seattle's second field goal and become the third player in Super Bowl history with multiple rushes of 25-plus yards in a single Super Bowl.By the time Seattle and New England headed to the locker room at halftime, Walker had 94 yards on 14 carries, the second-highest rushing total for a player in an opening half in Super Bowl history. Only Washington's Timmy Smith in Super Bowl XXII had more (131 yards). Walker finished with 313 rushing yards in the postseason, falling just shy of Marshawn Lynch's postseason franchise record of 318 from 2014.Walker split time with Zach Charbonnet during the season and took over as the primary back in the postseason when Charbonnet tore an ACL in the divisional round against San Francisco. The Super Bowl marked Walker's third straight playoff game with 100-plus scrimmage yards, making him the only player in Seahawks history to accomplish that feat.Walker's finishing flourish came at a good time in his career. He is slated to be an unrestricted free agent for the first time in March after playing the final year of his rookie contract with a salary cap number of just under $2.7 million.During the week, the soft-spoken Walker mostly kept to himself away from the podiums and bright lights of Super Bowl week as reporters clamored to speak to quarterback Sam Darnold about his career resurrection or receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba about his prolific season. When he did speak, Walker mostly deflected questions about his future but did tell reporters, "If it was my choice, I'd definitely stay."
