As Seattle Seahawks general manager John Schneider spoke in front of a crowd of more than 50,000 at the team’s Super Bowl 60 championship trophy presentation at Lumen Field last February, he tried to make a joke.
“To Ken Walker being the MVP, let’s go,” Schneider started. “He tried negotiating with me five minutes ago; it was weird.”
A few awkward moments followed. Behind Schneider, Seahawks play-by-play announcer Steve Raible laughed; the players sharing the stage did not. Over Schneider’s left shoulder, Ken Walker III, who rushed for 135 yards in Seattle’s win over the New England Patriots three days prior, smiled politely.
“Anyway,” Schneider continued, attempting to recover. “M-V-P! M-V-P! M-V-P!”
The crowd joined in. Walker shook his head slowly, the slight smile still plastered on his face. Afterward, he responded on Instagram: “Must’ve been da liquor he drinking cuz I never said dat.” Schneider later called the ill-fated attempt at humor “a panic moment.”
There were no serious discussions — on that day or any other — about Walker returning to the team that used a second-round draft pick on him in 2022. Walker’s postseason performance put him in such high demand that he effectively priced himself out of Seattle, which didn’t make a contract offer ahead of free agency, according to league sources not authorized to speak publicly about the matter.
It might not have mattered, anyway. The Kansas City Chiefs, as it turns out, were very serious about Walker, making him one of the league’s highest-paid running backs with a three-year, $43 million contract.
Their investment is paying off. The 26-year-old Walker has rushed for a league-high 665 yards and six touchdowns despite only playing five games. He’s on pace for over 2,000 yards on the ground and ranks second among running backs in scrimmage yards (760) and touchdowns (eight). Walker is the current betting favorite to win Offensive Player of the Year, and his Chiefs are 5-0, one of three remaining NFL unbeatens.
Their next opponent? Walker’s old team.
He is just the fourth Super Bowl MVP to change teams the following season, and the first since 2002. Of the more than 500 players who changed teams in the offseason, none has made a bigger impact — or left a larger void — than Walker. He has used a stellar showing on the NFL’s biggest stage as a springboard into stardom, and he’s rejuvenated the Chiefs offense in the process. Meanwhile, Seattle’s offense seems stuck in the mud without its former star.
“He’s the MVP of the NFL right now,” ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky, an MVP voter, said on “The Pat McAfee Show” Monday. “If MVP voting was happening today, I would vote for Kenneth Walker.”
The night before his first game as a Chief, Walker ate dinner on his couch while watching a home movie curated by his social media manager and videographer. In it, his younger brother, Kenneth IV, told him to “be that dog.” His cousins called it “surreal” to watch him run onto the field every week and said his work ethic from childhood on up “has inspired our entire family.”
The message from his father, Kenneth Jr.: “You was an MVP before you was MVP, in my eyes.”
Walker was first exposed to the game as a 4-year-old in Memphis who got upset when Mom told him it was time to go home after watching his uncle play. As a young man, he spent countless hours working out and training with his father. At times, he hated it. But, looking back, “It got me to where I’m at now,” Walker said this offseason. (Kenneth Jr. doesn’t like crowds, so the Super Bowl was the first time he saw his son play an NFL game in person.)
“I can’t let my pops down,” Walker said in an interview with The Athletic. “I just got to continuously grind. And I remember how it was growing up when I wrestled, baseball, basketball, whatever I did, he was there to make sure I was the best at it. So, I’m gonna continuously put myself in positions to be the best that I can.”
He was named the top running back in college football after transferring from Wake Forest to Michigan State for his junior season in 2021, rushing for 1,636 yards and 18 touchdowns. He was the rookie of the year runner-up in 2022 and topped 1,000 rushing yards in two of his first four seasons but flew slightly under the radar, never earning a Pro Bowl nod or a spot on one of the Associated Press’ All-Pro teams.
Although he was a four-year starter in Seattle, Walker split time with Zach Charbonnet throughout the 2025 season, often ceding third-down and red-zone touches to the 2023 second-round pick. Charbonnet logged 37 fewer carries in the regular season but played more offensive snaps than Walker, who balanced his frustrations against being a good teammate. His goal was to win, and he and Charbonnet are close.
Walker recalled multiple late-night talks with his father at the beginning of last season, “helping me through all that sh–” and encouraging him to stay positive. Walker focused on the variables in his control — practice habits, recovery, sleep schedule, diet — but playing time was out of his hands. While he led the team with 1,027 rushing yards in 2025, Charbonnet outscored him 12 touchdowns to 5.
Then Charbonnet tore his ACL in the divisional-round win over the San Francisco 49ers. Walker became the Seahawks’ bell-cow back out of necessity, racking up 313 yards and four touchdowns over three games, including the Super Bowl MVP performance.
Charbonnet was on Walker’s mind “a lot” during that playoff run. Walker wrote his injured teammate’s jersey number on his wrist for the Super Bowl and intended to flash it in the end zone after a fourth-quarter touchdown run that was called back due to a penalty. But after the season ended, Walker had no interest in returning to an offense that limited his opportunities.
“Things ain’t work out how I was expecting it to, and that’s all right,” Walker told Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio in May. “It worked out for the team. But yeah, (I knew) sometime during the season, and then we get to free agency, you pretty much know you weren’t going to be there.”
Walker didn’t sign with the Chiefs solely for the money. He wanted to feel wanted. He feels that in Kansas City, in a scheme that leans on his big-play ability, and in Hall of Fame teammates who want to feed him the ball.
“The belief they have in me … It’s great to be in this position,” Walker said. “That means a lot, and then they show it, so it means that much more.”
Walker’s return to Lumen Field in a “Sunday Night Football” matchup magnifies the spotlight on Seattle’s offseason priorities. At 3-3, his former team is struggling to run the ball, and the offense is in such a rut that coach Mike Macdonald was recently asked whether he’s considering a quarterback change, potentially benching Sam Darnold, who helmed the Super Bowl champs last year. (Macdonald voiced his support for Darnold despite seven interceptions over four games.)
Seattle’s rushing attack is among the least-efficient in the league. After Walker signed with Kansas City, the Seahawks added free agent Emanuel Wilson on a veteran minimum salary, then used the No. 32 overall pick on Notre Dame’s Jadarian Price, who had 140 yards rushing in three games before going on injured reserve with a chest issue. Walker has outproduced the Seahawks’ entire running backs corps (539 yards, three touchdowns) despite playing one fewer game.
Sunday night’s Ken Walker Bowl may very well turn out to be a case of immovable object versus unstoppable force. By both traditional and advanced metrics, the Seahawks’ defense is one of the best in the league at keeping the opposing ground game in check, not allowing a running back to reach 100 yards since Week 8 of the 2024 season. Walker, averaging 133 rushing yards per game, will try to buck that trend.
While previewing the matchup during halftime of “Football Night in America” on Sunday night, NBC’s Maria Taylor noted Walker’s return to analyst Mike Tomlin, the former Steelers coach.
“I bet you Seattle wishes they had him,” Tomlin said. “Life was a heck of a lot easier for Sam when he was turning and handing that ball to Kenneth Walker.”
The Chiefs missed the playoffs for only the second time in head coach Andy Reid’s 14-year tenure after limping to a 6-11 record last season. Now they’re the best team in the AFC and one of the hottest in the league heading into a prime-time showdown at Walker’s old stomping grounds.
Kansas City’s offensive resurgence can be summarized by a phrase often uttered by All-Pro tight end Travis Kelce: “Hand the ball to 9,” Kelce said last month on his “New Heights” podcast, referring to Walker by his jersey number after their season-opening victory over the Denver Broncos. “I’ve been saying that sh– all summer.”
Kelce and quarterback Patrick Mahomes, future Hall of Famers and the faces of the winningest NFL organization of the last decade, were two of the first teammates Walker connected with upon joining the Chiefs. The veteran leaders with three Super Bowl victories together know what it takes to reach the mountaintop, and in Walker, they saw a superstar.
“Saw it all last year in the playoffs,” Mahomes said. “Once he hits the edge, he’s gone. … To run physical like that, but to still be able to bounce it whenever it’s necessary and get gone, it’s a special ability, and we’re going to utilize it.”
If Walker was one of the key cogs in Seattle’s offensive machine, he’s closer to being the engine in Kansas City. In Week 1, Walker gashed a Broncos defense that is consistently one of the top units in football. His 117-yard day against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 2 was similarly impactful, not only for Walker, but also for the 37-year-old Kelce, who had 101 receiving yards and a touchdown on nine catches.
“Just as much as it’s cleaned up the game for me, having Kenneth and the way he’s running the ball gets (Kelce) into these matchups that he’s gonna win,” Mahomes said.
On Kansas City’s first offensive play in Week 3 against the Miami Dolphins, Mahomes lined up under center with the NFL’s leading rusher a few yards behind him at the 25-yard line. Kelce sprinted off the line as Mahomes faked a handoff to Walker, whose gravity attracted a linebacker and the box safety, leaving Kelce wide open for a 48-yard catch-and-run.
In Week 4 against the Las Vegas Raiders, Walker gave the offense a much-needed spark with a 76-yard run in the third quarter, then his scores of 2 and 22 yards on consecutive fourth-quarter carries helped secure victory. On Sunday, he rushed for 128 yards and two scores on 19 carries in a victory over the Los Angeles Chargers.
“He’s a stud,” Reid said Sunday after the 22-6 win.
This is the Ken Walker Effect that Kansas City banked on this offseason. Defensive coordinators dread allowing explosive plays, but teams preparing for the Chiefs last season didn’t fear giving those up on the ground. Walker has changed the equation. Teams have to account for the possibility that Walker may take any handoff to the house and are required to allocate resources accordingly.
The Chiefs hardly used play-action dropbacks last season, particularly under center. This year, they have one of the highest play-action rates in the league. Kelce said there’s “no doubt” Walker has altered the opposition’s approach.
“When you’ve got a guy like that, they try and get to their gaps faster,” Kelce said, referencing the Week 3 catch as an example. “A lot of eyes on Kenneth right now.”
Walker is averaging 24 touches per game, which would easily surpass his previous career high of 18 in 2024. Durability remains a concern, especially for a veteran like Walker who had already logged over 1,000 career touches prior to the season.
This is why he has invested heavily in his body and health. In college, Walker didn’t develop proper sleep and eating habits. That changed once he got to the NFL, and now he’s settled into a solid routine. That includes his own trainer, physical therapist and adopting a cleaner diet — Walker has started endorsing the plant-based protein powder made by Orgain in addition to deals with Built protein bars and Icy Hot, among others.
“When I got to the league, I learned you gotta give yourself the best chance to have the best advantage,” said Walker. “You don’t want to have disadvantages going against guys in the league. So, I really started to invest more into my body, sleep and better recovery.”
The results last year were undeniable: For the first time in his career, Walker played every game. Now, in Kansas City, he’s sharing a backfield with a two-time MVP quarterback, but it’s Walker’s presence on any down that does much of the heavy lifting for one of the league’s top offenses. Which is exactly what Walker and the Chiefs hoped for.
“He is the most professional guy in the building when it comes to taking care of his body,” Kelce said. “He’s an awesome teammate to have. I can’t say enough about who the guy is. But at the same time, it’s f—ing fun playing with him.”
