SAN JOSE, Calif.—Two summers ago, Ernest Jones IV was there when his son, Ernest V, came into this world. Just over a year later, he was present when his father, Ernest Jr., died at the age of 53.

In between those two huge life events, Jones had his professional life upturned, twice, before finding his home with the Seahawks.

First, he was traded by the Rams, with whom he had spent his first three seasons, winning a Super Bowl as a rookie, prior to the start of the 2024 season, a move that surprised Jones and teammates alike. Then, with his new team, the Titans, struggling last season, Jones was traded again, this time to the Seahawks, meaning a second cross-country move with a newborn baby in the span of a few months.

Last spring, Jones signed a multi-year contract extension, then spent his 2025 season helping lead the NFL's best defense as the Seahawks went 14-3 on their way to an NFC championship and a trip to Super Bowl LX. So, while Jones knows what it's like to play in, and win, the biggest game in his sport, the journey his life and career has taken him over the last two years has given him perspective to appreciate this return trip to the Super Bowl on a different level.

"It's tenfold," Jones said of his appreciation for this Super Bowl appearance compared to when he got there as a rookie with the Rams. "I'm enjoying every moment, taking as many pictures as I can, because you don't get here every year."

Jones left Seahawks training camp to get home to South Carolina before his father died of Ewing sarcoma, then made a second trip back for the funeral, and the way his head coach, Mike Macdonald, and the rest of the organization supported him missing that valuable preparation for the season meant a lot.

"I watched my father take his last couple of breaths," Jones said. "I was there for every moment.

"It was everything. It meant everything to me for them to let me go during this period of time. I'm the starting middle linebacker, and I missed a good portion of training camp, but they didn't stress me out about it, they let me handle it the way that I needed to, so big ups to the Seahawks, for sure."

Jones has spent his entire 2025 season, the best of his career, playing for Ernest Jones Jr. He wore a shirt with pictures of his father on it before and after the Seahawks' regular-season opener. At other times, he wore a necklace with pictures of his dad in it. Playing for his late father while emerging as one of the league's best middle linebackers—Jones was named second-team All-Pro this year—has made the success he experienced this season even more meaningful.

"It enhances it a lot," Jones said. "It's super emotional when I think about him. But this game, I'm doing what he wanted me to do. He's always proud of me, he loves to see me play football, so I'm going to go give it everything that I've got."

Jones said his father's influence on him shows up the most in "my mindset, the way I am. Loyalty is big for me. Just the way I am, the way I go about life, the way I operate, truly he was teaching me how to be a man, and I feel like I learned from one of the best ones."

Jones hasn't just been one of the Seahawks best defensive players, recording 126 tackles and a team-leading five interceptions in the regular season, as well as an interception and a forced fumble this postseason, he is also one of the team's emotional leaders; the player getting the defense fired up when it needs it, or, conversely, calming things down if they get too heated. Oh, and if his quarterback is having a tough day, Jones has his back, as was particularly evident after a Week 11 loss to the Rams, one that, perhaps at least in part because of Jones’ leadership, was the last loss the Seahawks suffered this season.

As the clock struck zero in the Seahawks' NFC Championship Game victory over his former team, Jones took his helmet off and sprinted towards the end zone. A few minutes later, Jones found his son for an adorable celebration as confetti fell on the Lumen Field turf, one of the most endearing moments of the postgame celebration. It's hard to imagine anyone was enjoying that win more than Jones, or that anyone was more deserving of such a celebration.

"I've talked about Ernest before, about how much respect I have for him," said receiver Cooper Kupp, who was Jones' teammate for three seasons in Los Angeles. "When he got to L.A., it was so early on for a rookie to come in and have a demeanor about him that you just knew that this is someone you have respect for, because of the way he goes about his business, because of the way that he handles himself, because of the way that he speaks and is able to communicate. It was really special. I was like, this is a guy that comes in at middle linebacker that's going to be an elite football player. Because as a middle linebacker, being able to demonstrate it, being able to be the guy that's not just telling you what you should do, but also to be able to model it for guys, and call guys up to a standard, that's such a special trait.

"To know that's who he is, then having to go through what he went through in the last couple of years, the adversity of all of that, and being able to maintain himself, not to lose himself, it is very special. He's one of those guys that if you're looking for someone to look up to and see what it looks like to go through tough times and be able to handle it with otherworldly grace, Ernest is that guy."