SANTA CLARA, Calif.—The first champagne bottle of popped at 8:10 p.m. not long after the locker room started filling up with cigar smoke.

The Seahawks had just finished off an emphatic 29-13 win over the Patriots in Super Bowl LX, and you'd better believe they were going to enjoy it.

"I don't know if there's a right or wrong way, but we're going to have a lot of fun tonight," Mike Macdonald said a bit later in his postgame press conference.

The Seahawks celebrated with the Lombardi Trophy in the home locker room at Levi's Stadium because their defense set the tone with a dominant effort, and because Kenneth Walker III rushed for 135 yards on his way to Super Bowl MVP honors, and because their special teams play, led by standout performances by kicker Jason Myers and punter Michael Dickson, and because Sam Darnold and the offense played a fourth straight turnover-free game, and perhaps most of all, this team just loves playing for each other.

"I'm so happy," said cornerback Devon Witherspoon, one of many defensive standouts in Sunday's win. "It's hard to find the words right now, but, man, I love this team, bro. I love the group of guys that we have here, I love what we've established around here. I just can't celebrate with my guys."

Part of Witherspoon's big day was a blitz and hit on quarterback Drake Maye that knocked the ball free, with Uchenna Nwosu catching the loose ball and returning it 45 yards for a game-clinching touchdown, Seattle's third takeaway of the game.

Nwosu, draped in a Nigerian flag after the game, was having a hard time putting into words what it meant to win his first title in his eighth season.

"It's just a surreal feeling," Nwosu said. "The road to get here, it's just insane. To see all our effort and hard work and relentless pay off, I'm just forever grateful, man, I'm so thankful. This is so, special man. Just knowing the effort and grind that we put in, it just makes it so much more special to be able to share this moment with my teammates and my brothers. It's so special."

While this was a first for most players on the team, linebacker Ernest Jones IV, who had a game-high 11 tackles and a tackle for loss, enjoyed the celebration while wearing the Super Bowl ring he won four years ago with the Rams. For Jones, who has been through a lot of highs and lows, personally and professionally, over the past two years, let his emotion and passion come out and he celebrated with his team.

"I can't put it into words," he said. "To do it for this group of guys, the way we love each other, the way we truly go to work, it means everything. I'm super thankful."

As the party continued on in the locker room, a group of offensive linemen started playing baseball using a crushed beer can for a ball and an empty champagne bottle for a bat. Dancing in the middle the room went on for a solid hour, and of course, there was shadowboxing.

One shadowboxing session took place between Derick Hall, who had two sacks and a forced fumble, and Jarran Reed, who in his 10^th season won his first Super Bowl, one of several veteran players to win a first title along with the likes of Nwosu, DeMarcus Lawrence, Leonard Williams and Sam Darnold.

Sitting nearby, second-year defensive tackle Byron Murphy, who had two sacks, soaked in the scene and shared his appreciation for those veteran players.

"I'm very happy to be able to share this moment with our vets," Murphy said. "They've been in this league for so long, so just to see them be world champions and see that smile on their faces, it makes my day."

Williams, who is in his 11^th season and third with the Seahawks, said a first ring, "means so much to me. It's hard to put into words. The best way I could describe it, you have like this reel of memories happening all at once, and that's pretty much what it feels like right now. I have almost like a highlight reel of all these memories, high school, college, all the coaches I've had, all the trades and injuries and the hardships that I've been through, all really for this one moment."

Williams was not nervous about his first Super Bowl coming into the game, but rather confident because of the special connection the team has had all season.

"I was super confident," said Williams. "I never had a doubt, honesty, and it's because of the guys in this locker room. As soon as any type of anxiety or that type of emotion starts creeping in, I look around me, and I just see a bunch of guys who are willing to ride and die for each other, and it immediately settles me and makes me just trust and believe in this team."

As the party raged on, Seahawks general manager and president of football operations, the man who is arguably the most responsible for taking the Seahawks from where they were four years ago to this moment, went around the room and congratulated everyone he saw, from a start player to a random employee who has no direct impact on the game. That's just how Schneider is, always deflecting credit while quick to hand out recognition.

"It's surreal," Schneider said. 'These guys, they literally love each other. They care about one another, they want to play for each other. They were super confident. They're just a together team and they love each other."