SAN FRANCISCO—Kenneth Walker III didn't look tired, but he probably was in need of a nap by the time he took part in the traditional Super Bowl MVP press conference Monday morning.

No, the Seahawks running back wasn't partying all night—even if winning a championship and taking home Super Bowl MVP honors is a great excuse to party, if ever there were one—but instead he stayed up all night after Sunday's Super Bowl LX win over the Patriots just hanging out with his family in a hotel room.

Looking sharp in a perfectly tailored green suit, you'd have never known Walker pulled an all-nighter from the looks of him Monday morning. But when it was pointed out that Walker looked well-rested, he smiled sheepishly and said, "Nah, I haven't slept at all. I didn't party though, I just went to my room and chilled with my family, but I just stayed up. This moment was big for me. It's still surreal."

Walker was named MVP of Seattle's 29-13 win in Super Bowl LX after he rushed for 135 yards on 27 carries, adding two catches for 26 yards, making him the offensive standout of an otherwise defensive game.

After the Sunday's win, as a party raged on around him, Walker sat for a while at his locker, quietly taking the moment in, looking a bit emotional as it set in on him that he was, in his fourth year in the NFL, a Super Bowl champion, and the first running back to win Super Bowl MVP since Denver's Terrell Davis did it 28 years ago.

As flashy as Walker's game can be, full of dazzling cutbacks, ankle-breaking jukes, homerun speed and underrated physicality, his personality is anything but loud. While a lot of his teammates, coaches and Seahawks staff and guests partied with Ludacris and T-Pain providing the soundtrack, Walker was content to hang out with his parents and his little brother in a much quieter setting.

So when he was asked if a Super Bowl MVP award was going to change him, Walker wasn't even sure how to process the question.

"Like me personally?' he said, curiously. "Nah, I don't think so. I feel the same. I don't think it changes much."

Next up for Walker was a trip to Disneyland with his family, a tradition for Super Bowl MVPs, and a first Disney visit for Walker.

"I've never been to Disney before, I watch Disney though," he said with a laugh, noting he likes rides and was "excited to go."

When it was pointed out that part of being Super Bowl MVP is being in a parade, he smiled and said, "Yeah, I heard… if I don't got to talk much, I'll be good."

Walker's 2025 season saw him eclipse 1,000 rushing yards for the second time in four years in the NFL, but he went through some ups and downs, as did all of Seattle's running game, before catching fire late in the year, eclipsing 100 scrimmage yards in five of Seattle's last six games, including 313 rushing yards, four rushing touchdowns and 104 receiving yards in three postseason games.

"I texted K9 midway through the year, and I told him, 'Bro, just stay the course, the holes are going to open up,'" linebacker Ernest Jones IV said. "To see it happen—man, I've been predicting a lot of stuff this year, it's perfect."

Making the subdued celebration with his family all the more meaningful is the fact that playing in the NFL, let alone being Super Bowl MVP, seemed like a very unlikely outcome for Walker when he was a teenager. Before his senior season in high school Walker began experiencing chest pains, and at first tried to power through it before he woke up one night unable to breathe. His mom took him to the emergency room, where x-rays revealed blood clots in both lungs. Doctors initially told him he couldn't play football again, but after learning to give himself daily injections of blood thinners, Walker was eventually cleared to play during his senior season.

"The doctor told me I couldn't play anymore," Walker said after Sunday's win. "I just thought football was over. That's something I was doing all my life, so it was a shocking moment. But my dad worked with me throughout that whole process, and he was in the hospital with me as well as my mom. Just going through that, it made me grateful for each and every day to be able to strap up and play this game."

And as if winning the Super Bowl and earning MVP honors wasn't enough to make Sunday special for Walker, it also happened to be his father's first NFL game. Kenneth Walker Jr. frequently comes to Seattle and watching his son's games on TV, but he doesn't like big crowds, so before Sunday he was more comfortable watching from home. This time, however, with his son playing on football's biggest stage, the elder Kenneth Walker was talked into attending, and he got to see his son make history.

"It means a lot, especially my little brother and my dad," Walker said. "My dad, he comes out to Seattle all the time and watches games, but he never goes to the games because he don't like crowds. So this was his first NFL game, and we won a Super Bowl. So it means a lot to me, and I know he's proud of me."