What Seahawks Players Said During Super Bowl Opening Night In San Jose

Seahawks players and coaches met with media, reporters and different attendees at Super Bowl Opening Night

Feb 02, 2026 at 11:11 PM

Ari Horton

Seahawks.com Writer

The Seattle Seahawks took part in 'Super Bowl Opening Night' on Monday, February 2 to kickoff Super Bowl LX week in the Bay Area.

SAN JOSE—From Guillermo Rodriguez from Jimmy Kimmel Live! to Twitch streamer, Sketch, to comedian Funny Marco, Monday's Super Bowl Opening Night was filled with lots of shenanigans. Ten Seahawks players, as well as head coach Mike Macdonald, all took the podium in San Jose, for an hour, taking questions from reporters and other people in attendance. The rest of the team and coaches were available for questions as well. Receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, quarterback Sam Darnold, and Macdonald's podiums were a huge draw for the crowd, but every player's podium was filled with people until the very end of the event. Here are some highlights from Monday's Opening Night.

Leonard Williams explained why "The Dark Side" name is fitting for the defense.

The Seahawks defense who has been dominant all season, allowing a league-low 17.2 points per game, wanted to have an identity and a name, so they came of with The Dark Side.

"We just kept hearing comparisons to the Legion of Boom," Leonard Williams said. "And we kind of thought that it was time for us to have our own name pretty much. And we had a few names thrown at the wall, and I think The Dark Side stuck because, one of Coach Mike's messaging is, 'A play style and a place that nobody wants to wants to play.' And in Seattle, it gets dark during the wintertime, and we shut some teams out this year with no points on the board. So, we have a very like suffocating defense, I would say. And I think that's why we came up with The Dark Side."

The origins of the Dark Side straight from @leonardwilliams

📺: SBLX Opening Night on @NFLNetwork + @NFLplus pic.twitter.com/bRVYQLRqxe
— xz* - Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) February 3, 2026

Jaxon Smith-Njigba feels like he's been here before.

Even though he's 23 and one of the younger players on the roster, Jaxon Smith-Njigba recognizes how big of an accomplishment getting to play in the Super Bowl is.

"It's a blessing. I don't take it for granted," he said. "A lot of great players, great Hall of Fame players, don't get to be able to be up on this stage, so for me to be able to do it at 23 is a blessing, and I give the glory to God and I'm going to take full advantage of this moment."

Before the season started, Smith-Njigba said he sat down and put together a list of his goals and one of them, which was getting to the Super Bowl, he visualized so much that, in his head, he's already been at the Super Bowl before.

"I envisioned this for a very, very long time, so it feels like I've kind of been here before but it's just awesome living out the dream," the All-Pro receiver said.

When your vision board comes to life.

📺: SBLX Opening Night on @NFLNetwork + @NFLplus pic.twitter.com/rLadcMsI0h
— xz* - Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) February 3, 2026

Tony Dungy loves the culture head coach Mike Macdonald has built.

Tony Dungy, who is a good friend of assistant head coach Leslie Frazier, has spent time around the Seahawks throughout training camp and the season, and he's observed the team Macdonald has built.

"What I love is the culture that he's built there," Dungy said. "This team loves each other, they believe in each other, and I think that all traces back to coach Macdonald… Being there at practice, watching them during the season, just watching how it's been put together, I love the culture and I love what these two guys [Macdonald and John Schneider] have done."

It starts with the vision. @TonyDungy pic.twitter.com/Mb6cMExMCg
— xz* - Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) February 3, 2026

Sam Darnold's self-belief is what has carried him throughout his career.

Heading into this season, there were people who doubted what Sam Darnold was capable of, and over the course of the season, he's done enough to silent any doubt there may have been. Aside from being "that same guy everyday," Darnold has confidence in himself that has carried him to this point.

"The only thing that matters is if you believe in yourself," he said. "That's really it. I always believed in myself. I always knew I could do this at a high level. That was really it. That's what kept me going and I knew at some point an opportunity would arise, but even if it didn't, I knew I did everything that I could to become a better player year in and year out."

Julian Love appreciates the Legion of Boom comparisons, but this defense is different.

Like Williams said, this Seahawks defense wanted to come up with an identity of their own, while also acknowledging the greats who were part of a legendary defense for Seattle in the past.

"There's one Legion of Boom, we know that," Love said. "A lot of those guys are still around. We get a lot of inspiration from. But we're not them. The comparisons, obviously it's a great defense in Seattle, your mind goes to Legion of Boom. We know who we are. We're different. We carry ourselves way different than those guys, than those Legends, and we're just trying to create and identity for ourselves."