Kenneth Walker III made a huge difference for the Seattle Seahawks offense in their Super Bowl victory over the New England Patriots. While Drake Maye and Co. failed to rush for more than 79 yards in total, Walker ran for 135, rightfully winning the MVP award.
Advertisement
Walker is at the pinnacle of football now. And it would be hard to believe that he had almost quit the sport, with no plans. He narrated that story in one of his offseason vlogs last year.
In a video where he was training for the season, not knowing he was going to make history by the end of the campaign, Walker recalled his early days in football.
“There was actually a time I was going to quit football. It was my junior year, I believe, in high school. And I believe me and one of my coaches got into like this little, you feel me, argument or whatever,” Walker said.
The Super Bowl MVP calls this high school coach, Andrew Atkins, one of his favorites now. But their relationship had started on a sour note.
“At the time we got into like this little argument, whatever, whatever. And I went home with my mom. She was driving me to the crib, bro. And I’m like, ‘Yeah, f*** football.’ Like, I’m done with this s***. Like, I didn’t want to play football no more. That s*** really just took it out of me,” Walker had recalled.
He then talked it out with his parents, and they helped him understand the gravity of the decision he was about to make. They explained how sometimes emotions get the best of people, only for them to later realize they may have made a big mistake.
“So I went to the school the next day, talked to the coach, you know, and we got over that little bump. But like, yeah, that was like really a time I wanted to just put up the cleats and quit football, and I don’t even know what I was going to do,” Walker narrated.
However, not only did they make amends in their relationship, but the Atkins extended his support to Walker when he was getting recruited in college.
“I was getting recruited by Wake Forest, I didn’t have a way to get to my college, like to visit and see how the college was and everything. It was important for Wake Forest to see a player in person. So, if I wasn’t going to be able to make it, that was going to be tough,” said Walker.
“And he [Coach Atkins] took time out of his day to come pick me up from my crib and like drive me all the way to Wake Forest, and he drove me 10 hours out there, bro, and 10 hours back. So, like that was something he didn’t have to do. But like I appreciate that so much, bro,” Walker reminisced fondly.
Walker also said that he has to get Coach Atkins to some of his games. After all, it was his kind gesture that changed the trajectory of his life.
