Seahawks clean out lockers with an eye on Super Bowl parade

RENTON, Wash. — There’s still plenty of fun ahead for the Seattle Seahawks, starting with a parade Wednesday morning through the streets of Seattle celebrating their 29-13 Super Bowl victory over the New England Patriots.

“It’s something I’ve dreamed about, said cornerback Riq Woolen, who noted he has walked by pictures of the parade celebrating the Seahawks’ 2013 Super Bowl title for years at the team’s practice facility.

“I always looked at it and it looked so crazy and to be in one and now is going to be so lit. They said a million people or something like that (will be attending)? I’m ready to see it."

Then Woolen asked the reporters: “Are you all coming? Pull up. It’s going to be fun."

Defensive lineman Leonard Williams said the reception the team received Monday as it flew back to Seattle and rode the bus to the VMAC has him anticipating Wednesday.

“The parade tomorrow is going to be beautiful," he said. “Even when we landed yesterday and were driving to the facility as a team, you hear all the cars honking when they see us driving by and just a ton of Hawks fans standing outside of the facility. I’m sure that was only like 1% of what we’re going to see tomorrow."

Amid the anticipation, the Seahawks couldn’t help but feel a little melancholy as they handled an annual rite of the NFL — cleaning out their lockers and holding a final team meeting before players are set free for the offseason.

The Seahawks will not have to gather as a team for a football-related reason until the beginning of the NFL’s offseason program on April 20.

Safety Julian Love said it was almost a bittersweet feeling being back in the locker room.

“It’s like, ‘Dang, I want to keep this thing going,’" he said. “I felt that right after the game like, ‘I can’t believe we’re done.’ Like I love looking at a goal, the next target, the helmet on the spear (in the team’s meeting room). There’s like an excitement, like a look-forward to mindset with that and when you don’t have that for this season it’s like, ‘Dang, I wish we could keep going.’

“I think a lot of guys were saying that after the game, I wish this thing could keep going."

Love laughed that he may need help to handle the transition.

“I’m going to have to deal with that," he said. “Talk to a therapist maybe and then just reset and climb that mountain again."

While the ending of any season can hit hard, it may especially acute with this group because of how close the players felt not just with each other but with coaches and others in the building.

“I love that we have a reason to come back and have a reunion together, because I really have a true bond and connection to all of these people," Williams said. “The coaches, the staff, the players, I think we really deserve something like this to come back and celebrate. I’m looking forward to knowing these guys the rest of my life."

Whether the team can keep that bond intact next season will be one of the key questions.

There are already changes afoot, beginning with offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak leaving to become coach of the Las Vegas Raiders and possibly taking a few other assistants with him. There will be the inevitable personnel changes as some players hit free agency and the team makes additions that will mean some subtractions.

The Seahawks will be able to keep much of the team intact if they want with just nine players set to become unrestricted free agents.

“I think the great part about it is the core, the youth on this team, for the most part is going to be back," Love said.

Every team and season has a vibe of its own.

Middle linebacker Ernest Jones IV — who also won a Super Bowl ring with the Rams in 2021 — pointed out that the Seahawks will be operating on a different plane in 2026 as the hunted instead of the hunter.

“I think mentally you’ve got to enjoy it now, but realize like everybody is going to want your head now," Jones said. “Everybody is going to want that spot and what you just felt."

Jones said he’s confident the Seahawks will respond the right way.

“I think we’ve got the right group of guys to do what we need to do to get our minds ready to reload and do it again," he said.

Not that there won’t be changes to the team’s dynamic that could present some challenges.

As happened with the 2013 Seahawk team that won the Super Bowl, some of the team’s young players will be up for big contracts.

Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker III is among the players who can be an unrestricted free agent next month and players from the rookie class of 2023 — notably cornerback Devon Witherspoon and receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba — are eligible for contract extensions. Witherspoon and Smith-Njigba could command per-year averages at the top of their position group.

“When winning the Super Bowl, great things are going to happen to guys who need contracts, guys that are coming up on contracts, whatever the case may be," Jones said.

Jones said he thinks the players will be able to adjust.

“I think we just believe in the mission," Jones said.

Which is?

“The mission next year is to win the Super Bowl, do it again," he said.

Before looking too far ahead, the Seahawks made sure to enjoy the present.

Players traded jerseys for others to sign, played some last games of shadow boxing and swapped handshakes and hugs as they filled boxes with shoes and other personal effects to take home.

One piece of equipment that wasn’t getting put away was the ball Uchenna Nwosu used to score a touchdown on a 45-yard interception return in the fourth quarter that put a fitting finishing touch on Sunday’s game.

Nwosu held the ball as he talked to reporters in front of his locker.

“Yeah, this ain’t ever leaving my side," he said.

As Nwosu spoke, Williams walked by and said with a smile: “Go to sleep with it."

Nwosu said the play helped him win a seasonlong argument with Williams and others on the defensive line.

“We’ve been having a little competition on the D-line who has the best hands," he said. “Officially it’s me."

Nwosu was asked a question referencing that the play was first called a fumble recovery before it was changed to an interception.

What did he think it was?

“I call it a touchdown," he said. “That’s what it was. Whatever they want to call it, it is what it is. But I was able to make a great play and I’m grateful.

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