What made the 2025 Seattle Seahawks a championship team? I love that the new “Making a Champion” video series explores the magical Super Bowl run from many different perspectives, then finally boils it down to solely that question at the end.
After a first episode featuring ‘Hawks GM, John Schneider, episodes 2 (Uchenna Nwosu), 3 (Jaxon Smith-Njigba), 4 (Ernest Jones IV) and 5 (Nick Emmanwori) have all been Jen Mueller, John Boyle, and Bryan Walters sitting down with Seahawk players. These are all up
on the Seahawks’ YouTube channel.
When asked the all-important question, “What made last year’s squad a Super Bowl-winning ensemble?”, each of the four players all cited different shades of the same idea.
Uchenna Nwosu came across as the classic tough guy on the defense’s edge that he is. He stood up to advocate for Mike Macdonald and his individual impact though, asserting: “He trusts the leaders on the team to be able to police guys, so he doesn’t have to yell at you. When it’s time to be a coach, he’ll be a coach, of course.” He goes on to say, “But he understands that it’s a player’s league and you need your guys to really step up. He doesn’t get enough credit, but he deserves more.”
When Nwosu was asked directly, “What made the 2025 Seahawks a championship team?”, he explained simply, that it was “our connectivity, our togetherness, our brotherhood. That’s what I feel like was the main driving force. I’ve been on a lot of teams, you know.”
Nwosu went on to say, “I’ve been in the league nine years now. A lot of different guys, a lot of different personalities. But everybody was pretty humble. Egos were not an issue. When you’re dealing with these kinds of great players, ego can kind of get in the way a little bit, but we didn’t let that waver us.”
What did superstar wideout, Jaxon Smith-Njigba have to say about the X-factor that made a champion? “I think it just comes down to what we say: 12 as one.” He also used the word “togetherness.” That seems to jive with Nwosu’s take.
Veteran off-ball linebacker, Ernest Jones IV always bares his soul, one way or another, when he talks to the media. What did he see as the reason for the ‘25 Seahawks NFL title? E.J. gets introspective in saying, “I’ll reflect back on: those are guys in that locker room that I’ll go to war with. You know, if a fight broke out, I know they’re going to fight.” He revealed the response that type of realization evokes: “this guy will fight for me, so why shouldn’t I do the same?”
A rookie that broke out in a big way last year was Nick Emmanwori as a big slot. His confidence and expectation of greatness shone through, as it always does. When Emmanwori was asked for his take on what made the Seahawks a championship team in his first year, he said “As cliche as it sounds… really the connection.”
Were these guys prepped to say all of this? Jokes aside, the pattern shows up time and time again. Emmanwori used the term “true brotherhood” to describe the reigning Super Bowl champions. This should be music to the ears of Seahawks fans that witnessed the tragic dismantling of a potential dynasty caused by injuries and rifts between players and coaches.
It’s also an inspiring example of a shared vision pulling a diverse group of humans together to achieve great things. You’ve got to love witnessing that, especially during fútbol season. HBO’s upcoming Hard Knocks series centered around the Seattle Seahawks is highly anticipated.
John Schneider and Mike Macdonald are two prominent dudes in the Seahawks organization who deserve credit for building such a thriving football franchise, among others. We should also credit them for continually finding other individuals who want to work and want to build something special. The fact that the players are all bought into this is beautiful to see and hear.
