After taking down the Los Angeles Rams 31-27 and clinching the NFC Championship title, the Seattle Seahawks return to the Super Bowl for the first time in a decade.
The Seahawks last played in the Super Bowl during the 2014 season, when they lost 28-24 to the New England Patriots. When they travel to Levi’s Stadium in hopes of hoisting the Lombardi Trophy on February 8, they will once again face the Patriots.
Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald gave a shoutout to the team’s fans after the game. “I don’t really know what to say. I’m incredibly proud of our team. I’m happy for the 12s, for our city,” Macdonald told reporters.
GettySeahawks general manager John Schneider and head coach Mike MacDonald after winning NFC Championship game at Lumen Field on January 25, 2026.
“What an atmosphere. Just to be able to take it in after and understand what our team has been able to do up to this point and how they’ve done it, we’re just blessed. Just really blessed that we got a heck of a group and a great organization and owner and the best fans. So it’s humbling, too, and just pretty awesome. I don’t know, I’m kind of speechless. Just really proud of our guys. It was a team win.”
The Seahawks-Patriots game being a rematch of Super Bowl XLIX adds extra hype to the big game. And at the helm throughout it all, John Schneider, who’s now achieved a feat no NFL general manager has before.
John Schneider Is the First GM in NFL History to Reach Multiple Super Bowls with an All-New Team
What Schneider has done with the Seahawks franchise over the past few years is nothing short of incredible — it’s actually historic. He is the first general manager in NFL history to reach multiple Super Bowls with the same organization, while having a new head coach and no players from the previous Super Bowl team.
GettySeahawks General manager John Schneider celebrating the NFC Championship game win at Lumen Field on January 25, 2026.
After finishing the 2021 season 7-10, their worst record since 2011, the franchise underwent major changes, starting with trading away Russell Wilson in 2022. Ahead of the 2024 season, he fired Pete Carroll, hired Macdonald, and traded away quarterback Geno Smith. Before the 2025 season, they said goodbye to longtime franchise stars DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett
After signing quarterback Sam Darnold to a three-year, $100.5 million deal, all the pieces — hitting on draft picks and offseason pickups — started to fall into place. The Seahawks finished the season with a 14-3 record and the No. 1 seed in the NFC.
Mike Macnobald Praised John Scheider After He Won the PFWA Executive of the Year Award
Before the Seahawks defeated the Rams, the 54-year-old general manager was named Executive of the Year by the Professional Football Writers of America.
“It really is conviction of what we’re trying to build, what we want the Seahawks to be all about,” Macdonald said of Schneider, per Seahawks reporter John Boyle.
“He’s led the charge. It’s really that simple. Then I think his leadership example on a day-to-day basis shows up in so many ways. The spirit of the building, his interaction with everyone. He talks to more people in the building than I do. He’s doing his thing all the time. He’s been incredibly helpful to me.
“I was talking to somebody today actually about, I didn’t know anything coming in. You’re just trying to do the best job you possibly can every day, and he knew when to give you some air to breathe and grow and expand and learn and maybe fall a little bit, and also was there to support you when you needed it. So he’s just got a great feel for how to handle those situations, whether it’s me or anybody else in the building.”
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