Jarran Reed earns a living in the pit, the trenches of NFL combat, and this pleases the Seattle Seahawks defensive tackle to no end.

He is a football lifer, a 10th year veteran of interior clashes and scrums that often decide the winners and losers in a sport rooted in crunching contact. On Tuesday afternoon in San Jose, the 6-foot-3, 315-pound 33-year-old Reed beamed at what he has accomplished, and his journey to Super Bow LX on Sunday at Levi’s Stadium. You can be sure he will have a say in how it all turns out against the New England Patriots.

A native of Goldsboro High School in North Carolina, Reed’s story is a familiar one in the Pacific Northwest. He has reveled at the chance to be a run-stuffer and quarterback chaser since he first slipped on shoulder pads and a helmet. He ground his way through East Mississippi Community College, shoring up his game and his academics, and he starred with the Alabama Crimson Tide on the defensive line.

A second-round draft pick by Seattle in 2016, Reed spent the 2021 season with the Kansas City Chiefs and the 2022 campaign with the Green Bay Packers. He re-signed with Seattle in 2023, signing a $12.8 million deal before having it extended in March to a 3-year package for $25 million.

All told, Reed has done his share of the heavy lifting in helping propel the Seahawks to the season’s final weekend in the franchise’s 50th year. And it isn’t just warding off blockers and plugging gaps that make Reed invaluable. He is a locker room leader who offers fiery pep talks as a veteran who has seen it all. Coach Mike Macdonald often has Reed address the team after games, anointing the veteran to mentor and inspire one of the NFL’s youngest teams.

Reed takes none of his path for granted, not in a sport where change is part of the business. Reed has been too good to supplant, and he said he wants to play several more seasons.

“Oh, not one bit (do I take this for granted),” Reed said. “Everybody’s journey is different. I’m very grateful for this, and it’s taught me a lot. Coming from Goldsboro, North Carolina to East Mississippi, then Alabama...all the roles were there to get me to this moment.”

Reed said the Seahawks immediately responded to Macdonald, the defensive coordinator with the Baltimore Ravens in 2022 and 2023 who was hired as head coach by Seattle before the 2024 season.

“It started early with OTA’s, and we attack the day, attack the week,” Reed said. “Everybody needs to be tackled.”

Reed said he enjoys studying game film, be it the linemen he will encounter or the ball carriers the Seahawks are tasked to stop. He said that he is big on preparation, mind and body. He said that he thinks of NFL stars over the years who did not reach a Super Bowl.

“Some greats never made it, never got a chance to experience this,” Reed said. “Man, I’m here, Year 10. I got a national championship in junior college, and at Alabama, and now I’m here to see if we can pull it out in the Super Bowl this week.”

Reed has always been country strong and became stronger through strength and conditioning. He said that as long as he can overpower the guy in front of him, he will continue to play.

“I made a joke the other day in the weight room,” Reed said. “Now I got that grown-man strong, that dance strength.”

Reed said Seattle’s defense is united. That included arriving to the Super Bowl’s Opening Night media session as a unit in the same ride.

“One thing I said (Monday) is that Bus 3 is the defensive bus, like, nobody gets on Bus 3 but the defense. We’re just like brothers out there. We trust each other on the field. We know where each player is going to be on the field. We play off of each other, and that connection started outside the locker room.”

Reed added, “We hang together a lot, a real close-knit group.”

How does a man last this long in the pit? Money is a great motivator, to be certain, and so is the zest to compete.

“Just the love of the game,” Reed said. “And definitely everybody’s playing to get to the Super Bowl. Man, I love the game. It’s done a lot for me. I’ve been playing since I was a kid, five years old, and 33 now, and I’ve got a lot of football left.”

Reed said he had a sense he could make quite a living in this sport by the time he arrived at Alabama, among the college football programs that annually churn out NFL prospects.

“I figured that I could really make this thing work and make this a great life, a life goal, a life-changing experience,” Reed said.

Becoming a father was also a life-changing experience, Reed said. His oldest daughter, Jacey, was born shortly before he was drafted in 2016, when he would make FaceTime video calls with his infant girl who perked up at the sound of his voice.

Now 10 years old, Jacey doesn’t hesitate to climb over her father at home, even if his body aches from the rigors of a game. She has a sister who also jumps aboard Mount Papa. This isn’t trench warfare, not with the girls giggling and their father rolling on his back and side in preparation for a kid ambush.

“My daughters are amazing,” Reed said with a smile. “Look, I’m their jungle gym. They love crawling all over their dad. I really don’t mind. And it doesn’t stop them (if I’m sore or not).”

Sunday, the Patriots and Seahawks will play Super Bowl 60 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. New England earned the No. 2 seed in the AFC playoff picture, then defeated the Chargers, Texans and Broncos en route to a conference title. Seattle earned a bye after finishing the regular season 14-3, then took care of business against the 49ers and Rams at home to punch their ticket to the big game. This will be the first time in 12 years that the Seahawks will be in the Super Bowl – the last time, of course, being the infamous Malcolm Butler game.

Kickoff this weekend is set for 6:30 p.m. ET Sunday on NBC and Peacock.

If looking for a fun way to sweat Sunday’s NFL season finale, I have put together a three-leg same game parlay (+460) for Super Bowl 60. As always, it is worth noting that straight wagers are a far more profitable long-term betting strategy than parlays. Still, parlays can be a fun way to get some extra action on a game to make things interesting!

Check this one out, or visit our Same-Game Parlay Tool to build one for yourself.

New England Patriots vs. Seattle Seahawks Same Game Parlay

Leg 1: Sam Darnold Under 0.5 Interceptions

(+103)

Sam Darnold has quietly put together a very strong month of football. In his last 3 games, he has committed only 1 turnover-worthy throw on 79 pass attempts (1.2%). A large part of his success has been how open his receivers have been, with offensive coordinator Klint Hubiak doing a masterful job scheming open the team’s pass-catchers.

New England’s defense has recorded 5 interceptions and 8 total takeaways in three playoff games – numbers that are likely due for some negative regression, as turnovers are often more noisy than they appear on the surface. At plus-money, this is a worthwhile inclusion in a Super Bowl SGP.

Leg 2: Kenneth Walker III Over 73.5 Rushing Yards

(-110)

Kenneth Walker III struggled with his efficiency in the NFC Championship Game against the Rams, collecting only 62 rushing yards on 19 attempts. More importantly, however, he was clearly the team’s preferred option on the ground.

Walker received 19 of the team’s 22 carries that went to the running back position, including all 3 red zone opportunities and the team’s only goal line rush attempt. Even with his struggles against the Rams, he was still far and away more efficient than backup RB George Holani.

Expect Walker to get fed in the Super Bowl. If he sees close to 20 rush attempts again, it’s going to be difficult for the Patriots to keep him under this number.

Leg 3: Drake Maye Under 37.5 Rushing Yards

(-115)

Seattle’s zone defense doesn’t exactly discourage opposing quarterbacks from running, but the unit tends to do a pretty good job wrapping up quarterbacks before they can scramble for big gains. Their zone-heavy approach means that they tend to always have at least a couple sets of eyes on the quarterback. This typically leads to fewer wide open running lanes for quarterbacks compared to teams that have their defenders’ backs turned in man coverage.

The Seahawks should be able to contain Maye’s scramble attempts relatively well in this matchup. Our FTN model loves this play, too, showing an 8.95% edge to the under.

The Seattle Seahawks brought aboard a key contributor prior to their matchup with the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX.

Seattle, just days away from the biggest game of the season, announced that the activation of linebacker Chazz Surratt from injured reserve and placement of offensive lineman Amari Kight on injured reserve Tuesday.

Surratt, 28, signed with the organization before the start of the season, and appeared in 11 games prior to suffering an ankle injury that landed him on injured reserve on Nov. 26. Surratt played only seven snaps on defense, but was mainstay on special teams and is expected to immediately return to the lineup on Sunday,

Kight, 25, signed as an undrafted free agent after the 2025 NFL Draft, and spent most of the season on the practice squad before being promoted to the active roster late in the season — appearing in four games.

How will this impact the game?

Surratt appeared in 60% of his club’s special teams snaps and finished second on the team in special teams tackles (11) behind fullback/tight end Brady Russell (14).

The Patriots and Seahawks will do battle on Sunday, with kickoff for the big game at Levi’s Stadium scheduled for 6:30 p.m. ET.

In last Monday’s episode of “The Ryen Russillo Show,” Russillo broke down the upcoming Super Bowl matchup between the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks.

Russillo, who previously lived in Boston and went to college in Vermont, is amazed by how quickly the Patriots have turned things around after back-to-back four-win seasons.

“The Patriots ahead of schedule. I cannot believe they’re in the Super Bowl, like so many other people,” Russillo said. “I just can’t believe where this team was at the end of the Belichick run, the Mayo year…I really was surprised. I mean, it was bad…And here they are. They’re in the Super Bowl.”

New England took a lot of people by surprise this season, including Russillo.

While the Patriots benefited from a historically easy schedule during the regular season, they now face a superior Seattle Seahawks team in the Super Bowl. New England is clearly less talented than the Seahawks and is listed as a significant underdog this week.

As an exercise, Russillo said he looked at the top 30 players in this year’s Super Bowl. He guesses roughly 18 to 20 are on Seattle, while 10 to 12 play for New England.

That’s a pretty significant gap, and it may decide the game.

“It’s gonna be tough for me to ignore that when I’m picking the Super Bowl,” Russillo added.

The Seahawks are the better team on paper, but the better team doesn’t always win. Just ask the 2007, 2011 and 2017 Patriots, all of whom lost to inferior teams.

Talent helps, but anything can happen.

When Carlton Davis takes the field on Sunday, Feb. 8, it will mark the second Super Bowl appearance of his career.

But in his mind, it should be number three.

Now a key piece of the New England Patriots’ defense, the former Detroit Lions cornerback isn’t hiding how strongly he feels about how last season ended in Detroit, especially considering where the Lions were before injuries derailed everything.

Detroit Was Rolling Before the Injury Bug Hit

Davis was Detroit’s No. 1 cornerback last season and a major reason the defense held together early in the year. Everything changed in Week 15 against the Buffalo Bills, when Davis suffered a broken jaw that ended his season.

At the time, the Lions were 11–1, cruising toward the top seed in the NFC. They eventually finished 15–2, locked up home-field advantage, and looked every bit like a Super Bowl favorite.

Then the postseason arrived, and so did the injury report.

Detroit’s playoff opener against Washington turned into a nightmare, with Davis and four other defensive starters sidelined. The Commanders took full advantage, hanging a season-high 45 points on the Lions and converting three massive fourth-down attempts along the way.

“It Should Have Been Two Straight”

Davis hasn’t let go of that moment.

“It should have been two straight [years I’m here], for sure,” Davis said via the Detroit Free Press. “I think about that a lot. That’s just how the NFL goes sometimes.”

For Davis, it wasn’t about scheme or preparation. It was about availability.

“You got a great team, great coaching staff, great culture,” he said. “But sometimes the team can be — injuries. Injuries, that’s the name of the game. It’s who can be healthiest the longest, and usually the team that wins it is the healthiest team.”

A Defense Held Together by Tape — Until It Couldn’t

Davis wasn’t alone on the sideline.

Detroit’s defense was missing Aidan Hutchinson, Alim McNeill, Marcus Davenport, Derrick Barnes, and Alex Anzalone at various points down the stretch. All but Anzalone missed the Commanders game, leaving the Lions shorthanded against a Washington offense that attacked relentlessly.

“I felt like I definitely could have helped out if I was playing in that game,” Davis said. “So, yeah, along with the other guys, like myself, Aidan, we had so many guys out. Alim. It was just so many guys.”

That loss still stings, especially knowing how dominant the Lions looked when healthy.

Watching From Afar — and Wondering What If

Now, Davis is preparing for another Super Bowl run with New England, coming off a huge interception in the AFC Divisional Round. He’s doing what elite players do: competing for championships wherever they line up.

Still, Detroit hasn’t left his mind.

The culture. The roster. The opportunity.

In Davis’ eyes, the Lions didn’t miss their window; it was taken from them by timing and injuries. And as he chases another ring, he can’t help but believe that if things had broken just a little differently, he’d be playing in his third Super Bowl, not his second.

The post Carlton Davis Reveals What Cost the Lions a Super Bowl Run appeared first on Detroit Sports Nation.

Sam Darnold not only accepted a plastic, blow-up ham hock hat as a gift from a stranger — accent on STRANGE — Darnold put it on his head.

“Ham for Sam! Ham for Sam!” the guys around the prop guy started chanting.

Then the dude handed the Seahawks’ Pro Bowl quarterback a blue and white serape, the blankets native to Mexico. Darnold put that on, too.

Someone else handed the 28-year-old quarterback a portrait of the Marlboro Man, from the 1970s cigarette ads. The Marlboro Man was Dick Hammer. He passed away in 1999. He was Darnold’s grandfather. He was also a stuntman. A lead firefighter on the 1970s TV series Emergency! A USC basketball player who played in the 1954 Final Four. And a 1964 U.S. Olympic volleyball player.

Except this Marlboro Man had Darnold with his flowing, red hair and reddish-brown beard superimposed over Grandpa’s face, under the cowboy hat and behind the cigarette.

“I get to keep this?!” Darnold said, excitedly.

He did.

On another podium across the vast room of the San Jose Convention Center Monday night, one facing fans behind metal barriers in a corner, practice-squad cornerback Shemar Jean-Charles was answering fans’ questions.

“Drake or Kendrick?” a 20-something asked.

“Kendrick. I was Kendrick way back,” Jean-Charles said of the 27-time Grammy Award winner, the most-awarded rap star ever. “Ask my friends.”

Rookie left guard Grey Zabel answered a question about his favorite rock bands with “Poison.” You know, the 1980s and ‘90s rock band from Pennsylvania? “Every Rose Has Its Thorn”?

That has to be a Seahawks locker-room first.

A young blonde woman, supposedly from the media (that’s a loose designation at this event) reached up to another podium. She handed Devon Witherpsoon a small note. It was the size of a fortune out of fortune cookie. Then she made a heart side to the Pro Bowl cornerback with her hands. Witherspoon smiled warmly, thanked her, and returned the heart hands.

Meanwhile, also inexplicably, Herb Alpert music played quietly in the background overhead.

Jimmy Kimmel’s sidekick Guillermo Rodríguez, the security-guard guy with jokes on the late-night TV show, handed out Crustables to reserve linebacker Jared Ivery and Jamie Sherriff. They ate them with exaggerated “Ummmmmms!!”

(What Guillermo and Kimmel’s audience don’t know: The Seahawks provide Crustables in a bin as pre-practice snacks for quick energy, on the way from the locker room to the practice field at their team facility back home in Renton.)

Running back Kenny McIntosh, on injured reserve, commandeered a full-on television camera from Guillermo. McIntosh walked over to film cornerback Riq Woolen, egging on more cheers and giving the chain he’d been wearing to fans screaming “Riiiiiiiiqqqqqqq!” from behind metal barriers.

The three previous Seahawks teams interacted and had fun with the ridiculousness that is Super Bowl media night, now called Super Bowl Opening Night and held on Monday to begin game week. The 2013 and ‘14 “Legion of Boom” Seahawks had dominant personalities such as Marshawn Lynch, Richard Sherman and Michael Bennett to dominant the floor of this extravaganza.

This is, after all, the event at which Lynch in Feb. 2015, before Super Bowl 49 inside the NBA arena in downtown Phoenix, famously uttered: “I’m just here so I don’t get fined” — for an entire hour. That included 29 times in the first 4 minutes.

And those teams were coached by more free-spirited Pete Carroll.

Yet interestingly, these relatively lesser-known Seahawks are leaning waaaaay in to the extra-curriculars to begin Super Bowl 60 week in the Bay Area.

More interestingly, that’s by design of their no-nonsense coach.

Mike Macdonald wants it this way. Yes, the 38-year-old son of a West Point graduate and career Army officer who barks military commands such as “If you’re walkin’, you’re WRONG!” to his players on the practice field told his Seahawks to have all the fun they want with the media, the pretend media, the fans, the excess that is the Super Bowl.

“This is incredible that we’re here. We’re going to lean into that,” Darnold said during his 60 minutes on his podium, in front of reporters and cameras that stayed four deep in front of him in a semicircle as he talked the entire hour.

“We’re going to lean into that, have fun with each other throughout the week, being in the hotel together.

“I think the more you lean into it, the more fun you can have, the more loose you can be through (the game).”

Rookie reserve offensive lineman Mason Richman, from the University of Iowa, looked around at the scene around him and marveled at the show.

Richman said Macdonald told his Seahawks players: “Just enjoy these first two days, because all it is is just media. ...

“And then we are going to lock in. That’s just what we do. It’s like during the season, when we get back from that off day on Tuesday we get right back to work.”

Yet even fun had its limit Monday night.

Leonard Williams is as thrilled as any Seahawk to be here. It’s the 31-year-old Pro Bowl defensive lineman’s first Super Bowl in his 11 NFL seasons. When the team won the NFC championship game Jan. 25 over the Los Angeles Rams, Williams and his wife Hailey laid on Lumen Field and did snow angels in the blue-and-green confetti that fell onto the field during the postgame celebration.

But when his 60 minutes speaking at his showcase podium were finally over Monday night, Williams exhaled. The 6-foot-5, 310-pound lineman looked and sounded like he’d just run the 48 miles from San Francisco to San Jose.

“That was a LONG time!” Williams said, sighing.

“I’m not used to talking that much.”

The sale of the Seahawks — the issue the team would rather not have the week of their first Super Bowl appearance in more than decade — isn’t going away.

So when is it happening?

“We put out our statement. So I can’t say anything beyond that,” Seahawks vice chair Bert Kolde said Monday, after he and his wife sat in the front row representing the NFC champions at commissioner Roger Goodell’s annual state-of-the-NFL press conference at the Super Bowl.

The statement Kolde referred to Monday at the San Jose Convention Center was the Paul G. Allen Estate’s assertion Friday “the team is not for sale” — with “is” doing a ton of lifting there. The estate’s statement also reiterated the estate that owns the Seahawks dictates the team must be sold. Most of the proceeds will go to Allen’s many philanthropic interests before his death in 2018. The Paul G. Allen Estate issued that statement through a spokesman Friday. That was soon after ESPN and The Wall Street Journal reported the Seahawks would be sold soon after this season ended with Seattle’s Super Bowl.

Moments before Kolde spoke Monday, Goodell said in his press conference a report this past weekend by The Wall Street Journal that the league fined the Seahawks $5 million for continuing to violate NFL rules by having an estate and not an individual person or group of people own a club is not true.

This much we know: The Seahawks’ sale is going to happen. It’s not a matter of if, not when.

And signs are pointing to the when being in the months following the Super Bowl.

Kolde said he, chair Jody Allen, other leaders from Vulcan, LLC, the company Paul Allen formed to manage the Seahawks have studied the recent sales of North American sports franchises. That includes the NBA’s Boston Celtics (for $6 billion), the Los Angeles Lakers (a record $10 billion) and the most recent sale of an NFL team. That was the Washington Commanders, for $6.05 billion in 2023.

“We study all teams, all the sales. That’s something we keep abreast of,” the Seahawks’ vice chair said.

The Allen Estate put the Portland Trail Blazers up on sale in September. Kolde said Monday he expects that sale to be final this spring. It’s about to go to a group led by the owner of the National Hockey League’s Carolina Hurricanes for a reported $4.25 billion.

“Still tracking to close in a couple months,” Kolde said.

With the Blazers sale closing, it makes sense (and billions of dollars) that the Seahawks are next.

The Seahawks are most likely going to set an NFL record for a franchise sale, perhaps in excess of $8 billion.

Seahawks sale to local buyers?

The News Tribune asked Kolde off the stage following Goodell’s 45-minute press conference Monday if the Seahawks already have local buyers on the horizon to sell to.

“Nothing to add,” Kolde said to that.

Is there is anything in the estate’s instructions for the sale of the Seahawks that assures the franchise remains in Seattle? A stipulation it must be sold to local owners? A contract from whoever buys the team that binds them to keep the Seahawks in the city?

To that, Kolde referenced the team’s 30-year lease with Lumen Field runs through 2031. He did not comment on the 20-year option the team has with the stadium and the local government district that runs it beyond 2031.

“l’m not going to get into all of that, all of that detail,” Kolde said.

“But the Allen family put a lot into saving the Seahawks, keeping them in Seattle (by Paul Allen buying the team in 1997 from Ken Behring, who tried to move the team to Southern California). We campaigned around the state (for the new stadium that opened in 2002 and replaced the Kingdome). The voters agreed with us. And we put together Lumen Field.

“And we delivered on everything we promised in that campaign. The team. The stadium. Soccer balls were on our posters. The Sounders launched as the most successful MLS team. The World Cup is coming; we talked about World Cup back in that campaign.

“So we’ve been all about sports in the community for decades. So the lease has six years or so...”

League owners want the Seahawks to sell sooner than later, so they can learn the latest relative valuations of their teams in this post-COVID world with the league’s new media rights deals that provides $11 billion in annual revenue to the NFL. The league signed that a couple years ago.

Asked if the NFL was pressuring the team to sell soon, Kolde said: “No comment on that.”

Kolde said Jody Allen will be at Super Bowl 60 Sunday against the New England Patriots at Levi’s Stadium in nearby Santa Clara.

NEED TO KNOW

• Tommy DeVito explains to PEOPLE how there's a strategy behind Ann Michael Maye's baking for the New England Patriots, ahead of the 2026 Super Bowl
• The backup quarterback shared how they use the treats she gives to her husband, Drake Maye, to their advantage
• DeVito also spoke about his team up with Progressive and the brand's new "Backup" campaign

The New England Patriots are fueling up for their big Super Bowl return!

Backup quarterback Tommy DeVito gave PEOPLE a glimpse inside the locker room, where the highly-talked about treats baked by Drake Maye's wife, Ann Michael, are a fun part of their game plan.

While Ann Michael's baked goods have gone plenty viral online, DeVito hinted at a more strategic reason as to why Ann Michael sends her starting quarterback husband into work with homemade desserts.

"She'll always send in Drake into the building with stuff. So when we're in the [offensive linemen's] room, we'll dabble a little bit," DeVito, 27, tells PEOPLE exclusively while talking about his "Backup" campaign with Progressive.

But why doesn't the star quarterback's wife bake for the quarterback room, you may ask? That's where the strategy lies.

"I think we're trying to stay cleaner on our diet," DeVito explains. "The O-Line are the ones that are making sure that everybody in that room stays upright, so I don't blame her for that!" he adds of the bulked-up offensive line whose job it is to protect the quarterbacks.

Ann Michael has been winning over fans all season long with her kind personality and talent for making baked goods. She launched her now-viral show, Beyond Bakemas, where she bakes her best recipes on TikTok.

And for DeVito and his fellow QBs, those treats are hard to resist.

"I'm sort of a cookie fanatic, so that's the baking that she does," he tells PEOPLE of Ann Michael. "She also does ... I think it's banana bread or some kind of bread like that, whatever it is, but everything has been really good that we've had."

"Me personally, [my favorite] is a chocolate chip cookie," he continues. "Plain, straight up. I don't know if that's how she does her regular cookies, but she did put some sea salt on it… so it was good for me!"

While Ann Michael has the stomachs of the Patriots covered, DeVito's got the backs of QB1 Drake and QB2 as the team's third-string quarterback — one who knows what it's like to step up (and win) when needed, like he famously did as a New York Giants QB in 2023.

That's why DeVito — who topped headlines for his Cinderella Story that saw him go from an undrafted QB3 to the starting role with three back-to-back wins his rookie year — has been tapped by Progressive for its new "Backup" campaign, where he proves to be the ultimate backup for one unlucky fan.

View this post on Instagram

DeVito swooped in to help a fantasy football loser through a brutal fantasy football punishment of running a lemonade stand in the middle of a Boston winter, the day after the Patriots were named 2026 AFC Champions (and as parts of the East Coast got hit with record-breaking snowfall.)

"I think it was like, 5-degree weather," recalls DeVito of his experience in Foxborough. "We did the lemonade stand, which was a ton of fun. It was very cold though... I was spinning $1 lemonade signs... People were looking at us crazy."

He adds, "It was the whole experience."

Now, DeVito is narrowing his focus on quite literally the biggest game of his professional career — also the biggest game in professional football, the Super Bowl.

"We truly believe that we are going to go in and win every game, and to see how the team stuck together was important," he says of the Patriots successes over the course of the season, adding, "I think we're peaking at the right time."

DeVito and the Patriots take on the Seattle Seahawks at the 2026 Super Bowl in San Francisco on Sunday, Feb. 8.

Read the original article on People

It could have been the most painful one in Seattle sports history. So the Seahawks are hoping Riq Woolen learned his lesson.

He, his coach and his Super Bowl-bound team have moved on.

Yet Woolen is still paying for it.

The NFL fined Seattle’s 2022 Pro Bowl cornerback $17,389 for taunting Los Angeles Rams players along their sideline following his break-up of a pass by Matthew Stafford late in the third quarter of the NFC championship game last weekend at Lumen Field.

The fine is in line with the NFL’s fines schedule collectively bargained with its players’ union. It is about $6,000 higher than the one Woolen got from the league earlier this season for taunting.

Woolen’s brilliant play closing on the pass and denying All-Pro wide receiver Puka Nacua the catch for a first down had the Rams preparing to punt while staying down 31-20. The Seahawks were poised to take that two-score lead into the fourth quarter, and thus control of the game late.

But Woolen followed his play by hopping, prancing and woofin’ at Rams. Some of them yapped back. The official on the sideline repeatedly urged Woolen to go away from the LA. sideline. Woolen continued to talk to the Rams as he walked down the boundary.

That official threw a flag on Woolen for unsportsmanlike conduct, taunting specifically.

“The covering official had him walking toward and into the opponent’s bench, continuing to jaw after repeated efforts by the official to have him turn away and go to his own bench,” referee Clay Martin told NFL pool reporter Brady Henderson of espn.com following the game. “When he chose not to do so, that’s what rose to the level of a foul.”

Martin said there was nothing specific Woolen said to incur the penalty. “Just continued jawing in the opponent’s bench area after being asked to walk away.”

On the next play after his penalty, Woolen allowed Nacua to get behind him and Stafford’s pass to sail over him for a Rams touchdown. A game that should have been a two-score lead for Seattle entering the final quarter was suddenly 31-27. That set up an excruciating ending. The Seahawks escaped a scoreless fourth quarter to earn their first Super Bowl appearance in 11 years.

Tariq Woolen was called for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and gave the Rams an automatic first down.

FOX pic.twitter.com/U69DDnlOnJ

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) January 26, 2026

On the sideline after the Rams touchdown over Woolen, rookie Nick Emmanwori angrily confronted Woolen about his penalty. Teammates Coby Bryant and Ernest Jones interceded and played peace-keepers.

Emmanwori later said they are both competitors and were in an ultra-competitive situation, that the fourth-year veteran is a big brother to him.

After the game, Woolen stood at his locker in front of reporters and owned his mistake.

“I made a great play,” he said. “I gotta be better than that, celebrate with my team.

“And the next play, they scored a touchdown. That wouldn’t have happened if I just celebrate with the team, so I gotta be smarter.

“I got a taunting penalty earlier in the season, so I’ve gotta be more aware of that. They’re gonna call the taunt. I gotta celebrate with the team and, shoot, onto the next play.”

It sure helped him get past it and be philosophical because the Seahawks won, but coach Mike Macdonald focused on Woolen’s strong play the latter half of this season when talking after the game about the cornerback’s penalty that, had the Rams then scored on a fourth down near the goal line with 5 minutes left, could have ended Seattle’s season.

“Look, Riq has done a tremendous job for us,” Macdonald said. “Yeah, you’re frustrated in the moment about what’s happening, but he just made an emotional decision and we got to pick him up.

“That’s not the time to point (the finger), get all upset. You’ve got to go play the next play and score and go rebound back and go back.”