Who is Kenneth Walker? Meet the Super Bowl MVP from Tennessee

Seattle Seahawks running back Kenneth Walker III made history Sunday night as he became the first Super Bowl MVP to come from Tennessee.

Walker led the Seahawks to their second Lombardi Trophy beating New England 29-13. He finished the night with 135 yards on 27 carries. He became the first running back to rush 100 yards in the Super Bowl since Damien Williams rushed for 104 yards in Kansas City's 31-20 win over San Francisco in Super Bowl LIV.

The journey to Super Bowl MVP for Walker started long before he stepped onto the field at Levi's Stadium.

That journey started nearly a decade ago when Walker was a star running back at Arlington High School just 30 minutes outside of Memphis, Tennessee.

Back then, Walker was one of the state's top under-the-radar running backs looking to hopefully take that next step and get recognized by major college programs.

He earned a starting role his sophomore year rushing for 877 yards and eight touchdowns. He would go on to rush for 1,205 yards and 17 touchdowns during his junior season and capped his high school career rushing for 1,326 yards and 16 touchdowns in just eight games.

Despite that success, recruiting site 247Sports only ranked him as a two-star prospect, the No. 229 running back in the 2019 class and the No. 112 player in Tennessee.

Walker would originally commit to Kent State in 2018 before decommitting and late signing with Wake Forest in December of that same year. In two seasons with the Demon Deacons he carried the ball 217 times for 1,158 yards and 17 touchdowns.

In 2021 Walker transferred to Michigan State where he would become one of the nation's top backs in just one season with the Spartans. Finishing sixth in Heisman Trophy voting that season, Walker carried the ball 263 times for 1,636 yards and 18 touchdowns.

Seattle selected Walker in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft with the 41st pick. In his rookie season Walker rushed for 1,050 yards and nine touchdowns.

In his four seasons in the NFL, Walker has 3,555 rushing yards and 55 touchdowns.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY High School Sports Wire: Kenneth Walker III becomes first Super Bowl MVP from Tennessee