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Seahawks Rookie Rylie Mills Channeled Marshawn Lynch on His Super Bowl Sack

Despite playing just five snaps, the fifth-round rookie showed up big in Super Bowl LX.
Feb 8, 2026; Santa Clara, CA, USA; Seattle Seahawks defensive tackle Rylie Mills (98) reacts after a play during the second quarter against the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX at Levi's Stadium.
Feb 8, 2026; Santa Clara, CA, USA; Seattle Seahawks defensive tackle Rylie Mills (98) reacts after a play during the second quarter against the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX at Levi's Stadium. | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

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Just under 15 months ago, Seattle Seahawks defensive lineman Rylie Mills suffered a season-ending knee injury in his final season at Notre Dame. The Seahawks drafted him in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft, but he wasn't expected to play until at least midseason.

On Sunday, Mills recorded his first career sack in the Super Bowl — making one of the most physically impressive plays of the night by the Seahawks' Dark Side defense. Mills bulled straight through Patriots offensive lineman Jared Wilson on his way to Drake Maye.

When explaining the play to ESPN's Brady Henderson after the game, Mills channeled Seahawks legend Marshawn Lynch's famous "Run through a motherf----- face" quote with his own version.

"Yeah, I just ran through his face and then got to the quarterback," Mills said, per Henderson. "I told myself last night, ‘No more thinking, just go.’ … I got in that moment, and I just said I’m going to go and let it rip.

“To be honest, that’s my brand, I’m going to run through your face. When I came in here, that’s what I told everyone I’m going to do. In the biggest moment, I wanted to do it as much as I could.”

Mills didn't even appear in a game until Week 15. Once he did start playing, he wasn't a big contributor along a Seahawks defensive front that has emerged as the best in the league. Mills played a total of 28 defensive snaps in the regular season.

In the Super Bowl, Mills played just five snaps, but that's all he needed to account for one of Seattle's six sacks — showing his potential as a future playmaker in Mike Macdonald's defense.

Mills, as you'd expect, was overjoyed to go from being injured in college to winning a Super Bowl in just over a year. It was even better that he had a major impact in the game.

"I wasn’t even walking a year ago, so this is insane," Mills said. "It’s a testament to the coaching staff and to the training staff … all the people, our trainers at Notre Dame, everyone that helped me out. I couldn’t believe it and it got me to this point."

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Connor Benintendi
CONNOR BENINTENDI

Connor J. Benintendi is a graduate of Western Washington University and began his sports journalism career working in local news, covering almost every sport imaginable at the high school and NCAA levels. He’s been covering the Seattle Seahawks since 2024 and began reporting on the WNBA’s Seattle Storm in 2025.

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