The Seattle Seahawks held their Super Bowl 60 winning parade on Wednesday. The parade was held in Downtown Seattle, running from 4th Ave and Washington Street to 4th Ave and Cedar Street. Among the legends in attendance was former Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck.
Hasselbeck was on hand in partnership with Bud Light. Hasselbeck spoke exclusively with Seahawks Wire's Justin Melo. The legendary quarterback discussed the Seahawks' Super Bowl LX victory, Mike Macdonald's legendary defense, how the 2005 team compares, and more.
JM: Having played the quarterback position at such a high level, you understand how teammates respond to their quarterback. When you look at this Seahawks team, they rallied around Sam Darnold and came to his defence. What do you think makes Darnold so endearing to his teammates?
Matt Hasselbeck: Well, I think there's a few things that play well in the locker room. Hard work is one of them. Being excellent at your craft is another. Sam Darnold is great at both of those things. He's authentic in his approach. I think he's very genuine when it comes to work ethic, being excellent. and authentic.
You can go back to last season with the Minnesota Vikings. His teammates rallied around him the same way. You've always been able to tell how his teammates feel about him. I think sometimes, the scene on the national level remembers the 20 year old version of Sam Darnold with the New York Jets.
The guys in this [Seattle] locker room don't even know that version of Sam Darnold. They only know this version, the franchise quarterback who is authentic in his approach. To them, Sam Darnold is their franchise quarterback, the leader on offense. He's definitely someone they respect.
JM: It's very obvious every time they speak about him. We've seen a lot of comparisons between the 2013 and 2025 Super Bowl-winning Seahawks teams. Having been a part of the legendary 2005 team, what shared mentality did your version of almost-champions have?
Matt Hasselbeck: That's a tough question. I don't know how many similarities there are to the 2005 team, other than the connection to this incredible fanbase. This fanbase is a clear differentiator for the Seahawks. Homefield advantage in the playoffs is especially ridiculous when it's in Seattle.
You can talk to all of those quarterbacks we beat in 2005 on the way to the Super Bowl. Tony Romo, Eli Manning, Jake Delhomme, even the quarterbacks we beat at home in the regular season. They all admitted that they hated playing in Seattle. They couldn't hear themselves speak in the huddle, let alone hear their teammates in the huddle. They couldn't communicate the cadence.
The connection to the fans in that regard, every Super Bowl team in Seattle's history has that shared connection. It was certainly something. I'm happy for this 2025 defense though. They are absolutely out of the shadow of the Legion of Boom unit. That was one of the hardest things this unit had to do, because of how good that 2013 defense was.
This 2025 defense was amazing in a different way. They did it up front in a particular way. They rush the passer with four guys. Leonard Williams is probably my favorite player on this team. Byron Murphy II is probably the most underrated player in the NFL, in my mind.
This defense is so creative when rushing the passer. They got to the Super Bowl and they didn't do a ton of blitzing prior to that. That was the difference maker. They can blitz guys like Devon Witherspoon and Nick Emmanwori. To me, Witherspoon was a candidate to be named MVP of Super Bowl 60. He was incredible.
Most defenses try to play great defense. Great defenses think they can score when they're on the field. That's the difference with this M.O.B. defense. They believe they can score when they're on defense. You saw it happen in the Super Bowl.
The New England Patriots were a pretty good team. That M.O.B. defense shut the Patriots down and almost made it a non-competitive game at times. It was an incredible defensive performance. This young Patriots team will learn from the experience.
It's difficult to dominate an NFL game the way this Seahawks defense did, let alone to dominate a Super Bowl. They deserve all the credit they're getting.
Ahead of Super Bowl LX, Bud Light dropped hundreds of kegs at Lumen Field as part of its ‘City of Kegs’ takeover. Now that the Seahawks have the trophy, Bud Light is rolling out limited-edition championship packaging to commemorate this unbelievable victory.
JM: Defenses have dominated the last few Super Bowls. We saw the Eagles get after Patrick Mahomes last year. This year, it was obviously that M.O.B. defense that spearheaded the Seahawks to victory. In recent years, we've seen every team want to hire that offensive minded head coach. The Seahawks went the other way with Mike Macdonald and it paid ultimate dividends. Mike Macdonald is the Sean McVay of the defense. He gives his unit a real advantage by changing the math up front. Do you think this Seahawks team can change the way their 31 contenders approach the hiring cycle?
Matt Hasselbeck: It's really interesting to hear you say that. I think I might have been the first person to ever call Mike Macdonald the Sean McVay of the defense. It really warms my heart to hear you say that (laughs). I think Mike Macdonald got hired because of Sean McVay and Kyle Shanahan.
You have to compete against those coaches in this NFC West division. That was really why he got hired. The Seahawks needed a coach who could shut down McVay and Shanahan. This is a ridiculously difficult division right now. And remember at the time Macdonald got hired, Kyler Murray was also thought of as a franchise playmaking quarterback.
What Mike Macdonald just did in Year Two, he basically wanted his own Sean McVay, Kyle Shanahan version of his offense. He went to get someone he believed was capable of running that offense in Klint Kubiak. In turn, that helped Macdonald get Sam Darnold in free agency. Quarterbacks love playing in that QB-friendly system. That's what helped bring Darnold to Seattle.
If you can find a defensive guru who can hire the next Klint Kubiak as his offensive coordinator, I think you could hire defensive coaches and win the Super Bowl that way. Look at the Las Vegas Raiders, they just hired Kubiak to be their head coach.
The Miami Dolphins hired a defensive guy in Jeff Hafley. They think has the relationships with a similar coaching tree, that Shanahan, McVay, Matt LaFleur coaching tree to nail his offensive coordinator hire. It should always be about the package deal when it comes to the head coach and offensive coordinator.
JM: We've appreciated your time, Matt. This has been outstanding. In closing, Mike Holmgren always said there should be two banners hanging at Lumen Field. What do you think he'd say today?
Matt Hasselbeck: He'd say there should be three (laughs). That would be really nice. There's lessons learned along the way. I'm here with Bud Light today, they made these incredible limited-edition championship packaging to commemorate the victory.
It's ironic, the Roman numeral is Super Bowl LX. I can't help thinking about Super Bowl XL. We were really close. I wish I had one of those Super Bowl 40 commemorative cans from Bud Light to go on my shelf at home next to this one. Those Super Bowl 40 commemorative bottles are on some Pittsburgh Steelers shelves. They got it done on that Super Bowl Sunday and we didn't.
In a weird way, it just makes Super Bowl 60 feel that much sweeter. The guys brought the Lombardi back to Seattle.
This article originally appeared on Seahawks Wire: Seahawks Wire exclusive: Matt Hasselbeck talks Super Bowl 60