RENTON, Wash. (AP) — When Zach Charbonnet went down with a season-ending knee injury against the San Francisco 49ers in the divisional round of the NFC playoffs, Kenneth Walker III rushed onto the field to check on his Seattle Seahawks backfield mate.
Initially, Walker was told Charbonnet – who led the Seahawks with 12 touchdown runs and became the first Seattle player since Marshawn Lynch in 2014 to rush for at least 10 scores in a season – was going to be OK.
Walker instead has taken on an increased role as the Seahawks move within one win of their second Super Bowl title in franchise history.
“Obviously, it’s unfortunate what happened to him,” Walker told The Associated Press. “But, I’ve been going through it all season. I’ve been prepared for whatever.”
Walker, who ran for over 1,000 yards this season (1,027) for the first time since his rookie year, has not only been prepared, he has excelled in Charbonnet’s absence. Including the game in which Charbonnet was injured, Walker has averaged 4.7 yards per carry in the postseason, caught all seven passes thrown his way for 78 yards receiving and plunged into the end zone four times on the ground.
Ahead of the Seahawks’ 31-27 win against the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC championship game, offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak pointed to the film as reason enough that Walker could handle a few more touches.
“He played some really good football,” Kubiak said last week. “We have all the confidence in the world with him to carry a heavier load, but it’s not all on him. He’s got help behind him. We’re counting on him.”
Over the Seahawks’ last three games of the regular season, Walker has also had at least 100 total yards twice. He credited his individual success to Seattle’s attention to detail in all aspects of the run game as a team.
“Linemen hitting their guys, picking up on who they were supposed to get,” Walker said. “Everybody just all around was more detailed in who they were supposed to get. Receivers, tight ends, everybody’s all on one accord.”
But nobody has been more on point — and received more attention — than Walker ahead of what could be his last game in a Seahawks uniform. The 25-year-old running back is in the final year of his rookie contract and is slated to become a free agent in 2026. Given his production, Walker figures to be in line for a significant pay bump.
General manager John Schneider, who drafted Walker in the second round in 2022, would be saddened to see him go should the Michigan State product choose to do so.
“Ken has been awesome,” Schneider said. “Explosive. I would say maybe a little bit more decisive the last month and a half. He’s a free agent. We’d love to have him back.”
To Schneider’s point, Walker picked up steam down the stretch after hitting a lull for much of the middle of the season. As Walker put it, it has been an up-and-down season personally while the team has enjoyed plenty of on-field success, which matters much more to him.
Walker has taken pride in stepping up in Charbonnet’s absence, especially since he considers him a brother. Simultaneously, Walker’s mental resilience has been tested amid the uncertainty of his future in the Pacific Northwest.
Rather than ponder whether the Super Bowl could be a sweet swan song to his time with the Seahawks, Walker has compartmentalized that aspect of his role in one of the biggest games in franchise history.
“I don’t really think on that,” Walker said. “If I worry about that, then I won’t be able to focus on what the hell I need to focus on.”
So what is occupying Walker’s mind these days?
“I just really want to win the Super Bowl,” he said.
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
Seattle Seahawks running back Kenneth Walker III warms up during practice at the team's facilities ahead of the NFL football NFC Championship game, Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026, in Renton, Wash. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
Seattle Seahawks running back Kenneth Walker III (9) scores a touchdown past Los Angeles Rams linebacker Byron Young (0) during the first half of the NFC Championship NFL football game Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Stephen Brashear)
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Journalist Don Lemon was released from custody Friday after he was arrested and hit with federal civil rights charges over his coverage of an anti-immigration enforcement protest that disrupted a service at a Minnesota church.
Lemon was arrested Thursday while across the country in Los Angeles, while another independent journalist and two protest participants were arrested in Minnesota.
The arrests brought sharp criticism from news media advocates and civil rights activists including the Rev. Al Sharpton, who said the Trump administration is taking a “sledgehammer” to “the knees of the First Amendment.”
The four were indicted on charges of conspiracy and interfering with the First Amendment rights of worshippers during the Jan. 18 protest at the Cities Church in St. Paul, where a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement official is a pastor.
In federal court in Los Angeles, Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander Robbins argued for a $100,000 bond, telling a judge that Lemon “knowingly joined a mob that stormed into a church.” He was released, however, without having to post money and was granted permission to travel to France in June while the case is pending.
Defense attorney Marilyn Bednarski said Lemon plans to plead not guilty and fight the charges.
Lemon, who was fired from CNN in 2023 following a bumpy run as a morning host, has said he has no affiliation to the organization that went into the church and he was there as a solo journalist chronicling protesters.
“Don has been a journalist for 30 years, and his constitutionally protected work in Minneapolis was no different than what he has always done,” his lawyer, Abbe Lowell, said in a statement. “The First Amendment exists to protect journalists whose role it is to shine light on the truth and hold those in power accountable.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi promoted the arrests on social media.
“Make no mistake. Under President Trump’s leadership and this administration, you have the right to worship freely and safely,” Bondi said in a video posted online. “And if I haven’t been clear already, if you violate that sacred right, we are coming after you.”
Since he left CNN, Lemon has joined the legion of journalists who have gone into business for himself, posting regularly on YouTube. He hasn’t hidden his disdain for President Donald Trump. Yet during his online show from the church, he said repeatedly: “I’m not here as an activist. I’m here as a journalist.” He described the scene before him, and interviewed churchgoers and demonstrators.
A magistrate judge last week rejected prosecutors’ initial bid to charge the veteran journalist. Shortly after, he predicted on his show that the administration would try again.
“And guess what,” he said. “Here I am. Keep trying. That’s not going to stop me from being a journalist. That’s not going to diminish my voice. Go ahead, make me into the new Jimmy Kimmel, if you want. Just do it. Because I’m not going anywhere.”
Georgia Fort livestreamed the moments before her arrest, telling viewers that agents were at her door and her First Amendment right as a journalist was being diminished.
A judge released Fort, Trahern Crews and Jamael Lundy on bond, rejecting the Justice Department's attempt to keep them in custody. Not guilty pleas were entered. Fort's supporters in the courtroom clapped and whooped.
“It’s a sinister turn of events in this country,” Fort's attorney, Kevin Riach, said in court.
Jane Kirtley, a media law and ethics expert at the University of Minnesota, said the federal laws cited by the government were not intended to apply to reporters gathering news.
The charges against Lemon and Fort, she said, are “pure intimidation and government overreach.”
Some experts and activists said the charges were not only an attack on press freedoms but also a strike against Black Americans who count on Black journalists to bear witness to injustice and oppression.
The National Association of Black Journalists said it was “outraged and deeply alarmed” by Lemon's arrest. The group called it an effort to “criminalize and threaten press freedom under the guise of law enforcement.”
Crews is a leader of Black Lives Matter Minnesota who has led many protests and actions for racial justice, particularly following George Floyd’s killing in Minneapolis in 2020.
“All the greats have been to jail, MLK, Malcom X — people who stood up for justice get attacked,” Crews told The Associated Press. “We were just practicing our First Amendment rights.”
A prominent civil rights attorney and two other people involved in the protest were arrested last week. Prosecutors have accused them of civil rights violations for disrupting the Cities Church service.
The Justice Department launched an investigation after the group interrupted services by chanting “ICE out” and “Justice for Renee Good,” referring to the 37-year-old mother of three who was fatally shot by an ICE officer in Minneapolis.
Lundy, a candidate for state Senate, works for the office of Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty and is married to a St. Paul City Council member. Lemon briefly interviewed him as they gathered with protesters preparing to drive to the church on Jan. 18.
“I feel like it’s important that if you’re going to be representing people in office that you are out here with the people,” Lundy told Lemon, adding he believed in “direct action, certainly within the lines of the law.”
Cities Church belongs to the Southern Baptist Convention and lists one of its pastors as David Easterwood, who leads ICE's St. Paul field office.
“We are grateful that the Department of Justice acted swiftly to protect Cities Church so that we can continue to faithfully live out the church’s mission to worship Jesus and make him known,” lead pastor Jonathan Parnell said.
Richer and Tucker reported from Washington. Associated Press reporters Dave Bauder and Aaron Morrison in New York; Giovanna Dell'Orto, Tim Sullivan, Steve Karnowski and Jack Brook in Minneapolis; and Josh Funk in Omaha, Nebraska, contributed.
FILE - Don Lemon arrives at THR's Empowerment in Entertainment Gala at Milk Studios, April 30, 2019, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, FILE)
FILE - Don Lemon attends the 15th annual CNN Heroes All-Star Tribute at the American Museum of Natural History, Sunday, Dec. 12, 2021, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)
