Kenneth Walker III’s somersault first down is NFL’s wildest broken tackle this season

Play through the whistle.

That refrain is drilled into your head as a young football player, with coaches stressing that point from the time you first put on the pads until the day you take them off. Regardless of level, that refrain guides your every move on the football field.

Monday night against the Detroit Lions, Seattle faced a 2nd and 4 at the Detroit 42-yard line. Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith dropped into the pocket and looked to his left, where Seattle was running a curl/flat combination with Tyler Lockett on the curl route, and Walker releasing to the flat. Smith threw to his running back who looked to be wrapped up short of the first-down marker by running back Alex Anzalone, but Walker simply refused to go down:

Anzalone initially swung Walker to the turf, but the running back landed on top of the linebacker, prompting Walker to keep fighting for the first down. Anzalone then tried to tackle Walker again, only to have the running back somersault over him, and eventually past the first-down marker.

Here is another look at Walker’s incredible effort:

That effort paid off, as the Seahawks eventually finished the drive with a touchdown.

From Walker himself:

Play through the whistle.