PHOENIX — Kevin Williams' 12-year journey to this first Super Bowl was meant to end with the Seahawks.
Williams, 34, had been to six Pro Bowls as a defensive tackle in Minnesota before signing with Seattle for the 2014 season. The Seahawks needed him to get to Super Bowl XLIX just as he much as they helped him get there.
MORE: Picks: Iyer | Steele | Vegas | Ridiculous prop bets | Matchups to decide winner
His experience as a durable, dominant run stopper was critical to the Seahawks line's success. He needed to start eight games, as Brandon Mebane was lost for the season wih a hamstring injury.
Williams knows his ability to avoid major injury and always be ready to contribute at a high level is what's added up to his sustained success.
"It has been a good 12 years of not spending a lot of time in the training room," Williams told Sporting News. "It is just being blessed. I can’t just put my finger on one thing that keeps you healthy and on the field every week."
The young Seahawks defensive core that won last year wants to win it again for Williams this year. Even though he has never tasted what they did in Super Bowl XLVIII, Williams gave his teammates some great advice.
"Just stay hungry. Don’t let all the perks and the benefits get in your way or cloud your vision of what’s really at hand," Williams said. "At the end of the day you want to play the game you love, make good money, and you want to walk away and still be a good person."
It didn't matter that Williams was adjusting to a new position in an unfamiliar scheme. He embraced it and thrived in it.
"A 12-year vet that played three-technique pretty much the last 11 years, and to be able to step up and play nose guard in this scheme and be very productive at it, it’s been awesome having him on the team," defensive end Cliff Avril told SN.
PHOTOS: Super Bowl performance duds | Players in high school | Ring gallery
The Seahawks' other star end, Michael Bennett, has seen not only a fast learner, but a terrific teacher, too.
"Kevin has played in every type of game he possibly can play in and now he’s playing in the big game," Bennett said. "He does a great job of keeping us level-headed, and his knowledge of the game is so far past all of ours ... it’s just crazy."
Williams is everywhere, trying to help. It doesn't matter if it's the guys up front with him, or the main guy right behind him, middle linebacker Bobby Wagner.
"Every single day, he’s always coming up to me and asking me how he can get guys off me and keep guys off of me," Wagner said. "When you have a player like that who’s trying to help you do your job great, it’s appreciated."
When it was time for Williams to sign with a team this past offseason, he pondered another interesting post-Vikings alternative — the Seahawks' opponent in Super Bowl XLIX on Sunday.
"It was down to Seattle and the Patriots, as far as my last two, but I think I made the right decision," Williams said. "I was comfortable with the group of guys here and that helped me sway my decision. New England was a much older group. Just playing with such a lively d-line and a lively group of guys in general, it gives an old dog a lot more energy, too."
That twist in his story isn't lost on Williams, but he's confident that choosing the Seahawks will pay off with the ultimate prize.
"That is kind of weird, right?" Williams said. "We have to make sure we win so it will just make the decision that much sweeter."
