While the Super Bowl LX champs were making the victory rounds in Seattle this week, another K9 was frolicking in the snow in Dedham, Mass., thousands of miles away.
Four 3-month-old dogs named after Super Bowl MVP Kenneth “K9” Walker III, quarterback Sam Darnold, wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba and tight end Elijah Arroyo, were out this week “bark-sledding,” cross-country running and having Winter Olympics-style fun.
The pups, thought to be treeing Walker coonhound mixes, were described as “really cute, with short, little legs.” They’re temporarily at the Animal Rescue League of Boston, which came up short in a friendly Super Bowl bet with Seattle Humane.
The two animal welfare organizations wagered the city with the losing team in Sunday’s showdown would name some puppies from their next litter after the victorious team’s roster.
With the Seahawks dogpiling on the New England Patriots in a 29-13 win, the Animal Rescue League of Boston is keeping its word. The brown-black-and-white canine named after Walker will make his public debut with his mates on Friday, when they’ll be up for adoption.
“It’s not the outcome we hoped for,” the organization’s chief advancement officer Jackie Smith said Wednesday. “But we are happy to keep our end of the bargain. This is in the spirit of helping dogs and animals in shelters, and we are always happy to do that.”
The organization, which has been around since 1899, was really looking forward to naming a West Coast pooch after Patriots’ Coach Mike Vrabel, but alas, the Seahawks’ defense had other plans.
“I am super-happy to have Seattle represented in Boston,” Seattle Humane’s executive director Jessie Swisher Spiers, said. “ … I hope our friends in Boston don’t hold these names against them and these dogs still get adopted really quickly.”
Of course, the new parents can always change the names once the puppies get home.
“We were rooting for different teams,” Smith said. “But we know everyone roots for animals, especially rescue dogs. We want to celebrate that.”
Swisher Spiers said she chuckled when ARL’s president and CEO Edward Schettino contacted her last month with the “cheeky and funny” wager after the teams clinched their Super Bowl berth.
Seattle Humane has about 125 animals, including roughly 80 dogs in its care.
It was difficult to decide which names to send to New England, she said, but two were easy picks.
Arroyo selected Seattle Humane last year as his “My Cause My Cleats” charity, as part of an NFL program in which players don custom-made cleats to raise awareness of noteworthy causes and organizations.
Walker was also a no-brainer. In addition to being named the MVP, “the nickname K9 totally lends itself to a great dog name,” Swisher Spiers said.
Staff excitedly chimed in on the rest. At one point, at least a dozen names were in the mix, she said. They settled on the top dogs: Darnold and Smith-Njigba.
“Sam Darnold, he has really led this team through the year,” she said. “JSN has also just been amazing as a player; (he) really showed up in the two final games that got us to the Super Bowl. But it was hard.”
The Animal Rescue League of Boston had 206 animals at three locations and in foster care Wednesday, including about 50 dogs, rabbits, geese and a pig named Gordy.
The Boston puppies arrived from Mississippi last month through a partnership with the ASPCA that moves puppies from areas dealing with overpopulation, Smith said. They have been with foster families since, she said.
Would Seattle Humane be a tad generous in victory and name at least one pup after a New England Patriots’ player or coach? Swisher Spiers said she’s open to renegotiating the wager.
But she’d also love to see a rematch.
“Super Bowl 2027, here we come.”
