Kansas City Chiefs running back Kenneth Walker III hoped to return to Seattle and show fans of the Seahawks that he moved on to bigger things after his free agency switch.

Instead, Walker was held to his worst performance of the year so far in a homecoming game against Seattle just a few months after he was named the MVP of Super Bowl LI.

But Walker's slow night left him with some frustration and led to him leaving the field instantly as the game ended – without shaking the hands of any of his former teammates.

Walker was held to just 36 yards on the ground in a 20-3 loss that spoiled Kansas City's previously unblemished record.

While Chiefs players and coaches shook hands with their Seahawk counterparts, NBC cameras caught Walker jogging toward the locker room directly from his own sideline. 

He was seen stopping and turning back to embrace a Seahawks staffer before finally heading down the tunnel.

After the game, Walker was questioned over his decision to leave directly without greeting any of his former comrades.

'S***, we lost,' Walker said to reporters. 'I was frustrated. That's about it. I [saw] them over there celebrating and s***. That's about it.'

Walker was promptly branded a 'sore-loser' on social media as fans ripped into him.

'Losing is never easy, especially against your former team, but sportsmanship matters in victory and defeat,' wrote one user on X.

One Seahawks fan posted: 'That was the single biggest mistake he made tonight. Classy move would have been to stick around, shake hands & let the fans, former teammates & staff congratulate him on his great start this season. Sure, tonight he was stopped. But so was the rest of his team. Everyone respects him. It would have been nice to hang out just a few minutes.'

'All that talk about winning culture you got ur a** kicked and the less [sic] u can do is dap up ur old friends at least real classy ugh so much for that K9 legacy game,' joked another user.

Seahawks players admitted after the game that they wanted to ensure Walker had a tough return to the Emerald City.

'I ain't going to lie, I did,' Seahawks safety Nick Emmanwori said of wanting to limit Walker's output. 'I definitely did want to hold him under 100 [yards]. I don't really listen to all the media noise, but that was my motivation. 

'I know a lot of dudes on the defense, that was their motivation, too, to stop him under 100 and play lights out on defense. I think we did that.'

With the Chiefs' defeat, Kansas City now slides to 5-1 on the season – leaving the Minnesota Vikings as the final team yet to lose this year. 

Walker and Kansas City will look to get back on track next week on the road against the Denver Broncos. As for Seattle, they face the Chicago Bears on next week's Monday Night Football.