Seattle Seahawks: Kam Chancellor’s impending retirement
By Samuel Teets
During the 2017 NFL season, Seattle Seahawks Pro Bowl safety Kam Chancellor sustained a major neck injury. It turns out that may be the end of his career.
Over the weekend, Seattle Seahawks safety Kam Chancellor posted a somber tweet for the team’s fans. From what the former Pro Bowler is saying, it sounds like he’s played his final glorious snap in the NFL. The latest tests of Chancellors neck show “no healing” from a neck injury he suffered that held him to just nine appearances in the 2017 season.
While Seahawks fans prayed for positive updates, everyone knew this was going to be an uphill battle for Chancellor. His coach even said so. And this wasn’t a fight that Chancellor had any control over. If he really does retire it will certainly be a disappointing end to the beloved safety’s hard-hitting career.
The thing I admired most about Chancellor as a fan of the game was his ability to shift momentum in a single play. And usually he didn’t do it with an interception, forced fumble, or even a sack. He did it with his tackles. The strong safety mastered clobbering his opponents and was still able to be successful as a big hitter in a league that is moving away from the monster hits. It’s sad to say, but he was one of the last true heavy hitters in the game.
Chancellor is just 30 years old, but has accumulated four Pro Bowls in his eight-year NFL career. He’s also been named a Second Team All-Pro twice. The former 133rd overall selection (fifth round) in the 2010 NFL Draft didn’t start any games in his rookie season, but made his first Pro Bowl in his sophomore campaign anyways.
His most memorable achievement and contribution to football was his role as the enforcer on the legendary Legion of Boom defense that took the Seahawks to back-to-back Super Bowls. Chancellor combined forces with Richard Sherman and Earl Thomas to create the best amalgamation of defensive backs in recent history.
It’s pretty hard to believe that with Sherman in San Francisco, Thomas holding out, and Chancellor possibly retiring, the Seahawks once great defense is finished.
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The Legion of Boom, and Chancellor, certainly left their marks on the game and will never be forgotten. A golden jacket might not be awaiting Chancellor when he retires, but an induction into the Seahawks Ring of Honor seems appropriate. So whatever his decision is moving forward, this isn’t a goodbye. We’ll be seeing Chancellor again real soon.