Seahawks’ Kam Chancellor walks away: 710 ESPN Seattle reacts

Jul 1, 2018, 10:43 PM

Kam Chancellor made four Pro Bowls and spent his entire eight-year career in Seattle. (AP)

(AP)

Staff report

With Kam Chancellor sharing a message that he is “walking away” due to the risk of paralysis following a season-ending neck injury last November, we polled the voices of 710 ESPN Seattle for their thoughts on the Seahawks great’s career.

O’Neil: Seahawks lose unique leader with Chancellor done in the NFL

Here’s what they had to say:

Tom Wassell of Bob, Groz and Tom

The one person I’d love to hear from on the legacy of Kam Chancellor is Demaryius Thomas. When he and the record-setting Broncos offense went into MetLife Stadium on Feb. 2, 2014, they had no idea what awaited them in the Super Bowl. This one hit that Kam delivered early in the first quarter changed everything. Denver went from confident to terrified in an instant. The game was never close after that.

Jim Moore of Danny, Dave and Moore

This pretty much makes it official – you can’t have a Legion of Boom if the guy who supplied the boom isn’t in the secondary anymore. I’ll miss the big hits and what he meant to the Seahawks’ defense during their back-to-back trips to the Super Bowl. But more than that, what I’ll appreciate most about Chancellor is that he bought his mom a home after he got his first contract.

Dave Wyman of Danny, Dave and Moore

I’m not surprised that it went down this way. With the amount of money that players make these days, it adjusts their level of risk-taking. A player faced with this dilemma 30 years ago may have played on and taken that risk.

But enough about the business/health side of his decision. It’s obvious that Kam loves football and this will be hard for him. Football is unique compared to other sports – you can never do anything that simulates the game of football later in life, especially the way Chancellor played.

During his eight-year career, Kam loved the physical side of the game. There has never been a more imposing defensive back who could play up on the line of scrimmage and still cover the deep half of the field in pass coverage. We all remember him folding an offensive tackle (Eric Winston) in half on a running play against the Arizona Cardinals. We all remember him crushing San Francisco tight end Vernon Davis on the goal line and dislodging him from the ball and his courage.

Kam was a clean player, a tough player and the perfect modern version of a warrior. He was tough, sometimes nasty, and an intimidating player on the field.

But my lasting memory of Kam will be his presence off the field. He was a tremendous leader, his teammates loved him and he always had a welcoming smile, a handshake and a modest side that made anyone who ever met Kam Chancellor a fan.

Brock Huard of Brock and Salk

The Seahawks had plenty of alpha males during their Super Bowl runs, but none commanded the locker room and roared like Kam. Selfless leader, consummate pro, intimidating warrior. He should be the first of this group in the Hawks Ring of Honor https://t.co/SlUe1shIgk

— Brock Huard (@BrockESPN) July 2, 2018

Jessamyn McIntyre of Danny, Dave and Moore

It was a pleasure to watch you play @KamChancellor – best of luck in your future endeavors! Will sure miss watching you on Sundays, but I’m sure there are many more exciting chapters in your story. https://t.co/ClCnvFitxV

— Jessamyn McIntyre (@JessamynMcIntyr) July 2, 2018