After beating the division rival San Francisco 49ers, the Seattle Seahawks are in the NFC Championship for the first time since 2014. This was also the last time the Seahawks went to the Super Bowl. This year, there is a real chance Seattle could break that Super Bowl drought and make it back to the final game.
Kam Chancellor’s Unheard-Of Seahawks Run Defined an Era of NFL Defense
With their opponent being the Los Angeles Rams, another division rival, it’s going to be a tough game, but the Seahawks have some backup. For their playoff game, Seahawks legend Kam Chancellor will be Seattle’s honorary captain for the NFC Championship.
For all eight years in the NFL, Chancellor spent his time with one team, the Seahawks. Something like this happening, especially with a player of Chancellor’s level of talent, is unheard of nowadays.
Let’s start at the beginning. In 2010, the Seahawks selected Chancellor out of Virginia Tech with the 133rd overall pick in the fifth round. Chancellor was a tall safety, around 6-foot-3, and he could hit any opposing player into another stratosphere.
In his rookie season, Chancellor did not start a game, but in 2011, everything changed. With Chancellor now in the lineup, he was surrounded by excellent defenders in the DB room, such as Earl Thomas, Richard Sherman, and Brandon Browner.
These four would be named the Legion of Boom, and after the 2011 season, when Chancellor was named to the Pro Bowl roster, they would be the most feared defense in football. The Seahawks were one of the best NFL teams in 2012, but in 2013, this was the peak of football in Seattle. With the best defense in the league per PFSN’s Defensive Impact Metric, the Seahawks were completely dominating other teams.
In the Super Bowl, Seattle beat the Peyton Manning-led Denver Broncos 43-8. The Seahawks defense turned the Broncos over four times, and Chancellor contributed to one of those, which was an interception.
Next season, the Seahawks would once again reach the Super Bowl, and Chancellor was having another excellent year, but this time their opponent was Tom Brady and the New England Patriots. After a questionable decision by HC Pete Carroll at the end of the game, Seattle fell short of repeating.
That game marked the last time the Seahawks were in the Super Bowl. The next year, Chancellor would once again have a Pro Bowl-level season, but after that, he played only two more years before retiring.
Over his 8 seasons in the NFL, 12 interceptions, 9 forced fumbles, 421 solo tackles, 1 safety, 4 Pro Bowls, and was named to the NFL All-Pro second team twice. Although his time in the NFL was short, Chancellor was one of the most feared defenders in the NFL, and his impact in Seattle was game-changing.
