Is Chris Clemons Most Underrated Talent in Seahawks History?
The Seahawks have a rich history of star defensive players who have worn the blue and green. In fact, one might argue the franchise's 2013, "Legion of Boom" defense is the greatest defense to ever step on the field. With future Hall of Fame players like Richard Sherman, Earl Thomas, and Bobby Wagner on the field, along with elite talents like Kam Chancellor, K.J. Wright, Michael Bennett, and Cliff Avril in their prime, some players are naturally going to be overlooked.
But the most overlooked player on that record-breaking defense, and perhaps in the entire 40-plus years of Seahawks football, is still largely overlooked. So today, let's heap some praise on Seattle's original LEO defensive end, Chris Clemons.
Clemons arrived in Seattle via trade in March of 2010. The Seahawks shipped defensive end Darryl Tapp to the Eagles for Clemons and a fourth-round pick. Clemons had some success prior to his arrival in Seattle, including an 8.0 sack season in 2007, but was viewed as nothing more than a rotational depth piece.
Over the next four seasons, Clemons would go on to record three consecutive seasons with 11.0 or more sacks and despite tearing his ACL in the 2012 Wild Card victory over Washington, he missed just two regular season games along the way.
Clemons would also produce 76 quarterback hits, 33 tackles for loss, 15 passes defended, and 10 forced fumbles. Clemons's 38.0 sacks rank eighth in Seahawks history, falling just one sack short of Michael Bennett for seventh all-time while playing 13 fewer games than Bennett did for Seattle.
In fact, Clemons ranks eighth in career sacks despite playing just 62 games for Seattle. The top six sack artists in Seahawks' history all appeared in at least 107 games for Seattle. To put this into perspective, Clemons averaged 0.613 sacks per game played, while the Seahawks all-time sack leader, Jacob Green, averaged 0.548 sacks per game played.
Despite this, most Seahawks fans will always choose to talk about Bennett and Avril. They'll talk about Sherman, Thomas, Chancellor, and Brandon Browner. They'll reminisce about the young Bobby Wagner and K.J. Wright. But we so rarely hear about the awesome impact Chris Clemons had for that historically-great defense.
Clemons never made a Pro Bowl in his NFL career. He'll likely never see his name in the Ring of Honor, or watch his jersey number unfurled in the rafters of CenturyLink Field. But attempting to write the history of the Seahawks without giving an appropriate nod to him is not only wrong, but it is also blasphemous.
Clemons's name will likely never be more than a footnote in the memory of Seahawks fans, despite the fact that he was one of the first members of what would become known as the "Legion of Boom" defense. And while it may be easy to see how it can happen, it doesn't make it any less of a shame.
Clemons was the original "LEO," he was key member of what Michael Bennett once called "a once in a generation" defensive line room, and he is one of the greatest pass rushers in Seahawks history. So when the book is finally written on this franchise, let's all take a step back and remember his greatness.
