Ex-Seahawks QB Jake Heaps: 'Absolute Shame' Kam Chancellor Snubbed from All-Decade Team
During the past 10 years, the Seahawks reached the playoffs eight times, won back-to-back NFC Championship games in 2013 and 2014, and captured the first Super Bowl in franchise history.
Considering that impressive run of success, when the NFL and Pro Football Hall of Fame announced the 2010s All-Decade Team on Monday, it shouldn't have been a surprise Seattle as an organization was well-represented.
In total, five Seahawks made the squad, including running back Marshawn Lynch, star cornerback Richard Sherman, safety Earl Thomas, perennial All-Pro linebacker Bobby Wagner, and coach Pete Carroll.
While Seattle received plenty of love with Wagner and two members of the "Legion of Boom" earning a spot, many were surprised former safety Kam Chancellor was left off the team. Widely viewed as the heart and soul of a Seahawks defense that finished first in scoring four straight seasons, "Bam Bam" looked like a surefire selection.
Many believe Chancellor absolutely deserves to be on the All-Decade Team, including former Seahawks quarterback and ESPN 710 analyst Jake Heaps.
"I formally agree with that statement," Heaps told me when I asked him if Chancellor got snubbed on Monday.
"I think it is an absolute shame that he is not on that list. To me, he was a guy that not only did you watch him on Sunday, but to get to see him up close and personal in practice. The guy just had an unbelievable presence about him."
Originally drafted in the fifth round of the 2010 NFL Draft, Chancellor played eight seasons for the Seahawks. In the middle of another strong season in 2017, he suffered a devastating neck injury against the Cardinals in Arizona that ultimately ended his career before turning 30 years old.
As Heaps pointed out, with his career being cut short, Chancellor may not match up with some of the all-time greats statistically. But he was a transcendent talent whose impact went well beyond his numbers in Seattle.
"He is not going to be [bunched] with some of the greatest of all-time, but in terms of being on the field and the impact that he had, his production was off the charts. He changed the way the game was played in the aspects of he was a strong safety at a time when things were starting to open up."
In a time where rule changes favoring offenses and an emphasis on player safety made it even tougher to play defense at a high level, Chancellor's physical presence gave Seattle an identity. On a unit littered with stars at all three levels, he remained a player every opposing coordinator had to account for every single snap.
"The league was increasingly changing the rules on DBs from being as physical as possible," Heaps commented. "Yet, every field that Kam stepped on, the opposition feared him. And it didn't matter if it was wide receivers, running backs, quarterbacks, and offensive linemen."
With Chancellor being left off the All-Decade team, how will that affect his bid for the Hall of Fame? Heaps believes it will be a tough decision for voters once he becomes eligible in 2022.
"In my mind, he is a Hall of Famer, but it will be very interesting how the [sports] writers approach Kam Chancellor. I think he is, but I can understand why some people don't. When you look at him statistically, there are certain things you look at, and he doesn't necessarily blow you away with those numbers in the categories of interceptions, sacks, and tackles for loss."
When he was forced to hang up his cleats, Chancellor finished his eight-year career with 607 tackles, 12 interceptions, nine forced fumbles, and 44 passes defensed. Though he never earned First-Team All-Pro distinction, he was a Second-Team selection twice and played in four Pro Bowls.
If there's any reason Chancellor may have hope when it comes to making it to Canton, his career has often been compared to former Seahawks legend Kenny Easley, who also had to retire after seven seasons due to kidney issues.
While Easley was the 1984 Defensive Player of the Year and also earned First-Team All-Pro accolades four straight seasons, Chancellor's playing style emulated the original "Enforcer" in many ways. He also played in an era where that physicality was more difficult to deploy on the field against pass-happy offenses.
After waiting 30 years, Easley finally got into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2017, joining Steve Largent, Cortez Kennedy, and Walter Jones. Chancellor may have to take a similar path to Canton given the length of his career, but Heaps hopes voters will look past his numbers when evaluating his candidacy.
"He was a guy that every season, he was around 80 tackles a year, which was impressive and great. But again, I hope they look at in his entirely and the impact that he had on the field. And the fact that he was a throwback type of player, who was exceeding at the highest level in a game, which was constantly changing."
