Seahawks Legend Kam Chancellor Shares Scary Bout With Frostbite

The Seattle Seahawks and Minnesota Vikings played the third-coldest game in NFL history on Jan. 10, 2016.

The Vikings have played in a dome for the better part of 40 years now, but in between their time at the Metrodome and current home of U.S. Bank Stadium, they temporarily called Huntington Bank Stadium (known as TCF Bank Stadium at the time) home during the 2014 and 2015 seasons.

Seattle had the "honor" of taking part in the Vikings' final game at the stadium, which featured a temperature of minus-six and a wind chill of minus 25.

The game itself was about as ugly as one would expect in such conditions, with Seattle winning 10-9 after Minnesota kicker Blair Walsh infamously missed a 27-yard field goal in the final seconds. However, the effects of playing in temperatures below zero lasted well after the game itself.

Days later, legendary Seahawks safety Kam Chancellor noticed black marks on his fingertips and fingernails, leading him to consult team doctors. The doctors quickly diagnosed him with frostbite, and a drastic option was on the table.

"I had never had frostbite," Chancellor told ESPN in a recent interview. "I was like, 'Wait, are y'all going to cut my fingers off?'"

Luckily, Chancellor had enough good tissue remaining to avoid such a fate, but the healing process was long and arduous. It took the four-time Pro Bowl safety two months to regain his original color on his fingers, and almost three months to regain all of his sensation. He also lost a fingernail during the recovery.

Despite wearing gloves during the game, Chancellor still sustained frostbite after his sweat froze inside his gloves, as Seattle's doctors explained to him.

"You're out there playing in that cold weather and you're out there sweating," Chancellor said. "And then once you take a timeout, you're standing or sitting down, now all that sweat is on you and it's cold as hell. So, sweat makes it worse."

In the years since then, there have been some comparably freezing games. Last year's Wild Card game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Miami Dolphins featured a temperature of minus-four at Arrowhead Stadium, and some fans who attended the game needed amputations due to the cold. Around the same time, the Buffalo Bills and Pittsburgh Steelers game was delayed a day due to a massive snowstorm in Western New York.

The NFL does not have any set temperature at which it will postpone/cancel a game, but if players and fans are at risk, then it would make sense to try and avoid any unnecessary harm.

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