Kam Chancellor: “Happy to be back”

By Dan Viens | Sep 23, 2015

It didn’t take long for Seattle Seahawks safety Kam Chancellor to open up to the media. Just hours after reporting to work and thus ending his 55 day contract holdout, Chancellor stepped to the podium at the VMAC and looked calm, confident, and fit. If anyone was expecting him to communicate any lingering bitterness, there was none. He kept his comments focused mostly on football, and deflected most questions about specifics of his contract dispute.

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Here are the highlights:

"“I’m just happy to be back playing football with the organization, my team, my teammates, and the coaches. They were highly missed and it was hard to watch those games (losses to the Rams and Packers), and I’m just ready to play football now.”“I’m happy to be here, seeing everybody smiling, everyone welcomed me with open arms. It’s like I was never gone, like I never missed a beat.”"

On why he decided to come back this week:

"“I think it was that time, talked to a few guys, got some great words from people. I just feel like the time is now, I’ve always been a guy who followed my heart, and just watching my teammates and my team play week to week and watching those losses you know it hurt me….just being the leader that I am,. So I think the time is now to come back and put all business to the side and address it after the season. Just get back to work.”"

On how difficult it was to sit at home and watch the Seahawks fall to 0-2:

"“It was very hard because, not taking away from anyone else, but I know I could have made a difference, so for me it was very hard. I’m just here now to move forward.”"

On all the negative opinions and comments from people while he was holding out:

"“People are going to make opinions when they don’t know your situation and they don’t know whats actually going on, I forgive those who understand what’s going on and those who don’t understand what’s going on. If God can forgive I can also.”"

Can he play Sunday with just one week of preparation?

"“I know I can play Sunday. I feel good, (my trainer) never lets me take a day off he always works me so I feel good. I’m just looking forward to playing in front of the 12’s and hearing them roar.”"

On that note, Pete Carroll said the hope is for Chancellor to play Sunday but they’ll take it day by day this week and monitor his progress. He went out of his way to point out how great Kam looks physically, noting that he weighed in at 226 pounds with just 6% body fat. Whether all the work he’s done at home in Virginia translates into being ready to play football full speed for 60 minutes remains to be seen.

I wrote just this morning about how important the words we heard today would be, and how crucial Kam’s initial approach upon returning would be in terms of team chemistry. He seemed very comfortable and in command in this press conference. I think he said all the right things, and most importantly said them the right way. At this point I don’t see any reason why this team can’t put this behind them quickly and start the process of turning around their season.

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