Should Seahawks’ Kam Chancellor be in the Hall of Fame?

Seahawks safety Kam Chancellor was a star in Seattle for eight years. Was he good enough for the NFL Hall of Fame?

The Seahawks have had some great secondary players over the last seven seasons. Safeties Earl Thomas and Kam Chancellor and cornerback Richard Sherman are probably the three best. At least two, and maybe all three, deserve to one day be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. But does Chancellor specifically?

Earlier this week, John Clayton said on 710 ESPN Seattle that Chancellor will not get into the Hall of Fame. Clayton didn’t say he didn’t think Chancellor was worthy. The fact is that Chancellor may simply be overshadowed by his former Seahawks teammates.

Chancellor most identifies with former Seattle safety Kenny Easley. Both were intimidating and hard hitting players. But Easley got more awards and stood out on some bad teams. He also was the AP Defensive Player of the Year in 1984.

Easley also had 32 interceptions in seven seasons. Chancellor had 12 in eight. Easley had eight sacks in his career. Chancellor has two. Easley made five Pro Bowls. Chancellor made four. Ealey three times was First Team All NFL. Chancellor never made First Team once.

None of this is to say that in my personal belief Chancellor doesn’t deserve to be in the Hall of Fame. As far as I am concerned he should make it in on his first ballot. Chancellor was a tremendous leader on and off the field and helped form the Legion of Boom into the greatness it was.

But Chancellor simply doesn’t have the gaudy awards and shiny statistics that Easley or even his fellow teammates have. Earl Thomas is a better player. Sherman is more outspoken and more in the minds of voters who vote for Hall of Fame-type things.

Next: Chancellor announces "retirement" from NFL...

Does Chancellor deserve to be in the Hall? Yes. Will he make it in? Probably not. And the NFL shrine will be worse off for it.