Seattle Seahawks strong safety Kam Chancellor followed that advice closely in his rookie season last year, studying every move of veteran Lawyer Milloy and waiting for his chance to show what he can do.
And the fifth-round draft pick from Virginia Tech earned that opportunity in his second season with Seattle. Coach Pete Carroll has anointed Chancellor the starting strong safety with Milloy not retuning to the team.
“He’s really been on fire,” Carroll said about Chancellor. “He’s gone three days in a row with (an interception), and made some big plays. He’s quickly kind of becoming one of the guys that guys look to, and he’s just the kind of guy that draws players to himself. He looks like a natural leader, and he’s had a great start to camp.”
Chancellor said Milloy served as a good mentor in teaching him the right way to play.
“Lawyer was a guy who brought a lot of intensity to the field from a physical standpoint of the game,” Chancellor said. “He knew the game – as far as everyone’s assignments and getting you lined up with the checks. So I learned a lot of that from him, as far as getting in the playbook and studying so I could do the same thing.”
But it wasn’t just Milloy’s play on the field that had Chancellor attention. Chancellor had a locker next to the Tacoma native, so he observed how Milloy carried himself and prepared daily to play at a high level on Sundays.
“Lawyer is one of the greatest attitude players that I’ve ever been around, as far as his mentality is concerned, and his reckless abandonment,” Seahawks secondary coach Kris Richard said. “It’s not that he doesn’t care about his body, but he just plays the game the right way. And it’s that sort of attitude, his physical nature – that was able to rub off on (Chancellor).”
The Seahawks drafted Chancellor as the eventual starter at strong safety, and so far he’s proved that he’s ready to pair with fellow second-year player Earl Thomas to create one of the more dynamic safety duos in the league.
Richard refers to his young safety tandem as thunder and lightning. At 6-foot-3, 232 pounds, Chancellor plays the role of thumper, while the 5-10, 200-pound Thomas is the cat-quick playmaker.
“They both can cover,” Richard said. “And it’s very exciting to have them both back there. They’re both stepping up and taking real advantage of the opportunity that is in front of them.”
Said Chancellor: “(Thomas) is like the lightning – a little quick flash here and there. And I’m just bringing the boom.”
Although physical, Chancellor still can turn and run with faster receivers. So both he and Thomas serve as interchangeable parts in the defensive backfield.
Chancellor aspires to be versatile like another talented safety he watched growing up, former Washington Redskins defensive back Sean Taylor.
“It was Sean Taylor before he died,” Chancellor said. “That was a guy I looked up to. He was a bigger safety. He was interchangeable – he could play deep, or he could play down.”
With Milloy gone and Jordan Babineaux now playing for Tennessee, at 23 years old, Chancellor is the oldest safety on the roster. Of course, he has veteran cornerbacks Marcus Trufant and Kelly Jennings to lean on for guidance, but Chancellor’s also serving as a mentor for rookie safeties Mark LeGree, Jeron Johnson and Rickey Thenarse, just as Milloy did for him.
“It’s just his opportunity to play now,” Richard said. “He came in as a rookie as a savvy football player, and a knowledgeable football player. And he was a good player at Virginia Tech. So when he fell to us last year, it was grace. We knew he was a good football player. We had him targeted. And when he fell to us, it was awesome.”
EXTRA POINTS
Carroll said that defensive tackle Colin Cole (ankle) and cornerback Roy Lewis (knee) are weeks away from playing. … Cornerback Walter Thurmond has a grade-one high ankle sprain, but is expected to be back in a few days. … Defensive end Dexter Davis, who has missed practice with an unspecified injury, could return to practice today. …Receiver Ben Obomanu has missed the past two practices to attend to a death in the family back in Alabama. …Carroll said that defensive end Red Bryant, who has not practiced in three days coming off knee surgery last year, will get going in the next few days. Bryant’s conditioning – along with the fact that team trainers and doctors were not able to work with him during his rehabilitation during the lockout – has the team taking a cautious approach.
Eric D. Williams: 253-597-8437 eric.williams@thenewstribune.com blog.thenewstribune.com/seahawks
