Kam Chancellor gets challenged, gives and gets, in three rammings with Dallas’ Ezekiel Elliott
SEATTLE Preseason?
Kam Chancellor against Ezekiel Elliott was regular-season, better yet postseason, intensity Thursday night.
The Seahawks thumping strong safety met the Dallas Cowboys’ rookie running back and fourth-overall draft choice from Ohio State head-on three times in the first quarter of Seattle’s 27-17 exhibition win at CenturyLink Field.
The first time, Elliott got lower and the better of Chancellor at the end of a 13-yard run to midfield on the Cowboys’ second drive.
Ezekiel Elliott lowering his shoulder and powering through Kam Chancellor! pic.twitter.com/Ogccf4XK7i
— ✭Cowboys News✭ (@DemBoyz_News) August 26, 2016
The second meeting came on the next play. Assuredly charged, Chancellor went after Elliott as a pass sailed past him incomplete.
Chancellor said after the game the pass got tipped as he was already beginning his hit on Elliott, and that he will appeal any fine.
“Yeah, it was no flag,” Chancellor said. “(It) was going straight to him. Someone tipped it at the last minute, as I am about to hit him. I can’t see where the ball landed at.
“I mean, I’m going to have to appeal it, and they’ll (NFL executives) will see what I’m talking about.”
Was he trying to give the rookie a welcome-to-the-NFL message?
“I was just out there having fun, you know,” Chancellor said. “He lowered his shoulder the first time, and I commend him for that. But I was just out there having fun. I was just taking on the challenge. I love the challenge. I love a good fight. So, I mean, I was just out there having fun.”
Elliott, who was playing in his first NFL “game” after missing the first two with a hamstring injury, told the Dallas Morning News: "I don't know what that was. It was a little dirty. Whatever."
The third meeting, Elliott again lowered the boom as Chancellor lowered his.
Kam Chancellor's struggle is real trying to tackle Ezekiel Elliott pic.twitter.com/YqUErNodLb
— Dr Cork Gaines (@CorkGaines) August 26, 2016
Asked if he was surprised by Elliott’s physicality on the first encounter of that drive, Chancellor said: “Yeah, I was. There was no film on him, so I didn’t know if he was going to juke, or whatnot. So I was surprised. But not the second time. The second time, I was bringing that wood.
“Yeah, I was a little surprised that first time, though. You know, he’s got a lot of courage for that. I give it to him. I know if it was a full game, it would have been a blood bath.
“Oh, I love it. That’s my type of game. I’m willing to go toe to toe. All game. Never quit. That’s my type of game.”
This story was originally published August 25, 2016 at 11:42 PM with the headline "Kam Chancellor gets challenged, gives and gets, in three rammings with Dallas’ Ezekiel Elliott."