RENTON — The chorus was unanimous in the Seattle Seahawks’ locker room Wednesday.
They’re all happy to have Kam Chancellor back.
Seattle’s Pro Bowl strong safety was back at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center on Wednesday, his first appearance with the team this season following a contentious 55-day holdout.
“It’s great to get him back, it’s great to get him back out there,” fellow Legion of Boom member Richard Sherman said. “I think he’ll have a seamless transition. He seems excited to be out there, he seems in shape, so it will be fantastic.”
Chancellor’s holdout caused him to miss Seattle’s first two games of the season. The Seahawks lost both, with their much-heralded defense allowing an average of more than 30 points per game without its defensive leader.
Nevertheless, Chancellor’s teammates expressed no resentment regarding Chancellor’s holdout.
“Why would you resent him?,” defensive end Michael Bennett asked “If you’re a true teammate you don’t resent your teammates when they make decisions. A true teammate comforts his teammate, makes sure he understands that we care about him. If you have hostility in communication, it just wouldn’t work.”
Bennett was often compared to Chancellor during Chancellor’s holdout. Bennett has also voiced his displeasure with his contract, but chose to report for training camp rather than hold out. But Bennett dismissed that as an indication of any disagreement on how to go about things.
“I think people just wanted something to talk about, try to make a reason why I’m here and why he’s not here and try and play us against each other. But of course we talked all the time and compared and said it wasn’t the same, we were going through two different things and we supported each other in whatever we do.”
Indeed, Chancellor’s teammates understood why Chancellor held out.
“You understand the business,” said linebacker Bobby Wagner, who was voted the team’s defensive captain in Chancellor’s absence. “You understand that aside from football there is a business side to it. They have to take care of everything, so you can’t really hold anything personal to the player. It’s part of the business and you just got to hope it works out and pray for the best.”
Said fellow linebacker K.J. Wright: “Sometimes in football, as a player you have to back up a guy no matter what. You might not like it, bit you just got to respect it and support him 100 percent. That’s what we did, and I guess that support helped get him back.”
Now that the holdout is over, the Seahawks expect Chancellor’s return to have a positive impact on the defense.
“I think he’s a presence on the field,” Wagner said. “He’s definitely someone you have to account for when you’re scheming against him. It’s going to definitely be a good addition having him back.”
But maybe as important as his presence on the field is Chancellor’s presence off it. In addition to being last season’s defensive captain, Chancellor is considered something of a godfather in the locker room.
“He really is the captain of the ship, man,” said Dion Bailey, who initially replaced Chancellor in the lineup. “Overall he’s a leader, a genuine person. He genuinely wants to see everybody succeed. He doesn’t help people or not help people depending on whether it benefits him or not. He really wants everybody to reach their maximum potential. Having a guy like that in the locker room is huge.”
Check out Nick Patterson’s Seattle Sidelines blog at http://www.heraldnet.com/seattlesidelines, and follow him on Twitter at @NickHPatterson.
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