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Warren Moon: Seahawks teammates need to pretend Kam Chancellor is injured
Sep 10, 2015, 1:11 PM | Updated: 3:03 pm
Kam Chancellor's holdout shouldn't be taken personally, at least until the strong safety's absence hurts the team, Warren Moon told KIRO Radio's Dori Monson. (AP)
(AP)
Kam Chancellor’s holdout shouldn’t be taken personally, at least until the strong safety’s absence hurts the team.
Former Seahawks quarterback Warren Moon told KIRO Radio’s Dori Monson that right now, the players should just pretend Chancellor is hurt.
“You look at it as if he was injured and wasn’t available to play,” Moon explained. It’s best not to get into the business or more personal aspect of a teammates’ life, he added.
Related: Lynch shows support for Chancellor by wearing No. 31 jersey at Seahawks practice
Chancellor’s holdout is stretching into the regular season. He will not play the Seahawks’ first game against the St. Louis Rams on Sunday, head coach Pete Carroll announced Wednesday. It’s a costly decision for Chancellor, who can be fined $30,000 for every day missed.
How can Chancellor’s decision not be taken personally? Dori asked. The team is returning from its second straight Super Bowl appearance, which he was a big part of. How do you forget about that?
There could be a point where the Seahawks either aren’t playing well, or there’s a big game coming up and Chancellor’s absence becomes more. However, there won’t be vendettas unless it hurts the team, Moon responded.
Moon has advised a lot of players, but Chancellor isn’t one of them. In fact, he’s openly criticized the holdout.
And if Moon was on the phone with him right now, what would he ask? Dori wanted to know.
Moon said he would figure out exactly what Chancellor’s strategy is and try to help him work through it. He still has three years and $16.875 million remaining on his extension, which he signed before the 2013 season. However, none of that money is guaranteed beyond the 2015 season; his base salary for the season is $4.55 million.
Since the holdout began, Chancellor has said he is willing to compromise with the Seahawks. Dori wonders, though, how Chancellor returns to the game with all his pride and dignity still in tact. Will he be the same player?
“I’ve heard they offered a way for him to come back without hurting his dignity,” Moon responded. However, “the longer he holds out the worse it’s going to get.”
Exactly what impact Chancellor’s holdout has on the team could be seen on Sunday in St. Louis.
