Twitter
    Sportspress Northwest
    • Football
    • Baseball
    • NCAA
    • Hockey
    • Soccer
    • Basketball
    Twitter
    Sportspress Northwest
    Twitter
    Home » Seahawks’ Chancellor, SF’s Davis: Art of a big hit
    Football

    Seahawks’ Chancellor, SF’s Davis: Art of a big hit

    Adam LewisBy Adam LewisSeptember 13, 2013Updated:September 24, 20131 Comment4 Mins Read
    Facebook Twitter Reddit LinkedIn Email
    Share
    Facebook Twitter Reddit LinkedIn Email
    Arguably the Seahawks’ hardest hitter, SS Kam Chancellor has revamped his tackling technique to comply with NFL rules that emphasize protecting defenseless receivers. / Seahawks.com

    The moment before his feet touched down, TE Vernon Davis turned his head, coiled his body and prepared for impact.

    Then Seahawks SS Kam Chancellor delivered the type of hit that either sticks with a player or never registers as a memory. Flags flew from every direction. It was December 23, 2012, a night before Christmas Eve, and the 49ers’ sideline had a silent night, at least for a bit.

    “I just remember how the crowd went crazy and (Davis) being asleep at the end,” Seahawks LB Bobby Wagner said Wednesday when asked about the much-debated collision.

    The Seahawks won the late-season matchup 42-13, buoyed by four aerial scores from QB Russell Wilson and a blocked field goal that CB Richard Sherman returned 90 yards for a touchdown.

    But nine months later it was the hit, the legal hit, that players fondly recalled from the locker room in the Virginia Mason Athletic Center.

    As WR Golden Tate explained:

    “He killed him without touching his head,” he said. “It was a perfectly legal hit on his body. It knocked a big-time player out. Things like that give you momentum quickly. Boom.

    “When you see things like that, you’re definitely glad you’re on the team with Kam Chancellor and not against him.”

    Many pegged the moment as the game’s turning point, though the Seahawks already held a 14-0 lead.

    The tackle forced out Davis with a concussion and drew a 15-yard personal foul penalty for targeting a defenseless receiver. The official who casually dropped the flag at the feet of Davis as he laid motionless, erred on the size of caution. In real time, it appeared as if Chancellor made helmet-to-helmet contact, the jolt so jarring that his head whipped back at an alarming speed.

    “We knew no matter where he hit him, it was going to be a flag because they’re so strict, but it looked like a good hit to me,” Wagner said.

    He was right. The blow didn’t meet the rule’s criteria for an illegal hit against a defenseless receiver. Here’s what the NFL rulebook states:

    (b) Prohibited contact against a player who is in a defenseless posture is:

    (1) Forcibly hitting the defenseless player’s head or neck area with the helmet, facemask, forearm, or shoulder, regardless of whether the defensive player also uses his arms to tackle the defenseless player by encircling or grasping him . . .

    Chancellor led with his shoulder, made contact slightly above the numbers and veered his head to the left. However, a liberal interpretation of what is considered the neck area, and the violent blow, compelled officials to act. Chancellor, at six-foot-three, 232 pounds, was molded in Virginia Tech’s notoriously physical defensive system. He is considered one of the hardest hitters in the NFL.

    Maybe he could have done more to avoid drawing the flag, but as a charging defender, it isn’t always that simple.

    “It’s hard when it’s a bang-bang hit and your target moves at the last second. That’s something you can’t control,” he said.

    But he has improved steadily in that regard during his four seasons with the Seahawks. In a game against the Ravens in 2011, he cracked now-49ers WR Anquan Boldin with a hit that left both shaken. The league fined Chancellor $20,000 during a season when his base salary was $450,000.

    “It was a pretty big hit. I kind of knocked myself out,” Chancellor said.

    And yet it was a wake-up call. Chancellor had to stop leading with his head.

    The organization saw enough of an adjustment in 2012 to sign Chancellor to a five-year, $35 million contract in April, $17 million of which is guaranteed. In 2012, he ranked second on the team with 101 tackles, defensed four passes and recovered two fumbles.

    He downplayed the idea that more NFL rule changes aimed at protecting receivers would change a style that’s allowed him to go from a fifth-round draft pick to one of the most feared players in the league.

    He just has to take a few more precautions.

    “The only adjustment is moving your head out of the way. Everything else is the same,” he said. “You still want to try to run through them, run as hard as you can and hit them as hard as you can.”

    “I don’t think it’s a big deal. It shouldn’t be hard for anybody to do.”

    Share. Facebook Twitter Reddit LinkedIn Email

    Related Posts

    A few musings about sports journalism as the unwinding begins

    February 18, 2022

    Carroll’s staff makeover seeks to get Wilson back in the game

    February 16, 2022

    Arizona loss unmasks truths about Hopkins, UW hoops

    February 15, 2022

    1 Comment

    1. jafabian on September 13, 2013 9:14 am

      When Fox first reviewed the hit Chris Rose said the problem was “you can’t lead with your shoulder” and Deion Sanders scoffed at that. He said “What is he supposed to lead with? His hands?” That was a hit worthy of Kenny Easley. I wonder if Vernon Davis even remembers it???

    • Follow @Art_Thiel on Twitter
    Use our affiliate link on Amazon

    Subscribe to Our Weekly Roundup

    Get the top stories sent to your inbox every Thursday.

    Art Thiel on KNKX 88.5FM

    Kirsten Kendrick's Q. & A. with Thiel can be heard every Friday during Morning Edition at 5:45am and 7:45am and again that same day on All Things Considered at 4:44pm. It also airs Saturday at 9:35am.

    Listen now!
    Latest Posts

    A few musings about sports journalism as the unwinding begins

    February 18, 2022

    Carroll’s staff makeover seeks to get Wilson back in the game

    February 16, 2022

    Arizona loss unmasks truths about Hopkins, UW hoops

    February 15, 2022

    Rams win a survivors contest called the Super Bowl

    February 14, 2022
    Twitter
    • Football
    • Baseball
    • NCAA
    • Hockey
    • Soccer
    • Basketball
    © 2025 Sportspress Northwest

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.