Chris Samuels

Chris Samuels

Samuels at the 2008 Pro Bowl.
No. 60
Offensive tackle
Personal information
Date of birth: July 28, 1977 (1977-07-28) (age 34)
Place of birth: Mobile, Alabama
Career information
College: Alabama
NFL Draft: 2000 / Round: 1 / Pick: 3
Debuted in 2000 for the Washington Redskins
Last played in 2009 for the Washington Redskins
Career history
Washington Redskins (2000–2009)
Career highlights and awards
Outland Trophy (1999) 6× Pro Bowl selection (2001, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008) 1× All-Pro selection (2001)
Career NFL statistics as of 2009
Games played	141
Games started	141
Fumble recoveries	4
Stats at NFL.com

Chris Samuels (born July 28, 1977) is a retired American football offensive tackle. Selected third overall in the 2000 NFL Draft, he played ten seasons for the Washington Redskins of the National Football League, before retiring after the 2009 NFL season.^[1][2]

Early years

Samuels attended John Shaw High School in Mobile, Alabama where he played both offense and defense. He helped Shaw to an 8-3 record and a spot in the state playoffs.^[3]

College career

He played college football at the University of Alabama and was awarded the 1999 Outland Trophy for the nations best Interior Lineman. Samuels was a semifinalist for the Lombardi Award and a was a First-Team All-American selection.

He was named first-Team All-SEC by coaches, Associated Press, the Birmingham News and the Mobile Press Register.

Samuels won the Jacobs Award as the SEC’s most outstanding blocker.^[3] He started 42 straight games, from early in his 1996 freshman season until his last regular-season game as a senior, without yielding a sack. Samuels did not allow a QB pressure in 1999, had 91 knockdown blocks and played nearly every offensive snap during the regular season opening many holes for Shaun Alexander, who gained 1,383 yards rushing.^[3]

Professional career

2000 NFL Draft

Samuels was considered the premier offensive tackles prospect in the 2000 NFL Draft.^[4][5] He did not work out at the NFL Combine after sustaining an injury to his right knee. He was drafted third overall by the Washington Redskins, who had given up two first-round picks (16th and 24th) plus a fourth and fifth-round choice to move up to third in the first round. Samuels was the only offensive tackle drafted in the top 19 of the draft, and the first Alabama offensive lineman selected in the first round of an NFL Draft since Bob Cryder in 1978.

Pre-draft measureables

Ht	Wt	40-yd dash	10-yd split	20-yd split	20-ss	3-cone	Vert	Broad	BP
6 ft 5½ in	325 lb
All values from NFL Combine[6]

Washington Redskins

Samuels immediately became the starting left tackle for the Redskins and has since been selected to six Pro Bowls. In 2000, Samuels was one of only four players on offense to start every game, joining Jon Jansen, Mark Fischer and Stephen Alexander. Samuels won co-Offensive Rookie of the Month for October with Dolphins tackle Todd Wade. He missed the last three quarters in the season finale vs. Arizona with a neck injury.^[3] In 2001, Samuels started all 16 regular-season games at left tackle and was voted to the Pro Bowl, he earned game balls, along with the rest of the offensive line, for two games: vs. Seattle and at New Orleans.^[3] Samuels was featured on the cover of the December 3, 2001 issue of Sports Illustrated along with running back Stephen Davis after becoming the first team in NFL history to lose its first five games, then go on to win its next five games.^[3]

In 2002, Samuels started 15 regular-season games at left tackle and earned his second consecutive trip to the Pro Bowl. He was also voted as the Redskins 2002 Ed Block Courage Award winner.^[3] In 2003, he started 13 regular-season games at left tackle and missed games vs. New Orleans, at New York Giants and vs. Dallas because of a knee injury.^[3]

In 2004, he started all 16 regular-season games at left tackle and helped running back Clinton Portis rush for 1,315 yards, becoming only the fourth Redskin in history to do so in a single season.^[3]

Samuels was regarded as the leader of Washington's offensive line. During the 2005 off-season, the Redskins signed him to a 7-year contract worth about $47 million and a signing bonus of about $16 million. In 2005, he started all 16 regular-season games and two postseason contests at left tackle. He was named to the Pro Bowl after helped open up running lanes for Clinton Portis to rush for a franchise-record 1,516 yards.^[3] In 2006, he started all 16 regular-season games at left tackle. He helped Ladell Betts rush for a career-best 1,154 rushing yards and four touchdowns. Samuels was named to the Pro Bowl for the second consecutive season.^[3]

In 2007, Samuels was named to the Pro Bowl for the third consecutive season and started all 16 regular-season games and one postseason contest at left tackle. He paved the way for the Redskins to post their third highest all-time rushing total in a single game ( 296 yards on 48 carries) at New York Jets on November 4.^[3] Samuels was fined $12,500 for delivering an illegal chop block that injured Antonio Garay of the Chicago Bears during a game in 2007. He later apologized to Garay, who spent the remainder of the season on Injured Reserve, as well as to Bears head coach Lovie Smith.^[7] In 2008, New York Giants defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka accused Samuels of "dirty play," after he made a low tackle on Kiwanuka during the final minutes of the 2008 NFL season opener. Samuels denied allegations that he intentionally attempted to injure Kiwanuka, stating "On that particular play I was just trying to protect my quarterback... It was never my intention to go out there and injure another player."^[8]

In 2008, Samuels was named a Team Captain played and started in 12 regular season games and was inactive in one contest with knee cartilage irritation at Detroit on October 26, seeing his consecutive starting streak snapped at 73 games. He was placed on Injured Reserve by a triceps tear on December 9, 2008, and missed the last three games. Samuels was named to the 2008 Pro Bowl but did not play because of the triceps injury. He paved the way for Clinton Portis to rank fourth in the NFL in rushing yards (1,487) and total yards from scrimmage (1,705). Portis tied for the NFL lead in total first downs (82) with Chicago Bears RB Matt Forté and Atlanta Falcons RB Michael Turner.^[3] Samuels helped Portis to have the second-most rushing yards (1,487) in a single-season in club history and opened up running lanes for Portis to post more than 120 yards rushing in five consecutive contests (121 rushing yards, at Dallas; 145 at Philadelphia; 129 vs. St. Louis; 175 vs. Cleveland, and 126 at Detroit.^[3] Samuels led the way for Portis to tie a club record for most consecutive 100-yard rushing games (5 straight contests in 2008), a record shared by Rob Goode (1951), Portis (2005) and Ladell Betts (2006).^[3]

Samuels suffered through temporary upper-body paralysis based on compression of his neck during a helmet to helmet hit while in pass protection on a play against the Carolina Panthers on October 11, 2009. The injury was determined to be related to spinal stenosis, a condition that he was diagnosed with as a child. Due to the risk of incurring a long-term, severe injury related to his condition by continuing his career, he retired from the NFL on March 4, 2010, based on advice from his doctors.

Samuels indicated during his retirement press conference with the Washington Redskins that intends to continue his career in football by becoming a coach. He will be participating in the Redskins' minority internship and will be working with their coaching staff during the 2010 offseason.

Personal

He is the brother of Arena Football League star Lawrence Samuels. He is engaged to his girlfriend of 4 years and plans to get married in March, 2012.

References

1. ^ Maese, Rick (March 2, 2010), "Redskins look to patch offensive line holes in free agency, draft", Washington Post, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/01/AR2010030103530.html .
2. ^ Davis, Nate (March 3, 2010), "Redskins confirm Pro Bowl LT Chris Samuels will retire Thursday", USA Today, http://content.usatoday.com/communities/thehuddle/post/2010/03/redskins-confirm-pro-bowl-lt-chris-samuels-will-retire-thursday/1 .
3. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o} Washington Redskins bio
4. ^ Mannix, Kevin (April 14, 2000), "'Bama behemoth tops so-so crop", Boston Herald, http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/bostonherald/access/52641331.html?dids=52641331:52641331&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT, "There isn't much depth among the offensive line crop in this year's draft, but there is blue-chip quality at the top in the form of Chris Samuels, Alabama's 6-foot-5, 325-pound left tackle and premier pass protector." 
5. ^ "2000 NFL Draft Profile: Chris Samuels", CNNSI.com, 2000, http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/nfl/2000/nfldraft/players/40601.html 
6. ^ "Chris Samuels Draft Profile", NFLDraftScout.com, http://www.nfldraftscout.com/ratings/dsprofile.php?pyid=60838&draftyear=2000&genpos=OT, retrieved January 18, 2010 
7. ^ Mayer, Larry (2007-12-15). "Samuels calls Bears coach to apologize for block". chicagobears.com. http://www.chicagobears.com/news/NewsStory.asp?STORY_ID=4189&print=yes. Retrieved 2008-09-07. 
8. ^ Canavan, Tom (2008-09-05). "Giants DE Kiwanuka accuses Samuels of dirty play". Yahoo! Sports. http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;_ylt=AtcIbzmqtapUEc8VqGY6aw9DubYF?slug=ap-kiwanuka-samuels&prov=ap&type=lgns. Retrieved 2008-09-07. 

External links

• Washington Redskins biography

Persondata
Name	Samuels, Chris
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	July 28, 1977
Place of birth	Mobile, Alabama
Date of death
Place of death