Richard seymour
Richard Vershaun Seymour (born October 6, 1979 in Gadsden, South Carolina) is an American football defensive end for the Oakland Raiders of the National Football League. He was drafted sixth overall by the Patriots in the 2001 NFL Draft. He played college football at Georgia.
Seymour has played in five Pro Bowls, has been named to four All-Pro teams, and has been a member of three Super Bowl-winning Patriots teams. Some have considered Seymour to be the best defensive lineman in the NFL. He has also been described as the best #6 overall draft pick of all time.
Seymour has gone to the Pro Bowl both as a 4-3 defensive tackle and as a 3-4 defensive end. He has also occasionally played fullback on short yardage and goal line situations. However, Seymour hasn't seen work as a fullback since suffering a knee injury on a one-yard Corey Dillon touchdown run against the San Diego Chargers in September 2005.
Early years
At Lower Richland High School in Hopkins, South Carolina, Seymour won first team All-Region honors, won first team All-Area honors, and as a senior, was voted the team's best defensive lineman, was a team captain, won an All-Area Player of the Week award, led his team to four All-Area Team of the Week honors, and finished the season with 8 sacks and 83 tackles.
College career
Seymour played college football at the University of Georgia and was part of a defensive line that consisted of four future first-round draft picks: Seymour, current Buffalo Bills defensive tackle Marcus Stroud, New Orleans Saints defensive end Charles Grant, and former Patriots teammate Johnathan Sullivan.
A housing and consumer economics major, Seymour was a four-year letterman at Georgia (1997-2000) who played in 41 games for the Bulldogs, starting 25. He finished his career with 223 tackles (106 solos), 9.5 sacks, 25.5 tackles for losses and 35 quarterback pressures.
He was selected two times to the All-Southeastern Conference first-team (1999-2000). As a senior Seymour was named All-American first-team selection by the American Football Coaches Association and Walter Camp, and was selected by The Sporting News for their second team.
Seymour appeared in nine games during his 1997 freshman year at right defensive tackle and made two tackles and had a quarterback pressure. He also appeared in every game in 1998 as a sophomore and made 4 starts. He finished fourth on the team with 69 tackles (32 solos) and had 4 sacks and 14 quarterback pressures.
In 1999, as a junior, Seymour started all 11 games at right defensive tackle and led the team with 74 tackles (38 solos), including 10 tackles-for-loss, four sacks and seven quarterback pressures. He also picked of a pass. He was named SEC defensive player of the week for his performance against the South Carolina Gamecocks. In that contest he collected six tackles (5 solos), including a pair of sacks, three stops for minus 12 yards and a pressure that resulted in an interception in a 24-6 victory.
As a senior, Seymour started ten games at right defensive tackle, recording 78 tackles (35 solos) and a team-leading 10.5 tackles for loss, and 1-1/2 sacks plus 13 quarterback pressures. He earned SEC player of the week honors following his performance versus the Tennessee Volunteers.
Professional career
2001–02 seasons
Seymour was drafted by the Patriots in the first round (sixth overall) of the 2001 NFL Draft. On July 24, 2001, the Patriots signed Seymour to a six-year, $14.3 million contract. He played in 13 games in his 2001 rookie season, starting 10 of them, amassing three sacks mainly as a 4-3 defensive tackle. Seymour missed the season opener against the Cincinnati Bengals as well as two late October games with a leg injury. In Super Bowl XXXVI, Seymour started at defensive tackle and earned a Super Bowl ring for the Patriots' victory over the St. Louis Rams.
The 2002 season saw Seymour starting all 16 games at 4-3 defensive tackle in his second season in the NFL, collecting 5.5 sacks and an interception en route to his first Pro Bowl appearance. Seymour also had a presence on special teams, blocking field goals in back-to-back November games against the Oakland Raiders and Minnesota Vikings.
2003–04 seasons
With the Patriots defense moving to a 3-4 in 2003, Seymour moved outside to defensive end in the scheme and was also named a defensive team captain for the first time in his career. Despite missing a game against the Denver Broncos in October due to a leg injury, Seymour finished with a career-high eight sacks and 57 tackles in 15 games played (14 starts). He was twice named AFC Special Teams Player of the Week, after blocked field goals against the Miami Dolphins in Week 7 and the Tennessee Titans in the divisional playoffs. Seymour and the Patriots would go to win their second championship in three years, defeating the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl XXXVIII.
Seymour was elected to the 2004 Pro Bowl and was a first-team All-Pro selection following the season.
Seymour started all 15 games he played in during the 2004 season, but missed the final regular season and first two playoff games against the Indianapolis Colts and Pittsburgh Steelers after injuring the MCL in his right knee in Week 16. He also recorded the first touchdown of his career on a 68-yard fumble return against the Buffalo Bills in Week 4. Seymour's tackle and sack numbers dipped slightly from the previous season to 39 tackles and five sacks, but he was still named to his third consecutive Pro Bowl and was again a first-team All-Pro choice. Seymour earned his third Super Bowl win with a Patriots victory over the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl XXXIX, a game he started.
2005–07 seasons
Entering the final year of his rookie contract, Seymour held out of the 2005 offseason minicamps and missed the first four days of training camp in hopes of securing a new contract. While the Patriots did not fulfill Seymour's request, they did give him a pay raise for the 2005 season in order to end his holdout. In April 2006, Seymour signed a three-year, $30 million contract extension through the 2009 season.
Seymour's 2005 season began with the defensive end recording two sacks and averaging more than five tackles in the first four games before Seymour suffered a left knee injury playing fullback in a goal line situation against the San Diego Chargers in Week 4. He missed the next four games, returning on November 13. Seymour finished the season with four sacks and 46 tackles, and was named to his third-consecutive first-team All-Pro team as well as his fourth consecutive Pro Bowl, which he did not play in due to injury.
The 2006 season became the third straight in which Seymour would have to endure an injury; a left elbow injury suffered in Week 7 lingered throughout the season and cost Seymour a start in Week 8, but Seymour still appeared in all 16 regular season games and the playoffs. Seymour was fined $7,500 by the NFL for stepping on Indianapolis Colts offensive lineman Tarik Glenn during a November 5, 2006 game. Seymour was reportedly angered that Glenn was diving for Seymour's knees. Regardless, Seymour professed his regret for the incident and stated he would apologize to Glenn at their next meeting. Seymour, who also had a groin injury and admitted he wasn't 100 percent, tallied four sacks, 40 tackles, and a blocked field goal on the season. He was named to the 2007 Pro Bowl, his fifth straight, and was a second-team All-Pro selection. However, he did not play in the Pro Bowl for the second straight season.
In the 2007 offseason, Seymour had surgery on the left knee he had originally injured more than two years prior, an injury he said had hampered his conditioning and play during the 2005 and 2006 seasons. The surgery kept Seymour out of training camp and the preseason, and eventually the Patriots decided to keep Seymour on the Physically Unable to Perform list, keeping him out at least the first six weeks of the regular season. Seymour was activated from the PUP on October 27, and played the balance of the regular season and the playoffs, including Super Bowl XLIII, a loss to the New York Giants. Recording 23 tackles and 1.5 sacks, Seymour was not named to the Pro Bowl or the All-Pro team for the first time since his rookie season.
2008 season
The 2008 season proved to be a much healthier one for Seymour, who started the first 15 games, only to miss to the season finale against the Buffalo Bills with a back injury. Seymour tied his career high of eight sacks, recorded 52 tackles, but for the second straight season was not named to the Pro Bowl or All-Pro teams.
2009 season
On September 6, 2009, Seymour was traded to the Oakland Raiders for a first-round pick in the 2011 NFL Draft
