Chris Samuels will announce his retirement from the NFL tomorrow March 4 at Redskins Park, a neck injury forcing him out of the game after 10 seasons. Redskins fans should take pause and applaud a perennial Pro Bowler and great all around guy.
When you draft a Left Tackle #3 overall, the hope is that you can plug him in the lineup and forget about that position for the next decade or so. It certainly doesn't work out that way in most cases, but for the Redskins it did. In his first 8 seasons Samuels missed a total of 4 games. He battled ankle, knee, shoulder and neck injuries during that time but he kept showing up and playing at an extremely high level. Samuels was a 6 time Pro Bowler who appeared in 141 games as a Redskin, protecting the backs of 14 different QB's.
It isn't unreasonable to think that if he had stayed healthy Samuels may have played another 4-5 years and made another Pro Bowl or 2, which would have been a Hall Of Fame career. As it stands he was still one of the most dominant offensive lineman for a decade and may be a fringe HOF'er. He's certainly one of the all-time greatest offensive linemen that have worn the burgundy and gold (there have been many) and a "Hog" from a different era.
With the current state of the Skins offensive line, you will certainly come to miss Samuels if you don't already...I know I do. Congrats on a great career Mr. Samuels and best of luck in your retirement.
Cheers and Hail
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