Re: Chris Samuels about to Retire
 

Samuels' retirement decision up to four months away

Posted by Mike Florio on October 23, 2009 7:42 PM ET
In response to a report that Redskins left tackle Chris Samuels will retire due to a neck injury, we're told that a final decision is not expected for three or four months.

Samuels is being evaluated by [B]Dr. Robert Watkins, a Southern California spine specialist[/B] whose NFL patients include former Chiefs running back Priest Holmes.

[B]Samuels, we're told, has been experiencing numbness below the waist since injuring his neck two weeks ago.[/B]

Samuels was the third overall pick in the 2000 draft. He is under contract with the Redskins through 2011.

Re: Chris Samuels about to Retire
 

[quote=skinsfan_nn;614752]Samuels' retirement decision up to four months away

Posted by Mike Florio on October 23, 2009 7:42 PM ET
In response to a report that Redskins left tackle Chris Samuels will retire due to a neck injury, we're told that a final decision is not expected for three or four months.

Samuels is being evaluated by Dr. Robert Watkins, a Southern California spine specialist whose NFL patients include former Chiefs running back Priest Holmes.

Samuels, we're told, has been experiencing numbness below the waist since injuring his neck two weeks ago.

Samuels was the third overall pick in the 2000 draft. [B]He is under contract with the Redskins through 2011.[/B][/quote]

If I am reading the cap/release fee sheet correctly, if Samuels retires this offseason we will take a $14M cap hit. If there is a cap next year we are screwed with this one player situation.

Re: Chris Samuels about to Retire
 

Smart decision on his part. Best of luck to him and his family.

Re: Chris Samuels about to Retire
 

I'm actually happy to hear this. He should retire. No sense risking further injury with this sorry bunch.

A solid Skin for years and underappreciated by many, me included.

Re: Chris Samuels about to Retire
 

[quote=CrazyCanuck;614757]I'm actually happy to hear this. He should retire. No sense risking further injury with this sorry bunch.

A solid Skin for years and underappreciated by many, me included.[/quote]

Mr. Crazy Capologist of the great white North,
Is it a $14M cap hit next year if Samuels retires?

Re: Chris Samuels about to Retire
 

C. Samuels is a great Redskin and will be missed . Good luck to Mr. Samuels and his family !

Re: Chris Samuels about to Retire
 

If he is actually considering coming back he's a f'ing idiot.

Re: Chris Samuels about to Retire
 

If he is already feeling numbness below the waist. He should no any kind of hit can paralyze him eazier than if his neck was healthy. If you seen that hit that took him out the game earlier this year it was a basic bull rush. I couldnt imagine him taken a more violent hit, the last thing I would want to see is him getting carried out on a stretcher. Lets just hope he is getting good advice.

Thanks for your outstanding play. You are truly an unsung hero.

Re: Chris Samuels about to Retire
 

Per Washington Redskins.com

Chris Samuels Exploring His Options

by Matt Terl on Oct 23rd 2009 8:40PM


Reports of Chris Samuels' retirement have been slightly exagerrated. Maybe.

Although Samuels' injury -- combined with his pre-existing stenosis -- may eventually require the tackle to be put on injured reserve, thus ending his 2009 season, his current plan is to consult with specialists and explore his options before he makes a final decision regarding his future.

[B]Samuels released the following statement through the team: "I will continue to seek medical advice. I hope to see where I am physically over the next couple months. [B]At this time, I have not made a decision, but I love playing for the Redskins and hope to be back."[/B][/B]

Re: Chris Samuels about to Retire
 

[quote=Mattyk72;614730]There's been plenty of folks who think he's either overrated or over the hill the past couple of years. You know, the usual crowd that's always a little quick on the trigger to write a player off as finished? I think we're all guilty of that from time to time.[/quote]

Yeah there has.

And now every single on of them will get to find out/remember what it is like to have an average or below average LT.

We should all stand and applaud CS. He gave us his best for a decade and will be sorely missed.

Re: Chris Samuels about to Retire
 

[quote=JLee9718;614703]The Redskins should have had somebody ready to move in at LT when Chris first started hurting. But they've always tried to put together an offensive line by patching it with older players, usually that nobody else wants.[/quote]
.

I've thought for a couple of years we should've been looking at an eventual replacement, not just a body.

Chris gave us some great years, too bad we didn't give him too many in return.

Re: Chris Samuels about to Retire
 

[quote=skinsfan_nn;614765]Per Washington Redskins.com

Chris Samuels Exploring His Options

by Matt Terl on Oct 23rd 2009 8:40PM


Reports of Chris Samuels' retirement have been slightly exagerrated. Maybe.

Although Samuels' injury -- combined with his pre-existing stenosis -- may eventually require the tackle to be put on injured reserve, thus ending his 2009 season, his current plan is to consult with specialists and explore his options before he makes a final decision regarding his future.

[B]Samuels released the following statement through the team: "I will continue to seek medical advice. I hope to see where I am physically over the next couple months. [B]At this time, I have not made a decision, but I love playing for the Redskins and hope to be back."[/B][/B][/quote]
I don't want you back Chris. The only thing I can think of worse than this shit we've been watching this year is watching you come back and get paralyzed. The fan base and team has already dealt with losing its best young player in decades and we don't need anything else like that. More importantly you've been a stud or the team or years. You don't owe the team a damn thing. You owe it yourself and your family to hang it up man.

Re: Chris Samuels about to Retire
 

Samuels gave us a fighting shot on offense, but he was fighting through a whole bunch of injuries, and theres really no reason for him to come back while we rebuild the offense.

Re: Chris Samuels about to Retire
 

He should just hang out with Bugel for awhile and decide if he wants to move into coaching or not.

Re: Chris Samuels about to Retire
 

[quote=Defensewins;614758]Mr. Crazy Capologist of the great white North,
Is it a $14M cap hit next year if Samuels retires?[/quote]

Yes assuming there's a cap. We could make him a June cut and push $11M to 2011 if we wanted.

Re: Chris Samuels about to Retire
 

I always knew Samuels was top talent on our team...even on his "off" years.
The guy was very steady...I am worried about our team because Samuels was flat out awesome many years and rock steady with rare mis-blocks on others. On top of that he was a classy steady Redskin.

I am glad he had the opportunity to be coached by Bugel and Hall of Famer Joe Gibbs.
Even though he never won a Super bowl, he was part of a couple amazing playoff runs and an amazing team showing to support Sean Taylor unity.

Samuels knows what a good team is. He knows what a good player is. He knows bad coaches and great coaches.
He knows how to keep his head up when things are falling apart too.(Zorn/Spurier)
He also got to play with Darrell Green and Bruce Smith.

I will miss Chris Samuels, clearly the most productive draft pick in the last 10 years.
I'd love for him to recover and play for us for 3 more years but if he is at risk, he should take care of himself and his family.

Re: Chris Samuels about to Retire
 

If this is indeed the end then he was a great Redskin and he should be very proud of the carreer he had. He will most likely get short changed in the history of the team since he played in a largely unsucessful era, but he was a very good player.

Re: Chris Samuels about to Retire
 

I remember thinking at the time the skins drafted him that they had made another huge mistake (2 first rounders, a fourth and a fifth to trade up). They ended up with LaVar and Chris, but no Courtney Brown. I couldn't have been more wrong, Chris has anchored the line since then and been an on and off the field leader.

His quiet strength carried the team (and several coaches) through some tough times. If he does indeed retire, the impact to the team will be tremendous, he is more than their best lineman, he is one of the biggest producers on the team. Either way, I hope his injury and symptoms are temporary, he will be missed.

Re: Chris Samuels about to Retire
 

Was kind of expecting this. Thanks Chris Samuels! If this is your career, then you had a good solid career as a Redskin.

Re: Chris Samuels about to Retire
 

Chris I pray that God will wrap his loving arms around you and heal this injury so you can continoue to have a very long and prospious life. As for me, I just want to say thanks for the memorys you shared with each and every other redskin fan. The way you carried yourself on an off the field of honor should be an insperation to all, and alot people could learn from the way you have conducted yourself. You were always a team player and never knew you to be a I or a Me thing but a us or a we team. You were a worthy leader on this team with great charectior . You always show your pride on and off the field. On the field of honor you you showed you were a very valuably team captian, in which you lead those that could not lead themselves. Not one time ever did you show any selfishness to others. Bottom line your are a hell of a man and a super hell of a redskin, you wore the colors proudly on game days and and you always gave your all and when you found you had nothing else to give, you found some more to give and then gave that out on the field Thanks for that.
Again Thanks For All The Memories. I pray that you will put yourself first, and your family and retire. You have come to a point in the road wondering should I turn right or should I turn left. Due to your health you no longer owe a dam thing to synder or the team, or the fans, but to your self and that is to stay healthy to live longer. Over the years you have proven yourself time and time again, till theres nothing else to prove. And for this we thank you. Chris if you play no other games and you do retire, I'm proud I was at the stadium watching you and the other skins that day at the game.
Now I sure as hell hope you don;t have to wait to long before they induct you into the hall of fame. You sure as hell deserve it and you stats should rush this up. Then I can take another trip to Canton and watch you be inducted along with the other redskins greats. Dear God I pray take this injury and heal it, watch over Chris and his family bless them and love them. Also Chris thanks for being a good friend to the fans on game days, shaking their hands or signing autographs. This was just another part of the man you were. CHRIS THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES THEY WILL SOON NOT BE FORGOTTON

Re: Chris Samuels about to Retire
 

Thank you Chris! You have been a rock on the line the last ten years. A true Redskin Great. Glad I got to see you play, and someone had posted this earlier but IMO Jansen and Samuels were a great tackle tandem for so long it is sad that the Redskins wasted those two guys by surrounding them with subpar teams. We will miss you Chris. Good Luck in retirement. Hail To The Redskin Chris Samuels![IMG]http://www.thewarpath.net/images/icons/icon14.gif[/IMG][IMG]http://www.thewarpath.net/images/icons/icon14.gif[/IMG]

Re: Chris Samuels about to Retire
 

Samuels was one of the best Skins since he came here, no doubt. People bitched about his blocking, never really understood that, since he was the best we had on the line for so long. I think he is the last of the Norv era draftees isn't he? Man he has seen a lot.

Re: Chris Samuels about to Retire
 

[quote=FRPLG;614767]Yeah there has.

And now every single on of them will get to find out/remember what it is like to have an average or below average LT.

We should all stand and applaud CS. He gave us his best for a decade and will be sorely missed.[/quote]

2nd that. I knew he had stenosis and I was kind of holding my breath on this one. And the day is here. Chris is one of the best lineman in team history, a future Redskins Ring of Famer, and possibly even a HOF'er. I'll miss seeing big #60 out there. A real bummer. Wish you all the best CS, you'll be missed.

The front office however knew about his spinal condition as well as the injury history of Randy Thomas, and yet we pretended it was all good... Grrr. That annoys me, especially if we have to eat a huge cap # for him next year.

Re: Chris Samuels about to Retire
 

[quote=GMScud;614829]2nd that. I knew he had stenosis and I was kind of holding my breath on this one. And the day is here. Chris is one of the best lineman in team history, a future Redskins Ring of Famer, [B]and possibly even a HOF'er[/B]. I'll miss seeing big #60 out there. A real bummer. Wish you all the best CS, you'll be missed.

The front office however knew about his spinal condition as well as the injury history of Randy Thomas, and yet we pretended it was all good... Grrr. That annoys me, especially if we have to eat a huge cap # for him next year.[/quote]

I'd love to see him in the HOF, but I doubt that will happen. He never got the respect or recognition that other Pro Bowl left tackles that played the majority of the same years (Orlando Pace, Walter Jones) got. It's hard enough getting linemen in the HOF. Love to see it happen but I doubt it.

Re: Chris Samuels about to Retire
 

[quote=mooby;614837]I'd love to see him in the HOF, but I doubt that will happen. He never got the respect or recognition that other Pro Bowl left tackles that played the majority of the same years (Orlando Pace, Walter Jones) got. It's hard enough getting linemen in the HOF. Love to see it happen but I doubt it.[/quote]

Do you realize all three of those guys might retire at the end of this year? That's three of the greatest LTs to ever play the game

Re: Chris Samuels about to Retire
 

[quote=mooby;614837]I'd love to see him in the HOF, but I doubt that will happen. [B]He never got the respect or recognition that other Pro Bowl left tackles that played the majority of the same years[/B] (Orlando Pace, Walter Jones) got. It's hard enough getting linemen in the HOF. Love to see it happen but I doubt it.[/quote]

He was a 6 time Pro Bowler, that's a good amount of recognition.

Re: Chris Samuels about to Retire
 

why on earth did samuels have a contract with this team until 2015?

Re: Chris Samuels about to Retire
 

[quote=BigHairedAristocrat;614877]why on earth did samuels have a contract with this team until 2015?[/quote]

Because our front office is shortsighted and doesn't plan well for the future. They're always trying to win this year with disregard for the direction of our team.

You could say the same for Portis. Every year he resigns with the team to give us cap space and we're financially committed to Portis for the next 2-3 years regardless of his performance.

Re: Chris Samuels about to Retire
 

CP is much younger than samuels and very cuttable in 2011. In fact, he's cheaper to cut than to keep in 2010. However, Samuels is much older, has a degenerative disease the team has known about for years apparently, yet they still extended him to 2015?! And he's not really cuttable until 2013 under normal circumstances. Its just absurd. There's no excuse for it.

Hopefully, next year will be uncapped and Samuels can retire without hurting us too badly capwise. He's getting one hell of a severance package. Hes earned it, though.

Re: Chris Samuels about to Retire
 

thats too bad, he was a rock on the left side of the line but recently he didn't have the same ability. Curse of age I guess.

Re: Chris Samuels about to Retire
 

[quote=GusFrerotte;614825]Samuels was one of the best Skins since he came here, no doubt. People bitched about his blocking, never really understood that, since he was the best we had on the line for so long. I think he is the last of the Norv era draftees isn't he? Man he has seen a lot.[/quote]
Yep, that was the year we picked LaVar at number 2 and Samuels at number 3, supposedly Vinny's first draft, maybe he should think about that again.

What a great player for us; I'd encourage him to hang it up at this point, figure out what he wants out of his life after football.

Re: Chris Samuels about to Retire
 

He is a Hall of Famer in my book for dealing with this team for the last 10 years and making the pro bowl 6 times on this poorly built team.

Re: Chris Samuels about to Retire
 

But who would have thought that Jon Jansen would be in someone's starting lineup this year and both Randy Thomas and Chris Samuels would be on the brink of retirement.

Re: Chris Samuels about to Retire
 

[quote=12thMan;614901]But who would have thought that Jon Jansen would be in someone's starting lineup this year and both Randy Thomas and Chris Samuels would be on the brink of retirement.[/quote]

I was one of them who said to keep Jansen 1 more year.

Re: Chris Samuels about to Retire
 

[quote=Mattyk72;614871]He was a 6 time Pro Bowler, that's a good amount of recognition.[/quote]

I know but I'm saying when people start thinking about dominant left tackles of the last 10+ years for HOF entry Orlando Pace and Walter Jones' names will come up first and then Samuels. It's hard enough getting a lineman in the HOF (we still can't even get a Hog in) and it'll be even harder considering he had two dominant other worldly left tackles playing from the same era he did.

6 Pro Bowls is a good argument but that's his only case considering in 10 seasons we made the playoffs twice. I don't know what kind of stats they look at for offensive lineman beside sacks allowed and what the run game rankings wise was but he'd have to start getting mentioned in the same sentence as OP and WJ as the dominant left tackles of this era to get in.

EDIT: I could probably put Jonathen Ogden in that conversation as well, even though he retired last year.

Re: Chris Samuels about to Retire
 

Well all signs point to samuels retiring after the season, and with that said I wish h the best and say he was one of the redskins all time greats. To bad he couldn't get a super bowl, but then again a lot of great players don't win super bowls. He never was a problem in the locker room, never had any fines or off field issues. Who knows CS could always come back to the team as an OL assistant coach.

Now can we get this disgusting season over with and draft russell okung the LT from Oklahoma state.

Re: Chris Samuels about to Retire
 

Lets hope Levi can get in Monday on short notice and get in the action, and make a difference.


Posted at 2:00 PM ET, 10/24/2009
Samuels expected to go on IR during bye week

During the bye week, the Redskins are expected to assign Pro Bowl left tackle Chris Samuels to the season-ending injured-reserve list.

"He'll probably go on injured reserve so we can get that roster spot," Coach Jim Zorn said. "We need a spot, too, and yet nothing has been determined. We're still talking through things."

After learning he could become paralyzed if he continues to play, Samuels has told people in the organization that he will sit out the remainder of the season and plans to retire. In a statement on Samuels's behalf released by the team Friday, the 10-year veteran, who suffered a serious neck injury two weeks ago against the Carolina Panthers and also suffers from a narrowing of the spine, said he would continue to seek medical advice and had not made any decisions about his future in football.

Recently signed tackle Levi Jones is "likely to be activated" for Monday night's game against the Philadelphia Eagles at FedEx Field, Zorn said.

Re: Chris Samuels about to Retire
 

As I think about it, Samuels has to be THE best redskin since we last won the SB. If Champ was still here, then I'd probably have to say it was him, but he's been out of our lives since 04.

Chris Samuels was everything he was drafted to be. I remember when he re-signed a few years back & he said "Redskins for life, baby!" Looks like that is proving true. Great player & apparently a great man. To state the obvious, if we can find another CS we'll be lucky.

Re: Chris Samuels about to Retire
 

[quote=freddyg12;614932]As I think about it, Samuels has to be THE best redskin since we last won the SB. If Champ was still here, then I'd probably have to say it was him, but he's been out of our lives since 04.

Chris Samuels was everything he was drafted to be. I remember when he re-signed a few years back & he said "Redskins for life, baby!" Looks like that is proving true. Great player & apparently a great man. To state the obvious, if we can find another CS we'll be lucky.[/quote]The three best football players since the Super Bowl days were Samuels, Bailey, and Sean Taylor. Samuels leaves a huge void on the OL and will be missed tremendously.

Re: Chris Samuels about to Retire
 

It was expected and I'm glad he made the right choice for his health and family.

Thanks for the great career, Chris. One of the greatest Redskins I've seen in my life, he could have been one of the Hogs.

Huge loss, but we need to build up the line urgently, so at least his retirement leaves a hole on the roster that can't be ignored any longer.