After spending his rookie season playing mostly on special teams while learning under veteran safety Lawyer Milloy, Chancellor took over a starting job in 2011 and not only became a difference maker on the field, but also a leader despite some initial reluctance to take on that role.

Chancellor went on to earn Pro-Bowl honors four times in his career was named second-team All-Pro twice, and while those honors are impressive, they only begin to show the impact Chancellor had on the franchise. While helping anchor a defense that allowed the fewest points in the league for four straight seasons, Chancellor served as a team captain on multiple occasions and is one of only two players in franchise history, along with fullback Mack Strong, to win the Steve Largent Award more than once.

Chancellor was also a player who saved his best play for the biggest games, putting together an MVP-worthy performance in Super Bowl XLVIII with a team-high 10 tackles, an interception and that game-defining hit on Thomas; then a year later coming up with a dominant game in a Divisional Round win over Carolina that included 11 tackles, an interception return for a touchdown and multiple leaps over the offensive line on field-goal attempts. Whether it was setting the tone with a hit in a Super Bowl win, or in an NFC West rivalry with a crushing sideline hit on 49ers tight end Vernon Davis, Chancellor often embodied the best of Seattle's defenses.

"First off, there's his physical nature on the football field, his physical presence," receiver Doug Baldwin once said of Chancellor. "He kind of brings a swagger to the defense, and to the whole team really. There aren't many people who can go up against Kam and win that battle, so he kind of brings the hammer for the whole team. Then obviously his leadership in the locker room, he's just one of those guys who is down to earth. He can talk to anybody, have a conversation with anybody, cares genuinely about everybody, and he brings everybody together."

Earl Thomas, who started alongside Chancellor for seven seasons, once described his fellow safety by saying, "He definitely sets the tone. He sets the tone. It's something that you can feel. You see he gets up and starts pounding his hands, all that stuff is contagious, and that's when we're at our best, when everybody is doing their own thing and they're bringing it to the group."

Richard Sherman, meanwhile, once noted that Chancellor "plays in a dark place" and "damages people's souls." Yet despite regularly being the baddest man on the field, Chancellor had a huge heart off of it, which is one of the reasons why he won multiple Steve Largent Awards. Chancellor's Kam Cares Foundation helps "equip children from underserved communities in Hampton Roads and Seattle areas with educational, health, and wellness tools and resources to position students for greater academic success." Every Memorial Day Weekend Chancellor hosts his Bam Bam Spring Jam in Norfolk, Va., an event that includes a free cookout. Over the holidays, Chancellor organizes a toy drive to benefit Seattle's Union Gospel Mission.