Chris Clemons Retires: Latest Details, Comments, Reaction

Two days before the Seattle Seahawks are set to open training camp Saturday, veteran defensive end Chris Clemons has announced his retirement.

Mike Garafolo of NFL.com and Curtis Crabtree of the Associated Press reported the news.

Clemons, 34, signed a one-year contract with the Seahawks in April. He was previously with the franchise from 2010 to 2013 before spending the past two seasons with the Jacksonville Jaguars. An undrafted free agent in 2003, Clemons also spent time with Washington, the Oakland Raiders and Philadelphia Eagles. (He was also briefly on the Cleveland Browns' practice squad.)

A late bloomer who started just three games in his first seven years out of college, Clemons emerged as a star after joining Seattle. After recording 20 career sacks before his arrival, he racked up 22 in his first two years with the Seahawks. He wound up with three double-digit sack seasons in four years with the franchise, emerging as a vital piece to the Seahawks' Super Bowl XLVIII team.

The last two seasons were a struggle, though, with Clemons failing to translate his pass-rushing tenacity over in Jacksonville. He recorded just 11 sacks in two years and lost his starting job in 2015. The Jaguars released him in March, at which point Seattle picked him up as a potential low-cost situational pass-rusher. 

"I think Chris Clemons is a missing piece from the organization, if you think about his tenacity, the way he plays the game," teammate Michael Bennett said when Clemons signed, per John Boyle of the Seahawks' website. "He’s obviously one of the best pass-rushers to play for the Seahawks in history if you think about it and he did everything possible when he was here and now he’s back."

Overall, Clemons finishes with career numbers of 276 tackles and 69 sacks, despite starting more than half of his team's games in just five seasons. Of Clemons' 162 career appearances, only 85 were starts.

It's not out of bounds to wonder what could have been in Clemons' career if he hadn't spent more than a half-decade struggling for playing time. Regardless, it was a good way to go out for someone who was viewed as too small coming out of Georgia in 2003.

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