Eric Berry’s case to be the best safety in football

With the recent news, Kam Chancellor is retiring do the Chiefs now have the best safety in football? We take a look at Eric Berry’s case.

Recently we found out that Seattle Seahawks safety Kam Chancellor has announced his retirement after eight years in the league.  Chancellor’s departure from the league is unfortunately due to reasons beyond his control. He suffered a season-ending neck injury last year while playing against the Arizona Cardinals.

Afterward, Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll said that Chancellor would have a hard time playing football again. That did not stop Seattle fans from hoping that he could make a full recovery, but with Chancellor’s announcement on Tuesday, it seems that his career is now over.

With Chancellor hanging up his cleats it brings up the question: is Eric Berry the best safety in football? The competition is still fierce even with Chancellor retiring. There are plenty of outstanding safeties still in the league. Harrison Smith, Reshad Jones, and Chancellor’s old running mate Earl Thomas are just a few that could also lay claim to the title.

Kansas City selected Berry fifth overall in the 2010 NFL Draft, and he made his presence felt immediately. Berry started his rookie season in the NFL at the free safety spot, and during his first year, he racked up 92 total tackles, 2 sacks, 9 passes defended, 4 interceptions, 1 forced fumble, and o1ne touchdown.

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His fantastic rookie season earned him his first Pro Bowl honor. Berry’s effort led him to be selected as the alternate for Troy Polamalu who was playing in the AFC championship game, which was the first time a Chiefs rookie had been chosen to attend the Pro Bowl since Derrick Thomas.

In 2011 the plan was to move berry to strong safety due to the Chiefs signing of then free agent Kendrick Lewis. Unfortunately for Kansas City, their star safety went down with an ACL tear in the first game of the season. Injuries have been a disappointing trend for Berry throughout his career. Berry has had three significant injuries during his time in Kansas City. The first was the ACL tear as mentioned above in 2011; the second was his unforgettable battle with Hodgkins lymphoma, which all Chiefs fans are very familiar with; and his last injury, a torn Achilles, came in week one of 2017, ending his year prematurely.

Even with Berry having lost entire seasons to injuries, he has still accomplished a lot during his time on the field. He has received five Pro Bowl selections, which is one for every year that he has been healthy. He has also been honored with three First Team All-Pro selections, and the Comeback Player of the Year award after returning for the 2015 season. Add on top of that that in four out his five healthy seasons Berry has been rated as 84.8 or higher by Pro Football Focus. Lastly,  Berry is the de facto leader of this team. There isn’t much else that you could ask for from any player in any position.

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There is no doubt that Berry has built a great case to be considered the best safety in football. The only thing that goes against him is his injury concerns. If Berry can come back from his torn Achilles and play at the same high level, he could very well be considered the best safety in football by everyone, not just in Kansas City.