Richard Vershaun Seymour was born on October 6, 1979, and made his name playing defensive tackle for the New England Patriots and Oakland Raiders. He played in seven pro-bowls and was a Super Bowl champion three times.
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About Richard Seymour
Seymour was born in Gadsen, South Carolina. As a senior, he was voted his team’s best defensive line and was team captain. He won an All-Area Player of the Week and led his team to All-Area Team of the Week on four occasions.
College
Seymour attended the University of Georgia, where he appeared for the Bulldogs for three years. He majored in Housing and Consumer Economics, but he excelled on the football field. He appeared in the same team as three future first-round draft picks: Marcus Stroud, Charles Grant and Johnathan Sullivan.
NFL Career
The Patriots drafted Seymour in the first round (sixth pick overall) of the 2001 draft. He signed a six-year, $14.3m contract and started ten games in his rookie season. In their Super Bowl victory over the St. Louis Rams, he started at defensive tackle and earned his first ring, a feat he achieved again in 2003 as they beat the Carolina panthers. In 2005, he completed a trio of Super Bowl wins, as the Patriots beat the Philadelphia Eagles. Between 2002 and 2006, he was elected to the Pro Bowl five times, a feat repeated in 2010 and 2011.
In April 2006, Seymour signed a three-year contract extension worth $30 million, but surgery on his knee in 2007 kept him out of pre-season and training camp. He was traded to Oakland Raiders in 2009, a move he was unhappy with. He reportedly refused to attend training at first, in protest at the trade. He settled into life with the Raiders, agreeing on a $30 million contract extension in 2011, which made him the highest-paid defensive player in the NFL. Two years later, his contract was voided, and he left the NFL.
Poker Career
Since leaving football, Seymour has made a name for himself around the poker table, going deep in the World Series of Poker in 2019. Playing the variant described as the most popular poker variant globally, Seymour had the deepest run of any NFL, NBA, NHL or MLB player in WSOP history. He has more than $80,000 of WSOP cashes and $800,000 of poker tournament cashes behind him as he embarked on his new career.
He got his passion for poker from his Dad, Richard Sr., whilst growing up in South Carolina.
“My dad would play video poker when I was growing up, and I worked with my dad,” he said,
“When he’d get off work he’d stop at the store and obviously I didn’t play then, but I had to sit around for a couple of hours while he played video poker. Watching him, I picked up a basic understanding. Obviously, that’s not the type of poker I play now, what I’m in now is more of a competition poker.”
Hall of Fame Controversy
Seymour has persistently been overlooked for the Hall of Fame. The latest snub came in February 2021, his third in as many years. He is likely to be included in the 2022 list and even used social media to express the message ‘timing is everything’ after his latest disappointment.
Married Life
Seymour married his wife Tanya in 2009, and they have a family of three offspring.
If you enjoyed this article, you might also enjoy our biography of former football player Terry Bradshaw.
