Richard Seymour Richard Vershaun Seymour ( born October 6 , 1979 ) is an American football defensive tackle who is currently a free agent in the National Football League ( NFL ) . He played college football for the University of Georgia , and was drafted by the New England Patriots sixth overall in the 2001 NFL Draft . Seymour has played in seven Pro Bowl s , has been named to three All - Pro teams , and has been a member of three Super Bowl - winning Patriots teams . Some have considered Seymour to be the best defensive lineman in the NFL . He has also been described as the best # 6 overall draft pick of all time . Seymour has gone to the Pro Bowl both as a 4 - 3 defensive tackle and as a 3 - 4 defensive end . He has also occasionally played fullback on short yardage and goal line situations . However , Seymour has not seen work as a fullback since suffering a knee injury on a one - yard Corey Dillon touchdown run against the San Diego Chargers in October 2005 . Early years . At Lower Richland High School in Hopkins , South Carolina , Seymour won first team All - Region honors , won first team All - Area honors , and as a senior , was voted the team ' s best defensive lineman , was a team captain , won an All - Area Player of the Week award , led his team to four All - Area Team of the Week honors , and finished the season with 8 sacks and 83 tackles . College career . Seymour played college football at the University of Georgia and was part of a defensive line that consisted of four future first - round draft picks : Seymour , former Buffalo Bills defensive tackle Marcus Stroud , New Orleans Saints defensive end Charles Grant , and former Patriots teammate Johnathan Sullivan . A housing and consumer economics major , Seymour was a four - year letterman at Georgia ( 1997 – 2000 ) who played in 41 games for the Bulldogs , starting 25 . He finished his career with 223 tackles ( 106 solos ) , 9 . 5 sacks , 25 . 5 tackles for losses and 35 quarterback pressures . He was selected two times to the All - Southeastern Conference first - team ( 1999 – 2000 ) . As a senior Seymour was named All - American first - team selection by the American Football Coaches Association and Walter Camp , and was selected by The Sporting News for their second team . Seymour appeared in nine games during his 1997 freshman year at right defensive tackle and made two tackles and had a quarterback pressure . He also appeared in every game in 1998 as a sophomore and made 4 starts . He finished fourth on the team with 69 tackles ( 32 solos ) and had 4 sacks and 14 quarterback pressures . In 1999 , as a junior , Seymour started all 11 games at right defensive tackle and led the team with 74 tackles ( 38 solos ) , including 10 tackles - for - loss , four sacks and seven quarterback pressures . He also intercepted a pass . He was named SEC defensive player of the week for his performance against the South Carolina Gamecocks . In that contest he collected six tackles ( 5 solos ) , including a pair of sacks , three stops for minus 12 yards and a pressure that resulted in an interception in a 24 - 6 victory . As a senior , Seymour started ten games at right defensive tackle , recording 78 tackles ( 35 solos ) and a team - leading 10 . 5 tackles for loss , and 1 - 1 / 2 sacks plus 13 quarterback pressures . He earned SEC player of the week honors following his performance versus the Tennessee Volunteers . Professional career . New England Patriots . 2001 – 02 seasons . Seymour was drafted by the Patriots in the first round ( sixth overall ) of the 2001 NFL Draft . On July 24 , 2001 , the Patriots signed Seymour to a six - year , $ 14 . 3 million contract . He played in 13 games in his 2001 rookie season , starting 10 of them , amassing three sacks mainly as a 4 - 3 defensive tackle . Seymour missed the season opener against the Cincinnati Bengals as well as two late October games with a leg injury . In Super Bowl XXXVI , Seymour started at defensive tackle and earned a Super Bowl ring for the Patriots ' victory over the St . Louis Rams . The 2002 season saw Seymour starting all 16 games at 4 - 3 defensive tackle in his second season in the NFL , collecting 5 . 5 sacks and an interception en route to his first Pro Bowl appearance . Seymour also had a presence on special teams , blocking field goals in back - to - back November games against the Oakland Raiders and Minnesota Vikings . 2003 – 04 seasons . With the Patriots defense moving to a 3 - 4 in 2003 , Seymour moved outside to defensive end in the scheme and was also named a defensive team captain for the first time in his career . Despite missing a game against the Denver Broncos in October due to a leg injury , Seymour finished with a career - high eight sacks and 57 tackles in 15 games played ( 14 starts ) . He was twice named AFC Special Teams Player of the Week , after blocked field goals against the Miami Dolphins in Week 7 and the Tennessee Titans in the . Seymour and the Patriots would go to win their second championship in three years , defeating the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl XXXVIII . Seymour was elected to the 2004 Pro Bowl and was a first - team All - Pro selection following the season . Seymour started all 15 games he played in during the 2004 season , but missed the final regular season and first two playoff games against the Indianapolis Colts and Pittsburgh Steelers after injuring the MCL in his right knee in Week 16 . He also recorded the first touchdown of his career on a 68 - yard fumble return against the Buffalo Bills in Week 4 . Seymour ' s tackle and sack numbers dipped slightly from the previous season to 39 tackles and five sacks , but he was still named to his third consecutive Pro Bowl and was again a first - team All - Pro choice . Seymour earned his third Super Bowl win with a Patriots victory over the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl XXXIX , a game he started . 2005 – 07 seasons . Entering the final year of his rookie contract , Seymour held out of the 2005 offseason minicamps and missed the first four days of training camp in hopes of securing a new contract . While the Patriots did not fulfill Seymour ' s request , they did give him a pay raise for the 2005 season in order to end his holdout . In April 2006 , Seymour signed a three - year , $ 30 million contract extension through the 2009 season . Seymour ' s 2005 season began with the defensive end recording two sacks and averaging more than five tackles in the first four games before Seymour suffered a left knee injury playing fullback in a goal line situation against the San Diego Chargers in Week 4 . He missed the next four games , returning on November 13 . Seymour finished the season with four sacks and 46 tackles , and was named to his third - consecutive first - team All - Pro team as well as his fourth consecutive Pro Bowl , which he did not play in due to injury . The 2006 season became the third straight in which Seymour would have to endure an injury ; a left elbow injury suffered in Week 7 lingered throughout the season and cost Seymour a start in Week 8 , but Seymour still appeared in all 16 regular season games and the playoffs . Seymour was fined $ 7 , 500 by the NFL for stepping on Indianapolis Colts offensive lineman Tarik Glenn during a November 5 , 2006 game . Seymour was reportedly angered that Glenn was diving for Seymour ' s knees . Regardless , Seymour professed his regret for the incident and stated he would apologize to Glenn at their next meeting . Seymour , who also had a groin injury and admitted he was not 100 percent , tallied four sacks , 40 tackles , and a blocked field goal on the season . He was named to the 2007 Pro Bowl , his fifth straight , and was a second - team All - Pro selection . However , he did not play in the Pro Bowl for the second straight season . In the 2007 offseason , Seymour had surgery on the left knee he had originally injured more than two years prior , an injury he said had hampered his conditioning and play during the 2005 and 2006 seasons . The surgery kept Seymour out of training camp and the preseason , and eventually the Patriots decided to keep Seymour on the Physically Unable to Perform list , keeping him out at least the first six weeks of the regular season . Seymour was activated from the PUP on October 27 , and played the balance of the regular season and the playoffs , including Super Bowl XLII , a loss to the New York Giants . Recording 23 tackles and 1 . 5 sacks , Seymour was not named to the Pro Bowl or the All - Pro team for the first time since his rookie season . 2008 season . The 2008 season proved to be a much healthier one for Seymour , who started the first 15 games , only to miss to the season finale against the Buffalo Bills with a back injury . Seymour tied his career high of eight sacks , recorded 52 tackles , and also led the team with 17 quarterback hits but for the second straight season was not named to the Pro Bowl or All - Pro teams but was as a key part of a defense that finished eighth in the NFL in allowing 19 . 3 points per game . Oakland Raiders . 2009 season . On September 6 , 2009 , the Patriots traded Seymour , who was entering the final year of his contract , to the Oakland Raiders for a first - round pick in the 2011 NFL Draft . Seymour refused to report to the Raiders in the days following the trade , reportedly unhappy about being traded to the team . The " Boston Herald " , " Boston Globe " , and National Football Post all claimed that on or before September 10 , the Raiders sent Seymour a formal letter ordering him to report within five days or risk being placed on the reserve / left squad list , which would prevent him from playing for any team in 2009 , and thus would prevent him from achieving free agency until he played out his contract in 2010 . Moreover , the " Herald " reported that Seymour was in fact in possession of that letter . The next day , on September 11 , he was placed on the team ' s exempt / left squad list . On September 12 , the " Globe " reported Seymour reported to the Raiders after the " Herald " had reported that Seymour felt " blindsided " by the trade . Seymour said there were " personal issues " concerning his family and that an NFLPA grievance filed on his behalf , which claimed the Raiders were not allowed to send him a five - day letter , was a " procedural thing . " The NFLPA dropped the grievance shortly after , calling it a " moot point . " He did report to the team on September 12 , and started in the team ' s first game on September 14 in which he recorded six tackles and sacked Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers twice . He went on to start all 16 games of the 2009 NFL season , recording 47 tackles and four sacks on the year . 2010 season . On February 24 , 2010 , the Raiders gave Seymour the franchise tag . The Raiders and Seymour negotiated a long - term contract , but Seymour opted to sign a one year deal worth $ 12 . 4 million on June 19 , 2010 . Throughout the 2010 NFL season , he was a starting left defensive tackle next to Tommy Kelly on the Raiders defensive line . He was ejected during a game in Pittsburgh on November 22 for punching Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger . He was later fined $ 25 , 000 for his actions . For his play , Seymour was selected to his sixth career Pro Bowl , but did not play due to a hamstring injury and was replaced by Kyle Williams . 2011 season . On February 17 , 2011 , Seymour agreed to a two year , $ 30 million contract extension , making him the highest paid defensive player in the NFL . On opening day of the 2011 NFL season , still at left defensive tackle next to Tommy Kelly , he recorded 2 sacks and 3 tackles as the Raiders defeated the Denver Broncos . He recorded 29 tackles and 6 sacks during the season . Seymour was one of four Raiders selected to attend the 2012 Pro Bowl . 2012 season . On November 2 , Seymour was fined $ 15 , 750 for hitting Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Matt Cassel . 2013 season . It has been reported that the Oakland Raiders are trying to void his contact for 19 million dollars , since he didn ' t play a full season the Oakland Raiders will still owe Richard Seymour 13 million for the 2013 season .