The Kansas City Chiefs recently agreed to terms with tight end Ricky Seals-Jones on a one-year deal. Kansas City will be the third stop in the NFL for the 25-year-old athlete. Here’s a look at four things the Chiefs Kingdom should know about their newest player:
Seals-Jones played receiver for the Texas A&M Aggies
Seals-Jones plays tight end in the NFL, but he was a five-star wide receiver recruit out of high school and played receiver for Texas A&M. In three seasons with the Aggies, Seals-Jones racked up 123 catches for nearly 1,500 yards and 10 touchdowns. The best game of his career came against the Alabama Crimson Tide in 2015, where he caught six passes for 107 yards and a touchdown. It was the 100-yard receiving game of his college career.
At 6-5 and 243 pounds, Seals-Jones ran a 4.69 40-yard dash at the NFL scouting combine. This led teams in the NFL to view him as a move tight end as opposed to a receiver. He’s more of an athlete and size mismatch when lined up against a linebacker or safety than he is when playing outside against a cornerback.
He’s related to an all-time great running back
Seals-Jones is the cousin of Pro Football Hall of Fame running back Eric Dickerson. Of course, Dickerson is a big fan of his cousin and his game. He even believes that Seals-Jones has the talent to become a future Hall of Fame player.
“I really do,” Dickerson told TMZ Sports in 2017 ahead of the draft. “I think he has that kind of potential to be a Hall of Fame football player… A lot of guys who got drafted late… It’s not about where you got drafted, it’s about the work you put in as a player, your dedication. How dedicated you are to this sport. I know him, I know he’s very dedicated.”
Seals-Jones went undrafted in 2017, but he’s still only a few years into his NFL career. After a promising 2019 season, landing in Kansas City could be exactly what Seals-Jones needs to elevate his game to that next level.
He had a big game against his former team while with the Browns
Seals-Jones played for the Cleveland Browns in 2019, but he got his NFL start with the Arizona Cardinals. In two seasons in Arizona, Seals-Jones caught 46 passes for a total of 544 yards and four touchdowns while learning a new position.
When the Browns and Cardinals met at the University of Phoenix Stadium in 2019, Seals-Jones took full advantage of the opportunity to prove his former team wrong about him. He caught three passes for just 29 yards, but two of those passes were touchdown receptions. Cleveland didn’t end up winning the game, but Seals-Jones made sure to remind his former team of the type of impact he can be.
He ran into some off-field trouble in 2018
Seals-Jones was arrested and charged for assault, disorderly conduct and criminal trespassing during the 2018 offseason. The situation reportedly arose over a dispute about using the restroom. Here are the details from our friends over at Cards Wire:
“Seals-Jones allegedly sought to use the restroom in the W Hotel but was denied entry because it is for guests only. The report says he then tried to use the restroom inside one of the hotel’s restaurants. After he was denied entry again, he is accused of shoving an employee to get by him.
Seals-Jones alleges he needed to go badly, walked past workers and was taken down.“
This is hardly a smart thing to get arrested over and it seems like it could have been avoided. At the same time, when nature calls, perhaps we should all be a bit more kind to our fellow citizens.
