Cut again, Ryan Neal thought of quitting football last year. Now he’s a Seahawks starter
Ryan Neal is two months younger than the man he is replacing, again, in the Seahawks defense.
But he’s a world away from Jamal Adams in status, pedigree and contract.
The 26-year-old Adams was the sixth-overall pick in the 2017 NFL draft. He’s from the elite college powerhouse at LSU.
Neal turns 26 on Christmas Eve. He entered the NFL as an undrafted rookie in 2018. He played at lower-division Southern Illinois.
Adams has been a starter from game one of his rookie season with the Jets.
Neal has been benched by his college team. He’s been waived four times in the NFL, by the Eagles, by the Falcons twice and by the Seahawks.
The last time, just a year and a half ago in the summer of 2020, Neal considered quitting football forever. He thought of “getting on with his life’s work,” as legendary Pittsburgh Steelers coach Chuck Knoll used to say to players who just weren’t good enough.
“You go in, undrafted to Philly. I got cut before the first preseason game,” Neal said this week.
“Went to Atlanta, and made the practice squad there — and then I got cut again. That was cut number two.
“So I was like, ‘Alright.’
“Ended up coming out here. When I first got here (in 2019), I was playing corner. I got a phone call in the offseason (early 2020) saying that (we) want to try to you at safety, again.
“I’m like, ‘Alright, cool.’”
Almost quit
All was cool into that summer of 2020. Neal was aggressively making plays on passes during last year’s training camp, including those of franchise quarterback Russell Wilson.
The Seahawks released Neal anyway. They had just traded a king’s sum for Adams, two first-round picks. They had Pro Bowl free safety Quandre Diggs. Neal was among their final cuts before the 2020 opener.
“I had a really good camp and didn’t make it again,” Neal said this week. “It was just like, ‘Is it time to grow up, or is it just time to face the facts? This might be as far as I go.’
“You contemplate stuff like that.
“Good thing I’ve got a great support system around me, people who believe in me and talk some sense into me.”
What did those closest to Neal tell him last year?: “What else would you rather be doing?”
“I’m just like, ‘Let’s go back and do it again.’
“Everything just came through. And I’m here now.”
He’s here, now, as the Seahawks’ starting strong safety. He will start next to Diggs Sunday when Seattle (4-8) tries to keep its so-thin playoff hopes alive at Houston (2-10) — and, it appears, for the final five games of this season.
Adams was to have season-ending shoulder surgery Thursday in Texas. Coach Pete Carroll confirmed that Wednesday.
It’s the second time in two seasons Neal is filling on the back line of the Seahawks’ defense with Adams injured. He started four games in 2020 when Adams was out with multiple injuries, including the same torn labrum in his shoulder he has now.
“He’s a baller,” captain Bobby Wagner said of Neal.
At bargain-basement cost.
Adams has his $70 million contract about to start. Neal has his $920,000 about to end.
Yet it speaks to Neal’s character and his experience with gaining, losing and gaining jobs again — plus to Adams’ popularity within the Seahawks’ locker room and even with the man whose path to stardom he is blocking — that these were Neal’s first words Wednesday when asked about Adams being out for the rest of this season:
“First off, I do want to say, you hate seeing something like this happen to somebody who works extremely hard at their craft, gives it everything, is very passionate,” Neal said. “ To have that happened to him again, it’s something that’s a big blow. Losing a special guy like that who means a lot to everybody on the team. Unfortunately, it’s the second time this has happened, in kind of similar fashion, which is crazy.
“For me, it’s just the same thing. Step in, be accountable, be there for the people around me, be there for my team, the defense, the coaches. Everything.
“Of course it’s an opportunity for me, but it isn’t about me. It’s about everybody else and how can we keep things rolling in the direction we’ve got it. My whole mindset is step in, do my job, do it to the best of my ability to help us win games. That’s just how I’m looking at it.”
Thanks to K.J. Wright
Neal was a relatively anonymous member of the roster, playing primarily on special teams, until Adams got multiple injuries in the middle of last season. Neal then made his first four NFL starts filling in for Adams in October into November 2020.
He was aggressive on passes in the air. He was a sure tackler dropping receivers immediately after the catch short of the line to gain.
“Before that, I had never played in an NFL game before as a starter, full-time. It taught me a lot of things. I learned a lot from the game then,” Neal said. “Things happen fast, you’ve got to be ready to rock and roll. In those four games, I had to just figure it out real quick. I had to rely on the guys around me.”
To this day, Neal credits one teammate, in particular, for helping him last season. One now-former teammate: departed veteran linebacker K.J. Wright.
“Having K.J. last year was huge,” Neal said. “He was a guy I heavily relied on to learn what was going on and the movements and everything.”
Adams returned and finished out last season playing with torn labrum in his shoulder and mangled fingers that eventually needed surgeries last winter.
Neal earned a larger role to end 2020 and for the 2021 season. Carroll and defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr. decided to use more dime formations with Neal as the sixth defensive back in obvious passing situations. He went from five or fewer such snaps on defense to 20 or more this season.
Oct. 3 at San Francisco, Neal made four stops on third down, including on All-Pro tight end George Kittle. That was after almost no one was making any stops on third down for Seattle through September, particularly the week before while the Seahawks allowed 23 consecutive points and lost at Minnesota.
The Seahawks beat the 49ers that day in Santa Clara. It remains one of only three wins for Seattle in the last two-plus months.
The All-Pro linebacker of Seattle’s defense trusts Neal.
“We’re very confident, because we kind of had this situation happen last year with Jamal,” Wagner said. “Unfortunately, he missed some games.
“And Ryan came in and showed he’s a baller, which is a reason why he’s playing a lot more this year, because of that. We’re confident in Ryan. We understand that he can do the job.
“We’re still going to miss Jamal.”
Both safeties the Seahawks will start Sunday at Houston are at the end of their contracts. Diggs has wanted a new contract since the spring, and tried a hold-in this summer to get one. He still doesn’t have one.
Diggs snagged his fourth interception of the season last weekend against the 49ers. Like the meter in a taxi cab, Diggs’ price for 2022 is going up by the week.
Neal has five chances, beginning Sunday against the Texans, to earn a new contract. Not Adams’ $70 million. Not what Diggs will command.
But sure better than Neal contemplating whether to quit football and go get a “real job” a year and a half ago.
“The difference this time around is I have the experience,” he said. “I’ve been playing this year a little bit in dime packages and stuff like that. So for me, It’s just nothing but another play I get to play.
“Way more confident this time around stepping into it. It’s not a shock to me.
“It may be a shock to everybody else, but it’s not a shock to me.”
