Washington Redskins

Samuels immediately became the starting left tackle for the Redskins and has since been selected to six Pro Bowls. In 2000, Samuels was one of only four players on offense to start every game, joining Jon Jansen

Jon Jansen

Jonathan Ward Jansen is an American football offensive tackle who is currently a free agent. He previously played for the Detroit Lions and Washington Redskins of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Washington Redskins in the second round of the 1999 NFL Draft...

, Mark Fischer

Mark Fischer

Mark Raymond Fischer is a former American football center who played in the National Football League for the Washington Redskins. He played college football at Purdue University and was drafted in the fifth round of the 1998 NFL Draft...

 and Stephen Alexander

Stephen Alexander

Stephen Todd Alexander is an American football tight end who is currently a free agent. He was originally drafted by the Washington Redskins in the second round of the 1998 NFL Draft. He played college football at Oklahoma.Alexander was selected to the Pro Bowl while with the Redskins in 2000...

. Samuels won co-Offensive Rookie of the Month for October with Dolphins tackle Todd Wade

Todd Wade

Todd McLaurin Wade is a retired American football offensive tackle. He was drafted by the Miami Dolphins in the second round of the 2000 NFL Draft. He played college football at Mississippi....

. He missed the last three quarters in the season finale vs. Arizona with a neck injury. In 2001, Samuels started all 16 regular-season games at left tackle and was voted to the Pro Bowl

Pro Bowl

In professional American football, the Pro Bowl is the all-star game of the National Football League . Since the merger with the rival American Football League in 1970, it has been officially called the AFC–NFC Pro Bowl, matching the top players in the American Football Conference against those...

, he earned game balls, along with the rest of the offensive line, for two games: vs. Seattle and at New Orleans. Samuels was featured on the cover of the December 3, 2001 issue of Sports Illustrated

Sports Illustrated

Sports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...

 along with running back Stephen Davis

Stephen Davis (American football)

Stephen Lamont Davis is a former American football running back in the National Football League. Davis will be the Carolina Panthers' minority coaching intern for the 2010-11 season.-College career:...

 after becoming the first team in NFL history to lose its first five games, then go on to win its next five games.

In 2002, Samuels started 15 regular-season games at left tackle and earned his second consecutive trip to the Pro Bowl. He was also voted as the Redskins 2002 Ed Block Courage Award

Ed Block Courage Award

The Ed Block Courage Award is an annual award presented to selected players in the National Football League , who are voted by their teammates as role models of inspiration, sportsmanship, and courage. Named in memory of Ed Block, a well-liked humanitarian and trainer for the Baltimore Colts, the...

 winner. In 2003, he started 13 regular-season games at left tackle
and missed games vs. New Orleans, at New York Giants and vs. Dallas because of a knee injury.

In 2004, he started all 16 regular-season games at left tackle and helped running back Clinton Portis

Clinton Portis

Clinton Earl Portis is an American football running back who is currently a free agent. He was drafted by the Denver Broncos in the second round of the 2002 NFL Draft...

 rush for 1,315 yards, becoming only the fourth Redskin in history to do so in a single season.

Samuels was regarded as the leader of Washington's offensive line. During the 2005 off-season, the Redskins signed him to a 7-year contract worth about $47 million and a signing bonus of about $16 million. In 2005, he started all 16 regular-season games and two postseason contests at left tackle. He was named to the Pro Bowl after helped open up running lanes for Clinton Portis to rush for a franchise-record 1,516 yards.
In 2006, he started all 16 regular-season games at left tackle. He helped Ladell Betts

Ladell Betts

Matthew Ladell Betts is an American football running back who is currently a free agent He was drafted by the Washington Redskins in the second round of the 2002 NFL Draft. He played college football at Iowa....

 rush for a career-best 1,154 rushing yards and four touchdowns. Samuels was named to the Pro Bowl for the second consecutive season.

In 2007, Samuels was named to the Pro Bowl for the third consecutive season and started all 16 regular-season games and one postseason contest at left tackle. He paved the way for the Redskins to post their third highest all-time rushing total in a single game ( 296 yards on 48 carries) at New York Jets

New York Jets

The New York Jets are a professional football team headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, representing the New York metropolitan area. The team is a member of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

 on November 4.
Samuels was fined $12,500 for delivering an illegal chop block that injured Antonio Garay

Antonio Garay

Antonio Garay is an American football defensive tackle for the San Diego Chargers of the National Football League.He played college football at Boston College...

 of the Chicago Bears

Chicago Bears

The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...

 during a game in 2007. He later apologized to Garay, who spent the remainder of the season on Injured Reserve, as well as to Bears head coach Lovie Smith

Lovie Smith

Lovie Lee Smith is the head coach of the Chicago Bears professional football team of the NFL. Smith has been to the Super Bowl twice, as the defensive coordinator for the 2001 Saint Louis Rams and as the head coach for the Chicago Bears in 2006....

. In 2008, New York Giants

New York Giants

The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, representing the New York City metropolitan area. The Giants are currently members of the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...

 defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka

Mathias Kiwanuka

Mathias Kagimu Kiwanuka is an American football linebacker for the New York Giants of the National Football League. He was originally drafted 32nd overall in the 2006 NFL draft. He played college football at Boston College. He earned a Super Bowl ring with the Giants in Super Bowl XLII.-Early...

 accused Samuels of "dirty play," after he made a low tackle on Kiwanuka during the final minutes of the 2008 NFL season opener. Samuels denied allegations that he intentionally attempted to injure Kiwanuka, stating "On that particular play I was just trying to protect my quarterback... It was never my intention to go out there and injure another player."

In 2008, Samuels was named a Team Captain played and started in 12 regular season games and was inactive in one contest with knee cartilage irritation at Detroit on October 26, seeing his consecutive starting streak snapped at 73 games.
He was placed on Injured Reserve by a triceps tear on December 9, 2008, and missed the last three games. Samuels was named to the 2008 Pro Bowl

2008 Pro Bowl

The 2008 AFC-NFC Pro Bowl was the NFL's all-star game for the 2007 season. It was played at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii on February 10, 2008. The game was televised in the United States by Fox and began shortly after 11:40am local time . The NFC won, 42–30, despite a 17-point first half AFC...

 but did not play because of the triceps injury. He paved the way for Clinton Portis to rank fourth in the NFL in rushing yards (1,487) and total yards from scrimmage (1,705). Portis tied for the NFL lead in total first downs (82) with Chicago Bears RB Matt Forté

Matt Forté

Matthew Garrett Forté is an American football running back for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Bears in the second round of the 2008 NFL Draft...

 and Atlanta Falcons RB Michael Turner. Samuels helped Portis to have the second-most rushing yards (1,487) in a single-season in club history and opened up running lanes for Portis to post more than 120 yards rushing in five consecutive contests (121 rushing yards, at Dallas; 145 at Philadelphia; 129 vs. St. Louis; 175 vs. Cleveland, and 126 at Detroit.
Samuels led the way for Portis to tie a club record for most consecutive 100-yard rushing games (5 straight contests in 2008), a record shared by Rob Goode

Rob Goode

Robert Leslie Goode was an American football running back for the Washington Redskins and the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League. He played college football at Texas A&M University and was drafted in the first round of the 1949 NFL Draft.-External links:...

 (1951), Portis (2005) and Ladell Betts (2006).

Samuels suffered through temporary upper-body paralysis based on compression of his neck during a helmet to helmet hit while in pass protection on a play against the Carolina Panthers

Carolina Panthers

The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. They are currently members of the South Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Panthers, along with the Jacksonville Jaguars, joined the NFL as expansion...

 on October 11, 2009. The injury was determined to be related to spinal stenosis

Spinal stenosis

Lumbar spinal stenosis is a medical condition in which the spinal canal narrows and compresses the spinal cord and nerves at the level of the lumbar vertebra. This is usually due to the common occurrence of spinal degeneration that occurs with aging. It can also sometimes be caused by spinal disc...

, a condition that he was diagnosed with as a child. Due to the risk of incurring a long-term, severe injury related to his condition by continuing his career, he retired from the NFL on March 4, 2010, based on advice from his doctors.

Samuels indicated during his retirement press conference with the Washington Redskins that intends to continue his career in football by becoming a coach. He will be participating in the Redskins' minority internship and will be working with their coaching staff during the 2010 offseason.

Personal

He is the brother of Arena Football League star Lawrence Samuels

Lawrence Samuels

Lawrence 'Law Dogg' Samuels is a 6' 2" 210 pound Arena Football League wide receiver/linebacker with the Tampa Bay Storm. He is the offensive coordinator and receivers coach for the Wharton High School Wildcats. Samuels played his college football at the University of West Alabama...

. He is engaged to his girlfriend of 4 years and plans to get married in March, 2012.

External links

• Washington Redskins biography