Ray Seals, a staple of the defensive front that helped lead the Steelers to a Super Bowl appearance in the mid-90s, has died.
He was 59 years old.
Seals took an unconventional route to the NFL. Despite being a star football player at Henninger High School in Syracuse, Seals didn’t go straight to college to continue pursuing football. Instead, Seals went to work to help support his family and joined a semipro team.
It didn’t take long for Seals to get the attention of coaches in the semipro league, who immediately recognized his talent and began reaching out to NFL coaches about getting him an opportunity at the next level. That opportunity would come via Ray Perkins of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who already knew Seals from his high school days.
The Buccaneers signed Seals in 1988, though he wouldn’t immediately see action. After appearing only as a backup for two years, Seals steadily worked into a starting role. Then, in 1991, he became a starter for the Bucs.
Seals held that starting position for three years before signing with the Steelers as a free agent in 1994. Most notably, during his time in Pittsburgh, Seals started every game during Pittsburgh’s 1995 Super Bowl run. That effort ended in defeat to the Cowboys, but Seals did collect a sack in the big game.
Seals missed the 1996 season with injury, then signed with the Panthers in 1997 and played there for one season before signing with Cincinnati.
“We were all behind him,” said Garry Acchione, who played with Seals in Syracuse. “We were rooting for him like you couldn’t believe, to have that opportunity to make it. I never had a doubt in my mind that he was good enough to play in the NFL. I mean, we all knew it. It’s just, OK, how do you get him there? How does he get the opportunity? Because back then, I mean, he didn’t come out of college. You’re not going to just walk onto a pro team and make it.”
Seals defied those odds and went on to an eight-year NFL career, during which time he collected 32 sacks and 215 tackles.
