One of four third-round picks of the Minnesota Vikings in the 2021 NFL Draft, linebacker and special-teamer Chazz Surratt will now join Sam Darnold and Stefon Diggs among the players who once wore Purple & Gold to suit up in this Sunday's Super Bowl 60 matchup between the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots.
Signed by Seattle in late August, Surratt appeared in 11 regular-season games for the Seahawks before suffering an ankle injury in Week 12 that ultimately landed him on injured reserve.
As it's been for most of his career, the soon-to-be 29-year-old (his birthday is February 16) took the vast majority of his snaps on special teams, tallying 11 tackles, the second-most on the team behind Brady Russell's 14.
Surratt's 21-day practice window was opened a few days ahead of Seattle's Divisional Round victory over the San Francisco 49ers, but he didn't appear in either that game or the Seahawks' NFC Championship Game victory over the Los Angeles Rams.
But he will be on the field at Levi's Stadium on Sunday, as he was officially activated from injured reserve on Tuesday. To make room on the active roster, Seattle placed rookie offensive tackle Amari Kight on injured reserve.
Chazz Surratt played just one season with Minnesota Vikings after being taken in third round of the 2021 NFL Draftx
A two-time First-Team All-ACC selection at North Carolina, as well as a First-Team All-American in his final year with the Tar Heels, Surratt was taken by the Vikings in the third round of the 2021 draft with the 78th overall pick.
While Surratt was extremely athletic and certainly versatile, as it was also thought he could play some safety at the professional level, he just never quite fit in with Minnesota.
After losing out to Nick Vigil and Blake Lynch at inside linebacker during training camp, the 6-foot-2, 230-pounder didn't take a single defensive snap as a rookie, appearing only on special teams and making zero tackles in 98 snaps.
He was given the chance to compete for a backup linebacker role again in 2022, but lost out to third-round rookie Brian Asamoah. Surratt was waived during final roster cuts, and that was that for his time with the Vikings.
He spent the next three seasons with the New York Jets, appearing in 32 games and even getting five starts on defense in 2024. Surratt signed with the San Francisco 49ers last May but was again a part of final cuts and signed with the Seahawks two days later.