Former Crimson linebacker Isaiah Kacyvenski ’00, a four-time All-Ivy selection and former Rd. 4 draft pick of the Seattle Seahawks, graduated a year before Harvard's most recent NFL draftee matriculated in Cambridge. Now Kacyvenski will join former Crimson quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick '05 on the roster of the St. Louis Rams.
Kacyvenski had played for the Seattle Seahawks, the Rams' NFC Western division rival, before being cut on Sept. 29 in an injury-related move. Seahawks star running back Shaun Alexander was declared out indefinitely with a broken foot, and the team waived Kacyvenski to make space for another running back, Marquis Weeks.
The Seahawks claimed that Kacyvenski’s release had only been temporary. The popular captain of the Seahawks special teams, however, was a free agent and signed with St. Louis the day after the Seahawks offered him a new contract on Oct. 2.
The new deal is a prorated $585,000 contract, which will come on top of the $494,118 the Seahawks still owe Kacyvenski because veterans with at least four years’ experience have guaranteed contracts after each season’s first game.
Coincidentally, the Rams and Seahawks face each other for the first time this season on Sunday in St. Louis. Mike Holmgren, head coach of the Seahawks, was displeased with Kacyvenski’s signing and told the Associated Press that he was concerned that Kacyvenski might pass along critical intelligence earned in seven seasons with Seattle.
Kacyvenski is currently listed at second on the depth chart at middle linebacker behind Will Witherspoon in St. Louis.
—Material from the Associated Press was used in the reporting of this story.
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