Back in the 2013 and 2014 seasons, the Seattle Seahawks built one of the most dominant defenses the NFL had seen in years. That unit led the league in pass defense and helped Seattle cruise to a 43-8 win over the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XLVIII. The group eventually became known as the “Legion of Boom,” with cornerback Richard Sherman and safety Kam Chancellor serving as two of the defense’s defining pieces.
After retiring from football, the two Seahawks legends paid tribute to that era by launching Legion Sports Bar in Bellevue, Washington, back in 2023. However, just three years after opening, the sports bar has officially shut down, according to reports.
“After much consideration, we have decided to close our Bellevue location and focus back where it all started at Lumen Field Stadium,” an Instagram post read shared by the bar’s official page. “Come see us there! Thank you to everyone that supported us.”
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The sports bar became known for its upscale soul food menu, wide selection of beer, wine, and craft cocktails, along with multiple big-screen TVs that turned it into a popular sports-viewing spot. The venue also hosted meet-and-greets with current Seahawks players, themed nights, and several DJ events.
According to reports, the decision was made to refocus business operations around the Seahawks’ Lumen Field location. For context, Legion Sports Bar will still continue operating inside Lumen Field on game days, with its food available in Section 122.
“When you come here to Lumen Field, you go down to Section 122, and you’ll experience some of the great food that we have from Legion Sports Bar,” Chancellor told MyNorthwest during Lumen’s “Taste of Lumen” event. “We decided to bring the Bam Bam Smash Burger here. We brought the Seattle Smash Burger. We brought some of our Legion cajun fries and our cajun shrimp.”
One of the bar’s signature menu items was the Bam Bam Smash Burger. It’s a nod to Chancellor’s longtime NFL nickname, “Bam Bam.” While discussing his favorite item from the menu, the former Seahawks safety explained:
“For me, I love smash burgers because it kind of emulates the type of play that I had when I was a player. You know my little gavel? I smashed the gavel down, so I’m smashing burgers down. I love that, and that’s my whole play on the smash burger.”
Still, while Legion Sports Bar will continue serving food inside Lumen Field during Seahawks game days, the closure of its Bellevue location has come as a surprise to many fans. However, besides his Legion Sports Bar venture, Sherman continues to be a key voice in the sports broadcasting world.
A look at Richard Sherman’s post-NFL career
After stepping away from the NFL following the 2021 season, Richard Sherman moved quickly into the media space. In 2022, Amazon Prime Video added the former Seahawks cornerback to its Thursday Night Football coverage as part of the studio analyst team. The move marked Sherman’s first major post-playing role, with the former All-Pro joining names like Ryan Fitzpatrick, Tony Gonzalez, and Andrew Whitworth on the broadcast panel.
Around the same period, Sherman also launched “The Richard Sherman Podcast” alongside longtime friend and former agent Mitchell Eisenstein. The show initially operated under Pro Football Focus before later moving to The Volume network in 2022. Since then, the podcast has become one of Sherman’s primary platforms for NFL analysis, player discussions, and reactions to league-wide storylines.
Then came Sherman’s expansion into television beyond football coverage. In 2023, he joined FS1’s Undisputed following Shannon Sharpe’s departure from the show. Sherman became part of the revamped debate panel alongside Skip Bayless, Michael Irvin, and Keyshawn Johnson. That same year, the former Seahawks star also appeared on FOX’s reality competition series “Stars on Mars,” showing another side of his post-NFL media career.
Outside of the NFL, Sherman started Legion Sports Bar with Chancellor. That said, while the Bellevue location later shut down, the business still operates inside Seattle’s Lumen Field during Seahawks home games. As of now, Sherman’s primary post-retirement work continues to center around Amazon’s Thursday Night Football coverage, podcasting, and media appearances.
