SEATTLE – Kenny Easley, whose hard hitting and playmaking earned him the nickname “The Enforcer” and defined the first great era of Seahawks football in the 1980s, died Friday, the Pro Football Hall of Fame announced.
Easley was 66.
The cause of death was not immediately announced.
“We are deeply saddened by the passing of Seahawks Legend Kenny Easley,” the Seahawks said in a statement Saturday. “Kenny embodied what it meant to be a Seahawk through his leadership, intensity, and fearlessness. His intimidating nature and athletic grace made him one of the best players of all-time.”
Easley was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2017 and had his No. 45 retired by the Seahawks that fall. It commemorated a career in which he earned five Pro Bowl bids, was named first-team All-Pro three times, was named to the Hall of Fame’s All-Decade team for the 1980s and was the 1984 Defensive Player of the Year.
“Kenny Easley would have been a dominant safety in any era. When he was enshrined in 2017, he took his rightful place in the Pro Football Hall of Fame and embraced his football immortality,” said Jim Porter, president and CEO of the Hall of Fame. “Kenny possessed excellent ball skills, but make no mistake: His biggest strengths were his fearlessness and intensity. If you had the ball as an opposing offensive player, he was going to hit you hard – and you were going to feel it for a while.”
Easley, a native of Chesapeake, Va., was a three-time All-American safety at UCLA, where he earned a degree in political science, before he was drafted fourth overall by the Seahawks in 1981. He was recently honored as one of the Seahawks’ Top 50 players of all time.
Easley spent his first season playing for Jack Patera and had three interceptions and four fumble recoveries.
His career took off when Chuck Knox became the Seahawks’ coach in 1983. Easley won the first of three consecutive first-team All-Pro honors that season as the Seahawks advanced to the AFC title game. He picked off seven passes, recovered three fumbles and had three sacks while headlining a secondary that was considered one of the best in the NFL.
His best season came in 1984 when he spearheaded a ballhawking defense that forced 63 turnovers, still a franchise-record and the second-most in the Super Bowl era behind only the 67 of the 1985 Chicago Bears.
Easley led the NFL with 10 interceptions and returned two for touchdowns as the Seahawks finished 12-4 and advanced to the divisional round of the playoffs.
Easley was first team All-Pro the following season.
A knee injury in 1986 limited him to 10 games and started a bitter ending to his NFL career.
Easley played 12 games in 1987, a season shortened by a players strike. Easley was the Seahawks’ player representative during his career and a vocal proponent of the strike.
He began suffering kidney problems that he alleged were because of prescribed painkillers to deal with his football injuries. He was traded to the Arizona Cardinals in 1988, but the trade was voided when he failed a physical because of kidney damage.
He never played again, his career over after 89 games. He sued the Seahawks alleging the painkiller use led to his kidney issues. The case was resolved with an out-of-court settlement.
That led to years of estrangement with the Seahawks.
That began to end when Seahawks owner Paul Allen called him in 2002 and told him that the team would induct no more players into its Ring of Honor until Easley agreed to be inducted.
Easley said yes and was inducted that fall.
“Thank you, sir, for reaching out to Kenny Easley in 2002 after a 15-year isolation from the organization,” Easley said of Allen in a speech that kicked off his Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinement speech as part of the Class of 2017. “I believe in the old adage water runs downhill and thus winning starts at the top and you have run a great organization.’’
While at the Hall of Fame, Easley revealed that he had recently had a triple-bypass surgery to fix a heart ailment. He said that drove him into a deep funk but said “The Hall of Fame was the thing that pulled me out of it.”
Easley said then that any bitterness about his NFL career ending at the age of 28 – and the long wait he endured to get into the Hall of Fame – had long passed.
“People say you should have gotten in earlier,” Easley said. “I’m here now. So that means that’s when I was supposed to be here.”
Easley is one of four Seahawks with their number retired along with Steve Largent, Walter Jones and Cortez Kennedy. All are players who made the Hall of Fame and spent their entire careers as Seahawks.
After retirement, he returned to his native Virginia and for a time owned a Cadillac dealership and also worked in commercial real estate. He was co-owner of the Norfolk Nighthawks of the Arena Football League 2 from 1999-2003 along with fellow NFL Hall of Famer Bruce Smith.
He had three children along with his wife Gail – son Kendrick and daughters Gabrielle and Giordanna.