Kenny Easley

Lore & Background

Easley was a leader of the Seahawks' defense and was named the NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 1984. He was a four-time All-Pro selection and was elected to the Pro Bowl five times in his career. Easley's career ended after the 1987 season when he was diagnosed with severe kidney disease. After retirement, Easley owned a Cadillac dealership and, later, the Norfolk Nighthawks team from 1999 to 2003. He was inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame in 1998 and was voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2017.

Reader's Guide

Easley was the fourth overall pick of the 1981 NFL draft, selected by the Seattle Seahawks. He became an immediate starter as a rookie in 1981, recording three interceptions for 155 yards and one touchdown, earning him AFC Defensive Rookie of the Year honors. In 1983, the Seahawks hired former Buffalo Bills coach Chuck Knox as their head coach and Easley immediately became the "backbone" of Knox's defense. In his first season playing for Knox, Easley won the AFC Defensive Player of the Year Award and recorded seven interceptions.

In 1984, Easley led the NFL in interceptions with ten, which tied a club record. He returned two of them for touchdowns and was named as the NFL Defensive Player of the Year, the first safety awarded since Dick Anderson in 1973. In 1984, during a 45–0 win over the Kansas City Chiefs in the Kingdome on November 4, the Seahawks returned four interceptions for touchdowns, including one caught by Easley, breaking the record for most touchdowns scored from an interception in a game.

He took over the role of the team's main punt returner when Paul Johns got injured earlier in the season. After the season, Easley signed a five-year contract to stay with the Seahawks, averaging $650,000 a year plus incentives. The contract made him one of the highest paid defensive players in the league. In 1985, he was selected for his fourth consecutive Pro Bowl, a team record until defensive tackle Cortez Kennedy was selected for his fifth consecutive Pro Bowl in 1995.

He was injured for most of the 1986 season; he hurt his knee against the San Diego Chargers on October 11, and the next month, missed the remainder of the season due to ankle surgery. In December, Easley was rumored to be in the as the Seahawks were attempting to get the first overall pick in the 1987 NFL draft from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, in order to draft quarterback Vinny Testaverde. In 1987, Easley was the Seahawks' player representative and a leading figure in the 1987 NFL strike.

Seeking a new collective-bargaining agreement with free agency a major factor, the head of the National Football League Players Association, Gene Upshaw managed to convince him and hundreds of his fellow NFL players to go on strike. As a response, the league decided to use replacement players to fill up their rosters, along with a few veterans who crossed the "picket line".

Did You Know?

• Easley was the first player in Virginia high-school football history to rush and pass for more than 1,000 yards in a single season.
• He was selected by the Chicago Bulls in the tenth round of the 1981 NBA draft but did not play professionally.
• Easley's kidney disease was discovered during a physical after a trade to the Phoenix Cardinals in 1988.
• He filed a lawsuit against the Seahawks and team doctors, alleging an overdose of Advil caused his kidney failure; the case was settled out of court in 1990.
• Easley received a new kidney at the University of Washington Medical Center in June 1990.