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Kenny Easley's Hall of Fame nomination is better late than never

By Frank Cooney, The Sports Xchange
Kenny Easley's Hall of Fame nomination has finally come. Photo courtesy Seattle Seahawks
Kenny Easley's Hall of Fame nomination has finally come. Photo courtesy Seattle Seahawks

When Kenny Easley was nominated as the senior finalist for the 2017 Class of the Pro Football Hall of Fame this week, it was a highlight of my 26 years on the selection committee. It was a testament to how well the Seniors Subcommittee can function.

The group is tasked with nominating the most worthy Hall of Fame candidate who somehow slipped through the system for 25 years after his retirement, and there are many. There were 15 excellent candidates who were considered in Monday's subcommittee meeting in Canton, Ohio.

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This year's committee, including five of the nine senior selectors, was advised by perhaps the most credible talent evaluator in modern football, Hall of Famer Ron Wolf, as well as straight-shooting Hall of Fame running back Floyd Little.

These are two of the most honest men on Earth. Their learned opinions are valuable because they are not tainted by hype, hyperbole or publicity.

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For reasons that will be explained -- but are nonetheless shocking -- Easley was never even discussed by a HOF selection committee during the 25 years after his career came to a premature and unkind end in 1987. Before that he was merely one of the greatest safeties in the history of college football at UCLA and in NFL annals with the Seattle Seahawks.

That is admittedly my opinion based on 51 years of covering the game as a mere journalist. So let's ask Wolf what he thinks about Easley being overlooked 25 years as a modern era candidate.

"It is astounding that Easley was overlooked so long," Wolf said Thursday after returning home from the meeting. "He was an outstanding three-time All American player back in a time when college also had Ronnie Lott and Dennis Smith at USC. Ronnie was a corner, but Easley a pure safety. Big, fast, physical, athletic. When you saw him play for Seattle you knew you were watching a Hall of Fame player, without doubt."

Indeed, in 1981 Easley was selected No. 4 overall by the Seahawks in a draft that included North Carolina linebacker Lawrence Taylor taken No. 2 overall by the New York Giants and Lott No. 8 overall by the San Francisco 49ers.

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And both those NFL greats are adamant about how Easley's greatness.

"In my pursuit at trying to be the best, I always felt like I was shooting up to his level because he was the standard," Lott said this year. "Kenny's skills transcended the game. There had been only a few great safeties, like Jack Tatum (Oakland, Houston) who could hit and cover at an elite level. He was a good as there ever was and I mean that right to this day."

Taylor, who rarely praises other players, was to the point.

"The Kenny Easley I knew was by far the best athlete I've ever seen on a football field," Taylor said this year in an interview with Bob Kaupang, an intense sports researcher from Minnesota who mounted a thorough campaign for Easley's Hall of Fame candidacy.

Easley did fit right in with Lott and Taylor in terms of performance. He was AFC Defensive Rookie of the Year while the other two tore up the NFC. Playing at strong safety his whole NFL career, Easley amassed 32 interceptions, eight sacks and was one of the most devastating tacklers ever to play the game.

"When he hit somebody, it was like they were shot by a cannon," said Lott, who was no lightweight hitter himself. "He ended plays with an explosion."

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In 1984 Easley made ten interceptions, including two he returned for touchdowns. He was selected first team All Pro four straight years (1982-85) and second team once, selected to five Pro Bowls and is a member of the NFL's All-Decade team of the 1980s.

So how was all this overlooked for so long?

Chalk it up to the fickle fate of history, which shows that he was probably penalized for doing his job the best he could, both as a player and Players' Association team representative. Both jobs conspired to ruin his career in 1987.

That was the year of the contentious NFLPA strike, which particularly divided the Seahawks when some of Easley's teammates, including quarterback Jim Zorn, crossed the picket line during the ill-conceived strike replacement games.

On the field in non-strike games, Easley's play was impacted by multiple in injuries.

After the season Easley thought his days as a Seahawk were over because of the rancor caused by the player strike. So Easley was not surprised in April 1988 when the Seahawks traded him to the Phoenix Cardinals (for quarterback Kelly Stouffer). But he was surprised when he failed his physical and was diagnosed with idiopathic nephrotic syndrome, a severe kidney disease.

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Not only would Easley never again play football, he needed a kidney transplant to assure he would live. He had the transplant in 1990. He also sued the Seahawks and their team trainer, saying he was encouraged to take 15 to 20 Advil a day to cope with an ankle injury. The suit was settled and sealed, but the damage was done. If he needed an advocate for his Hall of Fame candidacy in the years just after his career ended, it would be from the Seattle area.

Last year Easley's name was first discussed during the senior selection meeting. Former Oakland/Houston/New Orleans quarterback Ken Stabler received the nomination, but Easley was at last being mentioned.

At the February selection meeting for the Class of 2016, former safeties John Lynch and Steve Atwater were among the 15 finalists. No offense is intended here, which usually precedes somebody being offendes, but. . .

I was haunted by the feeling that something was amiss because I felt strongly that better safeties were being overlooked, especially Easley and probably Tatum and Johnny Robinson (Kansas City).

In March I told Easley I wanted to advocate for his induction into the Hall of Fame.

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"Why and why now?" responded Easley. "I appreciate it, but I understand what happened and although I would be honored to be in the Hall, I have reconciled my life and I am at peace."

But I wasn't. We had just inducted Stabler into the Hall, but only after he died in 2015. Easley's life is in constant jeopardy because of his borrowed kidney. That is "why now."

Thankfully, Kaupang was already in mid-campaign for Easley and his research was invaluable. And then there was a great group at the selection meeting.

I called Easley Monday after he was nominated as a finalist and told him he will require 80 percent "yes" votes from the 48-person Hall of Fame Selection Committee.

"I am humbled and honored," he said in a weak voice, then explained he had triple bypass surgery two weeks ago. "God bless everyone who had a part in this. This gives me even more reason to get strong before next February. This gives me renewed faith in so many ways."

And so it should for all of us.

-- Frank Cooney, founder and publisher of The Sports Xchange and NFLDraftScout.com, is in his sixth decade covering football and 26th year on the Pro Football Hall of Fame Selection Committee.

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