Easley becomes the fourth player to spend his entire career with the Seahawks to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Three decades after he played his final NFL game — all for the Seahawks — Kenny Easley was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame with six other members of the Class of 2017 on Saturday in Canton, Ohio.
Easley’s star was bright but burnt out quickly, forced by kidney disease to retire in 1987 after just seven seasons. Over those seasons, though, he amassed 32 interceptions and made five Pro Bowls. Had Easley played a full career, who knows when this day would have come. Almost surely, though, it wouldn’t have been in his 25th year of eligibility.
“People say you should have gotten in earlier,’’ Easley said Friday before receiving his gold jacket. “I’m here now. So that means that’s when I was supposed to be here.’’
When Easley received the call to the Hall, he said he was in a “real funk,” after undergoing a triple-bypass heart procedure just three weeks prior.
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“The Hall of Fame was the thing that pulled me out of it,’’ Easley said.
Here’s video of his bust being unveiled at the induction ceremony Saturday:
And highlights from Easley’s speech: