While flying to Houston to play in his first college football game, Kenny Easley was told he would spend time safely in free agency with a veteran UCLA teammate.
“That’s what happened,” Easley told The Times in 2017, telling the story 40 years later. “Michael Coulter started the game and played the first two quarters, I played the second two, and Michael never played again.”
Such was the dominance of a player nicknamed the Enforcer for the way he imposed his will on college and NFL opponents. Easley finished that first season with nine interceptions and 93 tackles, both school records for a true freshman, and was just beginning the path to becoming the first player in Pac-10 history to be a first-team all-conference selection all four seasons.
Easley, one of the most revered players in school history, died Friday of unknown causes, the school said. He was 66 years old. Easley had long battled kidney problems, which forced the five-time Pro Bowler to retire prematurely in 1987 after playing all seven of his NFL seasons with the Seattle Seahawks.
“We are deeply saddened by the passing of Seahawks legend Kenny Easley,” the team said in a statement. “Kenny embodied what it means to be a Seahawk through his leadership, toughness, persistence and fearlessness. His intimidating personality and athletic grace made him one of the best players of all time.”
Much of this determination was shaped by a childhood game Easley called “dynamite pigskin.” A group of kids would gather on the playgrounds in Easley's hometown of Chesapeake, Virginia, and throw a soccer ball into the air.
Safety Kenny Easley also returned punts for UCLA.
(Courtesy UCLA)
The one who caught it took off running while everyone else tried to catch it until the player with the ball found himself hopelessly surrounded, forcing him to throw the ball back into the air, where the game was nicknamed dynamite. The game continued for hours until everyone was bruised and exhausted.
One of the top prospects in the country coming out of high school, Easley appeared to be heading to Michigan, telling everyone he was going to play for the Wolverines. But on the day of his college announcement, Easley blurted out that he was going to play for UCLA, his other finalist, during a ceremony in his high school auditorium.
“So the proverbial genie was out of the bottle, and I was filmed driving to UCLA,” Easley recalled years later. He suspected he had changed his mind because the Bruins said early on that they were recruiting him to play free agency, while Michigan wanted him at guard, his other high school position.
Easley tallied 19 interceptions in four varsity seasons, which remains a school record. After throwing 13 interceptions in his first two seasons, Easley had a ready explanation for why he couldn't keep up that pace.
“They weren't throwing the ball up the middle,” he said of opposing defenses. “If I was playing against Kenny Easley, I wouldn’t throw the ball up the middle either.”
Easley also returned punts and was an excellent pass rusher, making 105 tackles in his senior season in 1980. He finished ninth in the Heisman Trophy voting that year. His 374 career tackles remain the fifth most in UCLA history, and he became the school's second player to earn consensus All-America honors three times, joining linebacker Jerry Robinson.
“Kenny Easley was the most competitive person I have ever met in my life,” Robinson wrote in an email to The Times. “No matter what he did, whether it was sports or life, he was in it to win! Whether it was football, basketball, softball games, playing cards, jumping into the pool or golf, whatever he did, he wanted to be the best at it. And he was the best at it. He was the greatest all-around athlete I ever played with. Rest in peace, Force 5.”
The Seahawks selected Easley fourth overall in the 1981 draft, and he threw 32 interceptions in seven seasons. But his time with the franchise ended abruptly after he accused the team of providing drugs that led to his kidney problems. The parties later resolved their differences. Easley was named one of the 50 greatest players in franchise history.
In 1991, UCLA retired his No. 5 jersey, elected to the college and pro football halls of fame, and was also inducted into the school's athletics hall of fame.
