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American football player (born 1959)

Kenneth Mason Easley Jr. (born January 15, 1959) is an American former football safety who played in the National Football League (NFL) for seven seasons from 1981 to 1987. He played college football for the UCLA Bruins and was a three time consensus All American. He was selected in the first round of the 1981 NFL draft, by the Seattle Seahawks, where he played his entire career. Nicknamed "the Enforcer", Easley has been considered to be among the best defensive backs during his era and one of the Seahawks' all time greatest players. Easley was one of Seahawks defensive unit leaders and one of the finest defensive players in the NFL during the 1980s. In 1984, Easley was named the NFL Defensive Player of the Year. 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.

Born and raised in Chesapeake, Virginia, Easley graduated from its Oscar F. Smith High School in 1977. He was the first player in the history of Virginia high school football to rush and pass for over 1,000 yards in a single season, and was named as an all state and All American selection at quarterback. In 1996, Oscar F. Smith High School honored Easley and two other football graduates Ed Beard and Steve DeLong by naming its football stadium "Beard–DeLong–Easley Field" on September 6.

Allegedly recruited by 350 colleges, Easley selected University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and played for the Bruins football team. He started ten games as a true freshman in 1977, recording nine interceptions and was named to his first all Pac 10 squad. Later, he became the first player in conference history to be honored as all conference for four consecutive years.

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 also took over the role of the team's main punt returner when Paul Johns got injured earlier in the season. The contract made him one of the highest paid defensive players in the league. 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 Easley 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". When former teammate Jim Zorn offered his services to the Seahawks, Easley said

blockquote|He obviously is either desperate to play in the NFL or desperate for money. Here's a guy who played in the NFL for a long time and who was adored and was admired by his fans and teammates. Now, he turns his back on us. His last game was a 23–20 overtime loss to the Houston Oilers in the wild card game of the 1987 NFL playoffs.

Prior to the 1988 season, the Seahawks offered Easley to several clubs in an attempt to get a quarterback in return. Easley's declining play, which was partially blamed on his work during the strike and the blossoming of Easley's backup Paul Moyer, had made Easley expendable. During the mandatory team physical, Easley was diagnosed with idiopathic nephrotic syndrome, a severe kidney disease that voided the trade. Easley had told Moyer that he thought his days with the Seahawks were numbered because of his involvement in the player's strike. He was not surprised when the trade happened but the kidney diagnosis had "shocked" him. The Seahawks offered several draft picks as compensation to the Cardinals to complete the trade and Easley announced his retirement a few months later. He knew as early as 1986 that there were issues with his kidney but finally realized the severity of it when he failed the Cardinals physical.

In 1991, Easley bought into a car dealership (along with partner Rick Johnson), Alderwood Oldsmobile & Cadillac in Lynnwood Washington, (which later moved to Shoreline, Washington in 1996), taking advantage of a General Motors program that made it easier for African Americans and other minorities to own an auto dealership. The dealership became successful and Easley was named president of the African American Dealers Association. Instead, the city allowed Easley and Smith to pay the league's $75,000 franchise fee. The team made the AF2 playoffs, but lost money in their first season, which Easley blamed as "rookie mistakes" and startup costs. Fifteen years later, he received a phone call from Gary Wright, the Seahawks publicity director, saying that new owner Paul Allen wanted to induct Easley into the Ring of Honor, and that no other players would receive the honor again until he accepted. Easley saw this, as well as the fact that the old ownership group (the Nordstroms) was long gone, as an opportunity to reconcile and re connect with the Seahawks organization. He accepted the honor, becoming the seventh Seahawk to be inducted into the team Ring of Honor in 2002. He has had cordial relations with the organization since. Easley was named an honorary captain during Super Bowl XLIX. He flipped the coin while Vince Wilfork called the toss on behalf of the captains. The Seahawks officially retired his number 45 in 2017.

In his seven year career, Easley recorded 32 interceptions for 538 yards and three touchdowns, while also returning 27 punts for 302 yards. In 2002, Easley was elected to the Seattle Seahawks Ring of Honor after several attempts by the Seahawks to nominate him, but he was not interested. In 2012, the Professional Football Researchers Association named Easley to the PRFA Hall of Very Good Class of 2012. In 2016, Easley was named the senior finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame's 2017 class, and in February 2017 he was elected, and his bust was sculpted by Scott Myers.