Hall of Fame safety, Bruins icon made mark as a punishing hitter

On a flight to Houston to play in his first college football game, Kenny Easley was told that he would split time at free safety with a veteran UCLA teammate.

- By BEN BOLCH

COURTESY UCLA ATHLETICS

'THE ENFORCER' Kenny Easley was the first player to be named first-team All Pac-10 all four seasons and was a perennial Pro Bowl pick for the Seahawks.

“That's what happened,” Easley told The Times in 2017, recounting 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 who would be called “The Enforcer” for the way he inflicted his will on college and NFL opponents. Easley finished that first season with nine interceptions and 93 tackles, school records for a freshman, and was just getting started on the way to becoming the first player in Pac-10 history to be selected for the conference's first team all four seasons.

Easley, one of the most revered players in school history, died Friday from unspecified causes, the school announced. He was 66. Easley had long battled kidney issues that forced the five-time Pro Bowl player to retire prematurely in 1987 after spending all seven of his NFL seasons with the Seattle Seahawks.