KENNY EASLEY SELECTED AS FINALIST FOR HALL OF FAME’S CLASS OF 2017

Safety Kenny Easley was selected as the Senior Finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2017. Easley was picked by the Hall of Fame’s Seniors Committee that met in Canton today.
 
Easley was selected out of UCLA by the Seattle Seahawks as the fourth player overall in the 1981 NFL Draft. He embarked on a spectacular seven-year career during which he recorded multiple interceptions each season. In all, he amassed 32 interceptions which he returned for 538 yards and 3 TDs. He was also noted as a dominant tackler and added 8 career sacks. His finest season came in 1984 when he was named the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year when he registered a league-leading 10 interceptions and two pick-sixes. Easley was named first-team All-Pro four straight years (1982-85) and voted to five Pro Bowls. He is also a member of the NFL’s All-Decade Team of the 1980s.
 
The Seniors Committee is comprised of nine members of the overall selection committee. Through mail vote, the 2017 senior nominees were reduced to a final list of candidates. Then, on a rotating basis, five of the nine members met at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton to discuss each of the senior candidates and select the finalist. A senior nominee is a player whose career ended at least 25 years ago.

Easley must receive the same 80 percent voting support that is required of all finalists. The Hall’s Selection Committee, at its annual meeting to be held on Saturday, February 4, 2017 in Houston, Texas, will consider 18 finalists, including one Senior (Easley), two Contributors (to be named Tuesday, Aug. 16), and 15 Modern-Era finalists (to be determined from a preliminary list announced in mid-September). Current bylaws call for a class no smaller than four or larger than eight. The Senior Finalist will be voted on for election independent of the other finalists.
 
The Class of 2017 will be formally enshrined during the Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement Week in Canton next August.
 
The all-time list of Senior Finalists>>>