Cortez Kennedy, 48, dies
NFL Hall of Famer from Wilson remained big figure in community.
Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive tackle and Wilson native Cortez Kennedy was found dead Tuesday morning at his home in Orlando, Fla. Kennedy was 48. TMZ.com first reported Kennedy’s death Tuesday.
Kennedy — who was born in Osceola — was a member of Rivercrest High School’s 1985 Class AAA football state championship team, an All-American with the University of Miami in 1989 and
an eight-time Pro Bowl selection with the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks. He was the NFL defensive player of the year in 1992 with 14 sacks and 92
tackles for a Seahawks team that went 2-14.
Willie Roaf, a Pine Bluff native and Hall of Fame offensive tackle with the New Orleans Saints and Kansas City Chiefs, received word about Kennedy’s death in a phone call from a friend in Little Rock.
“I was just in shock,” Roaf said from his home in California on Tuesday. “I didn’t want to believe it.”
TMZ obtained the Orlando Police Department’s 911 dispatch audio from Kennedy’s house. It was not known who placed the call. EMTs responded to his house Tuesday morning and said he was
unconscious and “cold.” Kennedy was referred to as a 49-year-old man, although he is 48.
Orlando police said they arrived at Kennedy’s house about 10:20 a.m. Eastern. A cause of death was not known Tuesday, but police said there was nothing suspicious about his death. An investigation is ongoing.
Kennedy’s high school coach in the mid-1980s at Rivercrest, Danny Graham, said his death is hard to take.
“He was a better person than a football player,” said Graham, who coached at Rivercrest from 1981-1995. “He was always a good kid. He was that kind of person.”
Current Rivercrest Coach Kelly Chandler, who was a junior high coach at Rivercrest in the mid-1980s, said he had a great relationship with Kennedy, with whom he deer hunted.
“He was a very likable guy,” Chandler said. “He got along great with everybody. He worked hard in practice. He was a great guy to be around. All of his teammates loved him.”
After retiring from the NFL, Kennedy traveled to Wilson from his home in Florida on multiple occasions, Graham said. He attended several Rivercrest football and basketball games last season.
“That’s just the way he was,” Graham said. “He was always the same person. Very humble. Cortez was Cortez any time.”
Kennedy held football camps at Rivercrest in his first 10 years as a professional football player. He brought current and former NFL players to the camp, such as Howie Long and Tim Brown. The camps were free of charge, Chandler said.
“He gave back,” Graham said. “He loved being part of Rivercrest. The Rivercrest community loved him.”
In 1998, Wilson renamed part of Arkansas 61 “Cortez Kennedy Avenue,” and Kennedy was present for the dedication ceremony.
Roaf, 47, and Kennedy spoke on the phone every couple of weeks, he said. They had known each other since they entered the NFL in the early 1990s — Kennedy in 1990 and Roaf in 1993 after he completed his college career at Louisiana Tech.
“He’s from Arkansas and I’m from Arkansas,” Roaf said. “We always had respect for each other. My wife and I were supposed to go visit him this summer. He’s like a big brother to me, almost.
“We’re going to miss him. He’s a good person. He was always joking and jovial. He was fun to be around. Everyone that I know only had positive things to say about him.”
During Rivercrest’s championship season in 1985, the turning point may have been a locker room discussion between Graham and Kennedy.
Rivercrest was trailing at Wynne 14-7 at halftime in 1985 after committing five turnovers in the first half. Kennedy said he wasn’t worried about the Colts, 7-0 entering the Wynne game, not being able to stay undefeated.
“Coach, you don’t have to be upset,” Kennedy told Graham. “We’re going to win this game. It’s just a matter of time.
“Take it easy, and we’ll take care of it.”
Rivercrest scored 34 consecutive points and won 41-14.
“I told you we were going to win,” Kennedy told Graham after the game.
Rivercrest went on to win the Class AAA state championship, defeating Pine Bluff Dollarway 15-6 to complete a 13-0 season. It was the only undefeated season for an Arkansas high school football team in 1985.
After playing two years at Northwest Mississippi Junior College (1986-1987), Kennedy transferred to Miami in 1988 and played two years for the Hurricanes.
The Seahawks traded their two first-round picks in the 1990 NFL Draft, the No. 8 and No. 10 selections, to the New England Patriots for the No. 3 and No. 29 selections. They took Kennedy third overall, with Indianapolis taking Illinois quarterback Jeff George and the New York Jets selecting Penn State running back Blair Thomas with the previous two picks.
Kennedy played his entire career with the Seahawks (1990-2000). He was an eight-time Pro Bowl selection (1992-1997, 1999-2000) and was named to the All-Pro team five times (1992-1994 first team; 1991, 1996 second team).
While Kennedy was considered to be one of the best defensive players of the 1990s, he was part of only one playoff team in Seattle. The Seahawks lost to Miami 20-17 in an AFC wild-card playoff game in January 2000 in Seattle.
In 11 seasons, Kennedy had 668 tackles, 58 sacks and 3 interceptions.
Kennedy was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his fourth year as a finalist in 2012. Roaf was part of the same induction class, which also included center Dermontti Dawson, defensive end Chris Doleman and running back Curtis Martin.
“I don’t know if you’ve had two Arkansas boys in the same class,” Roaf said. “He was recruited heavily, but he was from a smaller town. I played for [the Pine Bluff] Zebras, but I was barely recruited.
“It was great to represent the state of Arkansas. For him and I to get into the Hall of Fame, it was very special.”
The Seahawks said in a statement Tuesday that Kennedy was a pillar of the franchise since joining the team in 1990.
“Tez was the heart and soul of the Seahawks through the 1990s and endeared himself to 12s [fans] all across the Pacific Northwest as a player who played with a selfless and relentless approach to the game,” the Seahawks said in the statement. “We are proud to have been represented by such a special person.”
Kennedy’s No. 96 is one of four numbers retired by the Seahawks. Steve Largent’s No. 80, Walter Jones’ No. 71 and the No. 12 in honor of the Seahawks fans are the other three numbers. Kennedy, Largent and Jones are all in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
“Sometimes, it’s not how long you stay,” Roaf said. “It’s what you do while you’re here. Cortez did a lot while he was here. He just died too young.”