Former Seattle star dies
DT Kennedy was a Hall of Famer
Cortez Kennedy was a hulking force at defensive tackle, the cornerstone of a franchise that had little to cheer about for most of his playing career.
And yet what Kennedy accomplished as a player with the Seattle Seahawks — which was good enough for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame — was secondary to the affable personality that made him a revered figure long after his career ended.
Police in Orlando, Fla., said the 48-year-old Kennedy was found dead Tuesday morning. Orlando Police Department public information officer Wanda Miglio said the circumstances surrounding his death are still unknown but that there is nothing suspicious about it. An investigation is being conducted.
A star who spent his entire 11-year National Football League career in relative obscurity playing in Seattle, Kennedy became the second Seahawks player inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2012.
Kennedy was an unmovable wall as a dominant defensive tackle, and a quiet, gentle soul away from the field who was never interested in the spotlight.
Kennedy was the No. 3 overall pick in the 1990 draft out of Miami and Seattle smartly never let him leave. He brought notoriety to an otherwise dreadful period in Seahawks history as an eight-time Pro Bowler and was the NFL defensive player of the year in 1992.
Owners make changes: NFL owners cut the overtime period from 15 minutes to 10 minutes during the regular season, but also gave players plenty of leeway to celebrate after a touchdown.
The two moves are expected to result in more tie games and much more elaborate end zone dance parties.
At their regularly scheduled spring meeting in Chicago, the owners also decided to shift the 2021 Super Bowl to Tampa from Los Angeles, where construction delays have pushed back the expected opening of the new home for the Rams and Chargers. Those teams will now host the league’s showcase event in 2022.
Also approved at the meeting was the Oakland Raiders’ lease for a stadium in Las Vegas, where the team is expected to play the 2020 season.
For all the maneuvering, end zone celebration talk generated the most buzz. After years of limiting how — and how much — players could celebrate following touchdowns, the league decided to loosen up its rules, allowing players to again use the football as a prop, celebrate as a group and roll around like snow angels on the ground again if they choose.
Even Commissioner Roger Goodell said he was looking forward to seeing what players would do with their new-found freedom of expression.
Asked whether he celebrated the new guidelines, Goodell just laughed. “I did,” he said. “I can’t tell you how.”
The shorter overtime period will be used in the preseason and regular season.
Playoff games also will use 10-minute time blocks in overtime but won’t end in ties.
Glennon is ready: Quarterback Mike Glennon was as shocked as anyone when the Chicago Bears drafted Mitchell Trubisky with the No. 2 overall pick in the draft.
A call from general manager Ryan Pace eased his mind.
Glennon said, “the 2017 season is my year” and that he is not worried about his future.