Seahawks legend Cortez Kennedy has passed away

The Seattle Seahawks franchise has lost one of its greatest ever players.

TMZ reported on Tuesday that Hall of Fame defensive tackle Cortez Kennedy passed away in Orlando, Florida. Details are scarce at the moment, but according to the report, the Orlando Police Department said “there is nothing suspicious" about his death.

Kennedy was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2012 after a spectacular eleven-season career spent entirely with the Seahawks. A standout player at the University of Miami, Kennedy was chosen with the third overall pick in the 1990 NFL Draft, and quickly became one of the most dominant defensive forces of his era. Tez went to eight Pro Bowls, earned All-Pro honors five times (three times as first-team, twice as second-team), was part of the NFL’s All-Decade team for the 1990s, and won Defensive Player of the Year honors in 1992, a season in which the Seahawks finished 2-14 but boasted the #3 defense by DVOA. Kennedy racked up an astonishing 14 sacks that year.

In the years following his retirement, Seattle inducted Kennedy into the team’s Ring of Honor in 2006, as well as retired Kennedy’s #96 jersey at halftime of the team’s 24-23 win over the New England Patriots in the 2012 season. He’s also in the University of Miami’s Ring of Honor, as well as the school’s Hall of Fame. Kennedy was masterful at his position and is truly a gridiron legend.

Kennedy was just 48 years old, and he will be dearly missed.