Cortez Kennedy was gracious in defeat after missing out on the NFL Hall of Fame in 2011. Instead of complaining about being snubbed, or criticizing the process, Kennedy spoke of how honored he was to be nominated, and how happy he was to make the final 10 during the voting process.
Pro Football Talk had the highlights of Kennedy’s interview with Seahawks.com, and they should be enough to bring a smile to anyone’s face.
"How can I sit here and tell you I got ‘snubbed,’ or anything like that?" Kennedy told Clare Farnsworth of Seahawks.com. "I’m not upset at all. If nothing else, I got a couple nice articles written about me last week."
How can you not love “Big Tez?” He was a monster on the field and has been gracious and kind off it throughout this whole saga. Yes, Kennedy does deserve to be in the Hall of Fame — at least in my humble opinion. The consensus opinion has been that he will make it someday soon, perhaps within the next two years. So while it’s frustrating to see him passed by this year, it’s encouraging to see him have such a great attitude knowing he made the final 10.
And making the final 10, he said, put a smile on his face. Kennedy was honored the voters recognized him, even though he didn’t make the final cut.
Just another example why we were so lucky to have him in Seattle, despite some of the awful teams he was apart of. Here’s to Kennedy’s future induction; we hope it happens sometime in the new future.
For more on the class of 2011, check out our NFL Hall of Fame StoryStream.