Kenny Easley got seriously ticked off when some guy had the nerve to question his heart.
Nobody, ever, had questioned Kenny Easley’s heart.
But this was not Easley’s metaphorical heart, the symbol of the tenacity and competitive courage with which he played for those seven seasons with the Seattle Seahawks in the 1980s.
And it wasn’t that high-revving motor that pumped blood at a rate that made him appear indefatigable on the football field, racing sideline-to-sideline to deliver punishment.
No, this was the weary and malfunctioning organ in his 57-year-old chest that made it so hard for him to breathe last summer that he needed to be taken to the hospital.