During a time which NFL players are enjoying an offseason break, Kony Ealy is preparing to play a game. The once-promising NFL pass rusher will be lining up for the XFL Houston Roughnecks today.
The last time Ealy suited up for an NFL team was 2018 when he appeared in three games for the Raiders late that season. That was actually the second time he had been signed by the Raiders. The first time lasted just a week. He didn’t play in the NFL at all in 2019.
We’re not talking about some roster fringe player here. He was a second-round pick in the 2014 draft who had 4.0 sacks as a rookie and 5.0 sacks in each of the next two seasons. Then capped it with an NFL record 3.0 sacks in the Super Bowl for the Panthers.
Things went downhill quickly after that. So, what happened?
Later that offseason he was traded to the Patriots along with a third-round pick in exchange for the Patriots’ second-round pick. It’s the kind of trade the Patriots make often with great success.
Just prior to the season, Kony’s sister would die of a respiratory disease. And the Patriots waived him. The Jets would claim Ealy off waivers and he would spend a season with them, but they moved him to linebacker and his production was way down from previous seasons.
The following season he would sign with the Cowboys. They put him back on the defensive line, this time trying him at defensive tackle. Then his father would die, also of a respiratory disease, also just before the season. And the Cowboys released him.
Kony now had just his sister, Sierra. She was born with a chromosome disorder that left her physically and mentally challenged. Kony vowed to his father that he would take up the care of his sister when he passed. Kony also had his daughter, who was three years old at the time, to care for. And he was still grieving the loss of his father and sister.
So, when the Raiders came calling, he came. But he wasn’t ready. They came calling again later in the season, and he came back. But he still wasn’t ready.
“I just had so much on my plate,’’ Ealy said in an XFL interview. “I didn’t handle it well. I just collapsed instead of stepping up.’’
That collapse had him out of football for a year.
“I had a nervous breakdown,’’ Ealy continued. “I went through a deep depression. I didn’t talk to anyone. I couldn’t work out and I couldn’t play football. I couldn’t do anything.’’
Ealy let himself go. He stopped working out and lost all hope he would play football again. The NFL wasn’t going to wait for him to find himself again. It took several months away and ultimately the creation of the XFL for him to pull out of it.
Now, he’s back in football, finding himself again, and working to return to the NFL.
Ealy also admits that even before the losses of his sister and father within a year’s time, he had let his effort slip and wasn’t playing up to his potential anymore. The tragedies simply sent him deeper into his funk. So deep he couldn’t find his way out and the NFL moved on from him.
Last week in his XFL debut, Ealy put up a half-sack, five QB hits and two tackles for loss. If he keeps up that kind of production, he will be right back on the NFL’s radar. He suits up again today at 3:00 pm (6 pm ET) as the Roughnecks take on the St Louis Battlehawks. The game will be broadcast on FS1.
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