Ken Hutcherson, an ex-Seattle Seahawks linebacker known as “The Hutch,” died at 61, it was reported.
Conservative website The Blaze reported that he died on Wednesday after a long battle with cancer.
Hutcherson was a pastor at the Antioch Bible Church in Kirkland, Washington. Before that, he was a linebacker for the Seahawks, Dallas Cowboys, and the San Diego Chargers.
“Antioch Bible Church sadly announces that shortly before noon today our Senior Pastor Dr. Ken Hutcherson was ushered in the [presence] of the Lord. Please pray for comfort and peace for the family. The family asked that you give them some privacy at this time. Please no phone calls or [visits],” it said on its website.
Hutcherson was also a contributor to The Blaze.
“I was born in Anniston, Alabama, in the 50s and had to fight for my equality most of my life,” he wrote on the website.
“You see, there were many who thought I should be treated like a second-class citizen, drink from a different water fountain, sit in the back of the bus, be counted as three-quarters of a person, go to a different school, eat and sit in the black section of restaurants, use a different bathroom; you know, be separate but equal. Then came Dr. Martin Luther King and all that started to change,“ he said, adding that he ”became a Christian in 1969.”
