Kentucky Wildcats and Chiefs great Art Still going into College Football Hall of Fame

Former Kentucky Wildcats great Art Still will be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame Tuesday night at the 58th annual National Football Foundation Awards Dinner in New York City.

A Camden, New Jersey native, Still played at UK from 1974-77 under Coach Fran Curci and  was a four-year starter who totaled 327 tackles during his career, all while playing defensive end. Quarterback sacks were not kept during his career and tackles for loss are available only for his senior year, when he compiled 22 TFLs, which remains a school record to this day.

For his efforts, Still was a unanimous first-team All-America selection in 1977, a finalist for the Lombardi Award and the UPI National Lineman of the Year. Still was also the SEC Senior Player of the Year and the UPI SEC Defensive Player of the Year in addition to being first-team All-SEC as a junior and senior.

This was also a time when UK enjoyed one of the greatest periods of success in program history. Still helped the Wildcats to a 19-4 record in his final two seasons, including a 9-3 in his junior year while winning a share of the SEC Championship and a 21-0 blanking of North Carolina in the Peach Bowl. The Cats were ranked 18th in the final AP Top 25 Poll.

During Still's senior season, the Cats went 10-1 and finished No. 6 in the final AP ranking. The Cats went 7-3 against Top-20 teams his last two seasons, including wins vs ranked Florida, North Carolina, West Virginia, at Penn State and at LSU. During that period, UK led the SEC in total defense and rushing defense.

After his college career was over, Still entered the NFL draft and became the second-overall pick of the 1978 draft (only behind Earl Campbell) by the Kansas City Chiefs. From there, Still went on to a record-setting 12-year career with the  Chiefs and the Buffalo Bills.  He was a four-time Pro Bowl selection, set Chiefs records for most sacks in a career (73) and season (14.5, twice), and was second in team history in total tackles (992).

Still's honors are not limited to the college level. He has been chosen for the Kansas City Chiefs Hall of Fame, Missouri Sports Hall of Fame and Peach Bowl Hall of Fame. He was named to the UK All-Time Teams for the 100th Year of Kentucky Football as selected by the Lexington Herald-Leader and Louisville Courier-Journal. He was also picked to the Quarter-Century All-SEC Team (1961-85) by the Lakeland (Fla.) Ledger. In 2002, he was named one of the Living Legends of the SEC.

Off the field, Still has participated in a variety of community service projects, including the Special Olympics, Big Brothers program, Sickle Cell Foundation, and Dare Program among others. He is a member of the Kansas City Chiefs Ambassadors, an association of former Chiefs players who participate in service activities.

In addition to Still, this year's Hall of Fame class includes Trev Alberts (Nebraska), Brian Bosworth (Oklahoma), Bob Breunig (Arizona State), Sean Brewer (Millsaps), Ruben Brown (Pittsburgh), Wes Chandler (Florida), Thom Gatewood (Notre Dame), Dick Jauron (Yale), Clinton Jones (Michigan State), Lincoln Kennedy (Washington), the late Rob Lytle (Michigan), Michael Payton (Marshall), Zach Thomas (Texas Tech), Ricky Williams (Texas) and coaches Bill Snyder (Kansas State) and Jim Tressel (Youngstown State, Ohio State).

The College Football Hall of Fame festivities begin Tuesday morning with a news conference at 9 a.m. that can be viewed online via ESPN3. The awards dinner will be at 8 pm, which can also be seen online.