The University of Kentucky announced plans to build life-size statues outside Commonwealth Stadium to honor the first four black players to play football at the school.
Nate Northington and the late Greg Page were inducted into the UK Athletics Hall of Fame on Friday. At the dinner, it was announced that Northington, Page, Wilbur Hackett and Houston Hogg would be honored with statues outside Commonwealth.
“It’s the right thing to do. It’s four guys that changed the face of college athletics, especially in the South, and it’s a story of courage and a story of honor,” athletic director Mitch Barnhart told the Courier-Journal.
“So to have an opportunity to let that be the face of our football program going forward is a remarkable thing. You can put your mascot out there and that’s all good — and we’ve done that on one side of campus — but I don’t know if there’s anything more unique than something that changes culture and changes society and changes the way people think, and these four guys did that.”
Northington and Page were the school’s first two black football players, coming to Kentucky in 1966. Hackett and Hogg joined up with them in Lexington the following year and were the first two to finish their careers with the Wildcats. Page died after an injury sustained in practice in 1967, and Northington left school shortly after.
The statues, which cost a total of $380,000, will be unveiled next fall along with Kentucky’s new $45 million football practice facility.
More over on CBSSports.com
