IRVING, Texas (Nov. 3, 2022) – The University of Illinois and The National Football Foundation (NFF) & College Hall of Fame announced today that they will jointly honor 2022 College Football Hall of Fame electee
Moe Gardner with an NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salute, presented by Fidelity Investments®. The Salute will take place this Saturday, Nov. 5, during the Fighting Illini’s home football game against Michigan State, which will kick off at 2:30 pm CT on Big Ten Network.
“My induction to the College Football Hall of Fame represents far more than my individual athletic ability or achievement,” Gardner said in an Illinois press release. “As such, I'm at a loss for words after being given such an honor. At the core of my induction, is a communal journey that leaves me indebted to countless people throughout my life who have shown a loving grace that laid the foundation for my success on and off the field.”
The NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salute program, which began with the inaugural College Football Hall of Fame Class in 1951, has become a hallowed tradition, and to this day the singular events remain the first of numerous activities in the Hall of Fame experience.
During the NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salutes, each electee returns to his respective school to accept a Hall of Fame plaque that will stay on permanent display at the institution. The events take place on the field during a home game, and many Hall of Famers cite the experience as the ultimate capstone to their careers, providing them one more chance to take the field and be recognized in front of their home crowd.
The 2022 College Football Hall of Fame Class will be officially inducted during the 64th NFF Annual Awards Dinner Presented by Las Vegas on Dec. 6 at Bellagio Resort & Casino in Las Vegas.
Click here for more information on the Awards Dinner, including options to purchase tickets online, special travel rates to the event from Delta Air Lines and Bellagio and a concierge service provided by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.
“Moe Gardner was an imposing force in the late 1980s, and he is arguably the best defensive tackle in Illinois history,” said NFF President & CEO
Steve Hatchell. “We are thrilled to honor him at Memorial Stadium for his upcoming College Football Hall of Fame induction.”
A two-time First Team All-American, Gardner earned unanimous honors in 1989 before earning consensus laurels as a senior in 1990. In 1989, he was named the Big Ten Lineman of the Year and an Outland Trophy finalist after leading the Illini to a No. 10 final ranking and a win in the 1990 Citrus Bowl – the program's first bowl victory since 1964.
The following season, Gardner was a Rotary Lombardi Award finalist and earned Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year honors after guiding Illinois to a share of the 1990 conference title and a No. 25 final ranking.
A four-time All-Big Ten selection, Gardner earned first team honors from 1988-90 after second team recognition as a freshman. The two-year team captain finished his career with a school-record 57 tackles for loss, which currently rank second, and he led the Illini in the category during his final three seasons.
Chosen as the 1989 team MVP, Gardner is tied for fifth all-time at Illinois with 18 career sacks. A 2020 Illinois Athletics Hall of Fame inductee, he was named to the school's all-century team as an active player in 1990.
A fourth-round pick by in the 1991 NFL Draft, Gardner played six seasons for the Atlanta Falcons from 1991-96.
After earning a master's degree in library information sciences from Clark Atlanta University, Gardner currently works as a public services librarian principal at the Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American Culture and History in Atlanta, serving in the reference, research and programs division. His responsibilities include assisting scholars and PhD candidates who study the African diaspora on a global scale.
Gardner becomes the 13th Fighting Illini player in the College Football Hall of Fame, joining
Alex Agase (1941-43, 1946),
Al Brosky (1950-52),
Dick Butkus (1962-64),
Chuck Carney (1918-21),
J.C. Caroline (1953-54),
Jim Grabowski (1963-65),
Red Grange (1923-25),
Dana Howard (1991-94),
Bart Macomber (1914-16),
Bernie Shively (1924-26),
David Williams (1983-85) and
Buddy Young (1944, 1946).
Four former Illinois coaches are also in the Hall:
Bob Blackman (1971-76),
Ed Hall (1892-93),
George Woodruff (1903) and
Bob Zuppke (1913-41).
The 2022 College Football Hall of Fame Class includes
LaVar Arrington (Penn State),
Champ Bailey (Georgia),
Michael Crabtree (Texas Tech),
Sylvester Croom (Alabama),
Mike Doss (Ohio State),
Chuck Ealey (Toledo),
Kevin Faulk (LSU),
Moe Gardner (Illinois),
Boomer Grigsby (Illinois State),
Mike Hass (Oregon State),
Marvin Jones (Florida State),
Andrew Luck (Stanford),
Mark Messner (Michigan),
Terry Miller (Oklahoma State),
Rashaan Salaam (Colorado),
Dennis Thomas (Alcorn State),
Zach Wiegert (Nebraska),
Roy Williams (Oklahoma) and coaches
John Luckhardt (Washington & Jefferson [PA], California [PA]),
Billy Jack Murphy (Memphis) and
Gary Pinkel (Toledo, Missouri).
The accomplishments of the 2022 Class will be forever immortalized at the Chick-fil-A College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta, and each inductee will receive a custom ring created by Jostens, the official and exclusive supplier of NFF rings.
Including the 2022 Hall of Fame Class, only 1,056 players and 226 coaches have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame from the nearly 5.62 million who have played or coached the game during the past 153 years. In other words, less than two one-hundredths of a percent (.02%) of the individuals who have played the game have earned this distinction.
