Northington changed the game long before Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame induction
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BVM)– In the plaza that connects the University of Kentucky football team’s practice facility and the team’s stadium, Kroger Field, stands four bronze men. The men, clad in shoulder pads and carrying helmets, stand as a monument for one of the most significant moments in southern collegiate sports history. Among these four men, second from the left, stands a statue commemorating Nate Northington.
Northington, a running back and defensive back for the Wildcats from 1966 to 1967, during a game against Mississippi on Sept. 30, 1967, logged exactly three minutes and 17 seconds of game time. Although it’s not a lot of playing time, this is the moment that is commemorated by the statues now standing outside of Kroger Field. When he entered the game, Northington became the first black football player in Southeastern Conference (SEC) history and the statues are representative of Northington, as well as three of his teammates who helped integrate black athletes into the conference.
An all-state defensive end at Thomas Jefferson High School in Louisville, Northington was recruited by many teams in the North who had already integrated black athletes into their programs. However, it was a pitch by then Gov. Ned Breathitt, who had previously tried to integrate the conference with basketball but was unsuccessful, had Northington sign his scholarship to the Wildcats becoming the first African American in the SEC to do so.
Northington wouldn’t have to go through it alone as Breathitt also convinced Greg Page, a defensive end from Middlesboro High School, to be on the team as well. Page, who is immortalized alongside Northington as the statue to his left, would end up being one of Northington’s closest friends and the two would be roommates during their duration on campus.
Northington entering the fateful game was significant for both current and future black athletes in the conference, but it had a completely different meaning at the time for the still teenager Northington. In the preseason of that year, Page sustained a neck and spinal cord injury during a practice. Just one day prior to Northington’s debut, Page would succumb to his injuries.
Northington and the rest of the team were stunned and the school considered not playing the game, but Page’s parents convinced the Wildcats otherwise. The next day, Northington would trot onto the field for his moment with history and would come out after sustaining a shoulder injury. Northington’s time at Kentucky wouldn’t last long following that moment as he would leave the school five weeks into the season while struggling with his injury and the loss of his friend. Before leaving, however, Northington would convince two of his black freshman teammates Wilbur Hackett and Houston Hogg, the two other men on the statue, to stay the course at the school.
Though he would perform well playing at Western Kentucky University, Northington would always be remembered for the three minutes and 17 seconds he spent on Kentucky’s Stoll Field.
In 2014, Northington released his autobiography Still Running: The Autobiography of Kentucky’s Nate Northington, the First African American Football Player in the Southeastern Conference. In the book, Northington would say of the moment, “That is a fact of history that makes me especially proud and one that changed my life forever. Not only did it change my life but it changed the face of football in the SEC.”
The school would unveil its statue commemorating the Wildcats who broke the SEC color barrier in the fall of 2016. The statue shows Page, the man farthest to the left, with his hand on Northington’s shoulder. Two football players and friends, together forever.
“To these men, to their families, and to those who follow in their footsteps: thank you,” wrote University of Kentucky President Eli Capilouto in a Nov. 30, 2017 blog post. “This place, this conference, and our shared world is for all people. These four pioneers stand at the entrance to our community as a reminder that the ground on which they stood tall in their time is hallowed. It forever beckons us to stand tall in our time, however strong the wind.”
On Sept. 30, 2017, Northington was named an honorary captain for the Wildcats in their game against Eastern Michigan for the 50th anniversary of the game he played in. After the game, Northington would receive the game ball.
For his contributions to the state and collegiate football as a whole, Northington was honored last August with an induction into the Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame. Although he is now in numerous halls of fame including for the Wildcats alongside his friend Page, Northington, with all he did for the future of the sport, was in a class of his own long before any induction ceremony.
