John Huard, one of the greatest athletes in University of Maine history, was recently given the honor of being the first Black Bear enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame.

“I received a box in the mail and it had a football with my name on it [that] said ‘University of Maine’ and a note that was congratulating me on being in the Hall of Fame so it was kind of a surprise,” said Huard. “My life has been many different journeys where I’ve met tremendous people. And hey, it’s a nice football. I have a football that I intercepted from Joe Namath, two from my coaching days in Canada and now this one.”

Huard played football as a linebacker at UMaine from 1964 to 1966, during which he was a two-time First-team All-American and two-time First-Team All-Yankee Conference. His greatest accomplishment as a Black Bear was leading UMaine to an improbable Tangerine Bowl berth in 1964.

Listed by Sports Illustrated as one of the top 20 athletes in the state of Maine, Huard was selected by the Denver Broncos in the fifth round of the 1967 NFL Draft and played four seasons professionally with the Broncos and New Orleans Saints.

When his playing days were done, Huard turned to coaching at Acadia University where he led the Axemen to National Championships in 1979 and 1981. After coaching in Canada, Huard coached in the short-lived United States Football League as a special teams coach and was the head coach at Maine Maritime Academy from 1987-1994.

“I wanted to make them understand the game of football. Before practice I would go on the field and put small things all over the field. I wanted them to see the field as a safe place, so they would take care of it and pick everything up off the field.” Huard said.

As a coach, Huard always made sure to put his players first and did everything he could to make them comfortable and make them the best football players they could be.

“Sometimes during a hot practice day if they guys were playing well I would announce to the guys that we would be going tubing down the river, so they would get a break and have some fun as a team,” Huard explained. “You can learn a lot about your players by putting them in those situations.”

Huard was honored for his achievement at halftime of UMaine’s opening game against Norfolk State University, where the sold-out crowd welcomed him back to his alma mater.

“It was wonderful. I always wanted to go to school at UMaine and the group of players that I played with were some of the best guys I ever played with. We weren’t the biggest, strongest, or fastest, but we played the hardest. And that’s what everybody had done in their lives. It’s always great going back to the University.” Huard said.

Huard will be enshrined on October 7 with 13 other players and coaches at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta, Georgia.