Cortez Kennedy Selected to the 2010 Dr Pepper ACC Football Championship Game Legends Class

GREENSBORO, N.C. - Former University of Miami defensive tackle Cortez Kennedy has been selected to the 2010 Dr Pepper ACC Football Championship Game Legends Class, as announced by the league office on Tuesday.

Kennedy was one of the defensive forces on Miami's 1989 National Championship football team and helped lead the Hurricanes to a 22-2 record during the 1988 and 1989 seasons. During his time with the `Canes, Miami posted an 8-2 record against Top 15 teams, twice defeating the nation's No. 1-ranked squad, ending the 1989 season as a nation's top team after convincing wins over No. 1-ranked Notre Dame and No. 7 Alabama.

The third overall pick in the first round of the 1990 NFL Draft by the Seattle Seahawks, Kennedy played 11 seasons in the NFL, all with Seattle. Generally regarded as one of the top defensive linemen to play in the NFL, Kennedy was named to the Pro Bowl eight times and four times was tabbed as an All-Pro. In 1992 he was named the NFL's Defensive Player of the Year (AP).

In addition to Kennedy, NC State's Ted Brown (Apple Valley, Minn.), Georgia Tech's Randy Rhino (Marietta, Ga.), Clemson's Steve Fuller (Enid, Okla.), Boston College's Tony Thurman (Lynn, Mass.), Maryland's Darryl Hill (Laurel, Md.), Florida State's Peter Boulware (Tallahassee, Fla.), Virginia Tech's Cornell Brown (Blacksburg, Va.), Duke's Jay Wilkinson (Houston, Tex.), North Carolina's Ethan Horton (Charlotte, N.C.), Virginia's Barry Word (Haymarket, Va.) and Wake Forest's Larry Hopkins (Winston-Salem, N.C.) make up 2010 class.

The Legends will be honored at this year's Dr Pepper ACC Football Championship Game weekend. They will be honored at the ACC Night of Legends event on Friday, Dec. 3, and will also be recognized during ceremonies at Bank of America Stadium for the 6th Annual Dr Pepper ACC Football Championship, which has a 7:45 p.m. kickoff on Dec. 4 and will be nationally televised by ESPN.

The group of 12 former gridiron standouts from current ACC schools includes five former players who earned some kind of ACC Player of the Year honors, three members of the ACC's prestigious 50th Anniversary Football Team, a former NFL Defensive Player of the Year and NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year, eight former All-Americas including four consensus All-Americas, eight players who combined for 58 years of professional football experience and eight who were drafted into the National Football League, including five first-round picks.

In all, the collection of players and coaches combined to capture a national championship, one NFL World Championship, a Canadian Football League Grey Cup and seven ACC team titles. A native of Osceola, Ark., Kennedy now resides in Orlando, Fla. He was inducted into the UM Sports Hall of Fame in 1994 and the Ring of Honor in 2008.

Click here to order Cortez Kennedy’s proCane Rookie Card.