About Inductee

For the University of Tennessee football program and its rabid fan base, frustration had long since turned into desperation. Beat Bama had become a plea instead of a slogan. When the Volunteers showed up at Birminghams Legion Field on the third Saturday of October in 1995 for a nationally-televised night game, their winless streak in football against the University of Alabama was heading into its 10th season. Every Big Orange supporter was wondering, Will this finally be the year we stop the bleeding? The first indication that it might be wasnt long in coming. On the first play from scrimmage, Tennessees offensive unit started from its own 20. Joey Kent, a swift junior wide receiver from Huntsville, Ala., lined up in the slot on the right. As Alabamas defense deployed, Kent exchanged a quick glance with his quarterback, a rangy sophomore named Peyton Manning. At the snap of the ball, Kent ran straight ahead just inside the right hash marks and glanced over his left shoulder just as Mannings perfect spiral arrived with perfect timing. Kent caught it in full stride at the Tennessee 35, angled sharply across the middle of the field to the left sideline and ran untouched to the north end zone. One play, 80 yards, a game-changer out of the gate. The Vols never looked back and went on to win 41-14 in what turned out to be both a streak-ender and a streak-beginner. From 1995 until 2005, Tennessee won seven in a row and nine out of ten against Alabama. Two decades later, football fans from both sides still talk about the Manning-to-Kent bomb. Personally, I think we couldve beaten anybody in the country that night, Kent told The Daily Beacon, UTs student newspaper, in a 2011 interview. Me being from Alabama, that holds a special place for me because, for one, we hadnt beaten those guys in so long. The history of the game and getting that monkey off our back is just a special memory for me. Kent left many special memories for himself and countless others during a splendid four-year career at Tennessee. The son of a longtime assistant coach at Alabama A&M, Kent was an All-State receiver and safety at Johnson High School in Huntsville. Alabama recruited him as a defensive back. Tennessee wanted him as a wide receiver. Kent wanted to play offense, so it was an easy decision and a good one. He became a team captain, a Biletnikoff Award semifinalist and a two-time All-SEC receiver who still holds Tennessees all-time records in career receptions (183), career receiving yards (2,814) and career touchdowns. Picked by Nashvilles NFL franchise in the second round of the 1997 draft, Kent played three years for the Titans and one year for the Vikings. His best season was 1997 when he played in 12 games, catching six passes for 55 yards and a touchdown. My NFL career didnt go as I planned, Kent told the campus newspaper, but noted that he had few regrets when his playing days ended. I accomplished a lot in college and I got the opportunity to play in the NFL, he said. I also got the opportunity to play a Super Bowl with the Titans. (The Titans famously lost Super Bowl XXXIV on Jan. 30, 2000, when linebacker Mike Jones of the Rams stopped Kevin Dyson just a yard short of the goal line on the last play of the game.) Kent now lives in Brentwood, Tenn., where he works as a senior biopharmaceutical representative at Amgen in Nashville. He and his wife, Enqu, have two children, daughter Saba and son Gavin.