ROCK HILL, S.C. - Former Carson-Newman and NFL defensive lineman Cedric Killings has been slotted for induction into the South Atlantic Conference Hall of Fame, the league office announced Thursday afternoon.
Killings will head into the Hall of Fame with former Lincoln Memorial and Tusculum president Nancy Moody, Tusculum quarterback Corey Russell, Catawba golfer Nick Sabol and Wingate volleyball player Lindsay Hinson-Knipple.
Killings becomes the 16th Carson-Newman Eagle, and the seventh person affiliated with the football program to be set for induction into the prestigious body.
Killings was one of the most dominating defensive players to ever wear the Orange and Blue. The defensive lineman was named All-American three times. He was also three-time All-SAC Defensive Lineman and was named the 1996 Defensive Freshman of the Year. Killings is one of just a handful of players who started in three NCAA National Championship games.
Killings started all 54 games of his Carson-Newman career, a school record for starts and consecutive starts. He ranks in the top 10 in Carson-Newman history for both tackles for loss and sacks.
Inducted into the Carson-Newman Athletics Hall of Fame in 2016, Killings played seven seasons in the NFL from 2000-07 with stints with the San Francisco 49ers, Cleveland Browns, Carolina Panthers, Minnesota Vikings, Washington Redskins and Houston Texans. Killings made 36 tackles with three sacks across 34 games in his pro career. He appeared in two playoff games for the Redskins in 2005.
Since retiring from the NFL, he has served as an assistant football coach at Carol City High School where he is not only coaching kids to become better players, but he is turning high school boys into men. Killings is also an active participant in the Miami Dolphins summer program, which is predicated on enhancing player safety and teaching proper techniques.
Killings and the rest of the honorees will be formally inducted into the South Atlantic Conference Hall of Fame at the Hall of Fame Banquet in Greenville, S.C. on May 31, 2018.
Carson-Newman in the SAC Hall of Fame
Class of 1999-200
Albert R. Sloan – College Administrator
Cordell Maddox – President
Class of 2002-03
Todd Collins – Football
Class of 2003-04
Heather Randolph – Softball
Class of 2005-06
Boyce Green – Football
Class of 2006-07
Ken Sparks – Football coach
Carol Zachary Mitchell – Softball
Class of 2007-08
Danny Sanders – Football
Class of 2008-09
Leah Jackson Smith – Women's Basketball
Class of 2011-12
Sammi Hatcher Chafin – Softball
Class of 2012-13
David Barger – Athletic Director
Class of 2013-14
Vickee Kazee-Hollfield – Softball coach
Class of 2014-15
Mike Clowney – Football
Class of 2015-16
Marci Whiteside – Softball
Class of 2016-17
Leonard Weaver – Football
Class of 2017-18
Cedric Killings – Football