Slade Named ACC Football Championship Game Legend

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Charlottesville, Va. – Defensive end and former UVa standout Chris Slade was announced by the Atlantic Coast Conference on Tuesday as one of its Class of 2011 Dr Pepper ACC Football Championship Game Legends.

Slade (1989-92) is the ACC’s record-holder for quarterback sacks in a career, having recorded 40.0 during his four-year career with the Cavaliers. One of the defensive leaders for the Cavalier squads of the late 1980s and early 1990s coached by George Welsh, he became the first player in UVa history to earn back-to-back first-team All-America honors. He was named a first-team All-American in 1991 by College and Pro Football Weekly and earned consensus All-America honors in 1992, honored as a first-team All-American by AP, UPI, Football Writers of America (FWAA), the Walter Camp Foundation, The Sporting News and Football News.

Football News named the native from Newport News, Va., Defensive Player of the Year in 1992 while Slade led the ACC in sacks that year with 14. During his four years as a starter he helped lead Virginia to a 33-14-1 (.698) record and three consecutive bowl trips. Selected in the second round of the 1993 NFL Draft by the New England Patriots, Slade played nine seasons in the NFL, the first eight with the Patriots. He was named to the NFL’s Pro Bowl in 1997 and made 98 starts in his career with 53.5 career sacks. He finished his pro career with over 600 tackles and was a member of the New England team that played in Super Bowl XXXI. Slade now resides in Atlanta, Ga., and serves as the football sideline reporter for the Virginia Radio Network.

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. 2, and during ceremonies at Bank of America Stadium for the 7th Annual Dr Pepper ACC Football Championship, which has an 8 p.m. kickoff on Dec. 3 and will be nationally televised by ESPN in both HD and 3-D.

The group of 12 former gridiron standouts from current ACC schools includes two former ACC Players of the Year, three consensus first-team All-Americans, five first-team All-Americans, and eight players who combined for 74 years in the National or American Football League and a total of 94 years of professional football experience in either the NFL, AFL, Canadian Football League, World League of American Football or the Arena Football League. Nine of the Legends were drafted into the NFL or AFL, including four first-round draft choices.