John Huard, a University of Maine football standout in the 1960s who played four seasons in the NFL, has been named the first inductee in a “Ring of Honor” to be established at Harold Alfond Sports Stadium in Orono.

Huard’s induction will take place during pregame ceremonies prior to Maine’s football season opener against the University of Montana Saturday, Aug. 30, at 6 p.m.

The newly created “Ring of Honor” will be a public tribute to former UMaine football stars and will be located above the east stands inside Alfond Stadium. There is no timetable for future inductions and past players will be added at the discretion of the athletic department based on their overall football achievements.

Huard was a star Black Bear linebacker from 1964-66, earning Little All-America and All-Yankee Conference honors in 1965 and 1966. He was drafted in the fifth round by the Denver Broncos in 1967 and started at middle linebacker. Following a knee injury in his fourth season with the Broncos he was traded to the New Orleans Saints where he suffered an Achilles’ tear. Huard ended his NFL career with six interceptions in 43 games.

After Huard recovered from the injury he joined the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League as a player-coach for the 1972 and 1973 seasons. He played for the CFL’s Toronto Argonauts in 1974, when he reinjured his knee and ended his playing career.

“John was probably the most heady player that I ever coached,” Walt Abbott, who coached Huard at UMaine, said in a statement. “He was very knowledgeable about all the details of the game; his mind worked like a computer.”

Huard returned to UMaine as an assistant coach for the 1974 and 1975 seasons. He went on to coach at Acadia University in Wolfeville, Nova Scotia, and then stints in the USFL before returning to Maine in 1987 to coach the Maine Maritime Academy team. He led the Mariners to the ECAC Division III Northeast Championship in 1993 and was named the Northeast Region Coach of the Year that season.

In 1986 Huard became the first football player inducted into the University of Maine Sports Hall of Fame when he was included in the inaugural class. Huard now serves as the president of Northeast Turf Hue Inc., the exclusive distributor and installer of FieldTurf synthetic grass.

Jersey numbers of Ring of Honor inductees will not be considered retired.