The late Bill Burrell, one of the area’s first football legends, will be inducted into the University of Illinois Athletics Hall of Fame on Friday evening.

Burrell, a 1956 Central graduate and person whom the school’s football field now is named after, played at the University of Illinois after his time with the Comets, and it was with the Fighting Illini when he became one of the most important names in college football history.

A two-time All-American as a guard and middle linebacker, Burrell had a stellar senior season in 1959, when his two-way play earned him a fourth-place finish in the Heisman Trophy race. At the time, it was the highest Heisman finish an African American ever had and was also the best finish a Fighting Illini player ever had, helping him earn a spot on Illinois’ All-Century team one year later.

After his collegiate career, Burrell was a two-time all-star for the Saskatchewan Roughriders. He retired from professional football after the 1964 season and moved back to Illinois, where he became a civil rights activist, including going on marches with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Rev. Jesse Jackson, the latter of whom was a former teammate of Burrell’s at Illinois.

Burrell passed away in 1998.

The hall of fame ceremony will begin at 6 p.m. Friday and can be streamed at fightingillini.com.