Kentucky
Harlan native Larry Kirksey inducted into KY Pro Football Hall of Fame
LEXINGTON, Ky. (WYMT) – The Kentucky Pro Football Hall of Fame inducted it’s 2023 class Friday night.
WYMT Mountain News Weekend Edition newscast at 11 p.m. on Saturday
Harlan Native Larry Kirksey was one of the six member’s inducted.
Kirksey played his High School ball in Harlan, Ky for the Harlan Green Dragons.
After graduation he went to Eastern Kentucky University where he played wide receiver, starting three years for coach Roy Kidd’s Colonel football team from 1969-72.
He is the 10th inductee from EKU into the Kentucky Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Kirskey began his coaching career in 1974 as an assistant coach at Miami University for three seasons, before coaching wide receivers and tight ends at Kentucky from From 1977-81.
In 1994, he began his NFL career as wide receivers coach for the San Francisco 49ers, coaching the NFL’s all-time reception and receiving yards leader, Jerry Rice.
Rice set an NFL record with 1,848 receiving yards and had a career-high 122 receptions in 1995 with Kirksey’s help.
San Francisco’s receivers also set a Super Bowl record in Super Bowl XXIX with six touchdown catches, including three by Rice.
Kirksey coached in the NFL for 17 seasons, joining the 49ers, Lions, Jaguars, Broncos and Texans.
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