The CheckerBoard

Here's the press release from Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game officials:

ATLANTA (August 30, 2012) — In keeping with its tradition of inviting team celebrities to deliver the game ball prior to both the Chick-fil-A Bowl and the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game, game officials today released the names of the game ball delivery honorees for Friday night’s Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game between NC State and Tennessee.

Two-time All-SEC and 1998 consensus All-American linebacker Al Wilson will deliver the game ball for the Tennessee Volunteers. Wilson was a member of the 1998 National Championship team that finished the season undefeated. Wilson was selected by the Denver Broncos in the first round of the 1999 NFL Draft and played eight years for the franchise, being named to the Pro Bowl five times.

Former ACC Player of the Year Torry Holt will deliver the game ball for the NC State Wolfpack. The wide receiver was named a consensus All-American in 1998, his senior season in which he also broke the ACC records for receptions (88) and receiving yards (1,604). After being drafted sixth overall, Holt went on to an 11-year career in the NFL, in which he was named to the Pro Bowl seven times and won a Super Bowl with the St. Louis Rams in his rookie season.

Wilson and Holt will ride together in a KIA Soul – provided by official vehicle sponsor KIA Motors – to midfield just prior to the coin flip to present the officiating crew with a pair of game balls from the two teams.

The pair joins a list of other game ball honorees that include Herschel Walker (Georgia), Natrone Means (North Carolina), Chuck Wiley (LSU), Charlie Ward (Florida State), George Rogers (South Carolina), Shaun Alexander (Alabama) and Antonio Freeman (Virginia Tech) among others.

In addition to the delivering the game ball, both Wilson and Holt will be on hand to make appearances and sign autographs at the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game FanZone presented by Coca-Cola Zero. Wilson and Holt’s appearances will precede the traditional team walks through FanZone as Tennessee and NC State make their way into the Georgia Dome.

The Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game between Tennessee and NC State will be played Friday, August 31 at 7:30 p.m. in Atlanta’s Georgia Dome. The game will be nationally televised on ESPNU and is the first of two Chick-fil-A Kickoff Games with Clemson and Auburn battling on Saturday.