Hall of Fame
Position: Defensive Tackle
Years: 1987-1990
Place of Birth: Indianapolis, IN
Date of Birth: Aug. 10, 1968
Jersey Number: 95
Height: 6-2
Weight: 265
High School: Cathedral HS (Indianapolis, IN)
A two-time First Team All-American, Moe Gardner was described by Illinois head coach John Mackovic as "the best player at any position in college football" during his senior campaign in 1990. The Indianapolis, Indiana, native becomes the 13th Fighting Illini player to enter the College Football Hall of Fame.
Gardner earned unanimous First Team All-America honors in 1989 before earning consensus laurels as a senior in 1990. In 1989, he was named the Big Ten Lineman of the Year and an Outland Trophy finalist after leading the Illini to a No. 10 final ranking and a win in the 1990 Citrus Bowl – the program's first bowl victory since 1964. The following season, Gardner was a Rotary Lombardi Award finalist and earned Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year honors after guiding Illinois to a share of the 1990 conference title and a No. 25 final ranking.
A four-time All-Big Ten selection, Gardner earned first team honors from 1988-90 after second team recognition as a freshman. The two-year team captain finished his career with a school-record 57 tackles for loss, which currently rank second, and he led the Illini in the category during his final three seasons. Chosen as the 1989 team MVP, Gardner is tied for fifth all-time at Illinois with 18 career sacks. A 2020 Illinois Athletics Hall of Fame inductee, he was named to the school's all-century team as an active player in 1990.
A fourth-round pick by in the 1991 NFL Draft, Gardner played six seasons for the Atlanta Falcons from 1991-96.
After earning a master's degree in library information sciences from Clark Atlanta University, Gardner currently works as a public services librarian principal at the Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American Culture and History in Atlanta, serving in the reference, research and programs division. His responsibilities include assisting scholars and PhD candidates who study the African diaspora on a global scale.
