LEXINGTON, Ky. — Houston Hogg, one of the four former Kentucky football players honored with a statue outside Kroger Field for breaking the Southeastern Conference's color barrier, died Thursday. He was 71.

A graduate of Daviess County High School in Owensboro, Kentucky, Hogg, who started his high school career in Hazard, enrolled at Kentucky in 1967, one year after the program had signed Nate Northington and Greg Page, the first two African American athletes in the university's history.

After redshirting during their first year on campus, Northington and Page were set to break the Southeastern Conference's color barrier in the 1967 season. By then, Hogg and Louisville native Wilbur Hackett had also joined the program as freshmen.

"He affected so many people off the field," Hackett told The Courier Journal Friday. "It wasn’t just football, but how many people came to Houston in the African American community at UK. They depended on Houston because he was always so giving. Whatever people needed, Houston was there."

During preseason practices leading up to the 1967 season, Page suffered a spinal injury after a hit during a pursuit drill and died after 38 days in the hospital. One day later, Northington would become the first African American to play in an SEC football game.

Overcome with grief from Page's death, Northington decided to transfer from Kentucky shortly after breaking the SEC's color barrier, leaving Hogg and Hackett as the only African Americans on the team.

Hackett went on to become the first black player elected a team captain in the SEC. Hogg, a running back, would letter for Kentucky in the 1969 and 1970 seasons.

"Houston, he was a rock, man," Hackett said. "He was my go-to brother. He was there for me when nobody else was there. ... I might have been captain of the team, but Houston was my leader."

In a 2016 interview with The Courier Journal, Hackett recalled that he and Hogg came close to leaving Kentucky because of the toll of dealing with being among the first African Americans to play in SEC football stadiums across the deep South. He said they "had our bags packed and ready to go" on multiple occasions."

Urging from their teammates, coaches and parents kept Hackett and Hogg in Lexington. There were still hardships along the way though.

Hogg suffered what Hackett now believes was a severe concussion after taking several hard hits in a game at Georgia early in their career and began to lose his hearing afterward.

"He couldn’t even hear the plays his junior and senior year," Hackett said. "He mostly read lips. ... He didn’t even let anybody know. He waited 50 years to tell me he was losing his hearing. That’s the kind of man he was. He never complained."

Kentucky unveiled a statue of Page, Northington, Hackett and Hogg in the plaza between Kroger Field and the football training center in September 2016.

Hogg and his wife, Deborah, went on to raise six children and welcomed more than 200 foster children into their home over 25 years. Proceeds from the 2018 Owensboro premiere of the documentary, "Black in Blue," which tells the story of the breaking of the SEC's color barrier went to the Houston Hogg Youth Fund to benefit students in Daviess County schools.

"One of the qualities he had that was bigger than his power and guts was his heart," said Paul Karem, a former Kentucky player who led the charge to build the statue and spearheaded the "Black and Blue" documentary. "Took in 200 foster children with his wife, and never, never called any attention to himself."

UK named Hogg its honorary captain for the 2019 season opener versus Toledo, recognizing him on the field during the game for his role in integrating the SEC and work in the Owensboro community after his playing career ended.

In his Kentucky career, Hogg totaled 92 carries for 245 yards and two touchdowns and 20 catches for 135 yards. In 1969, his 17-yard run on third down helped set up Kentucky's game-winning touchdown in an upset of No. 8 Mississippi.

"Houston’s contributions to our football program, our university and the SEC go well beyond the football field,” Kentucky athletics director Mitch Barnhart said in a statement released by the athletics department. "His pioneering legacy will live on for generations to come through the young people for whom he paved the way and the dozens of foster children for whom he gave exceptional care. We are so proud he was a Wildcat and send our heartfelt condolences to his family and all those whose lives he touched.”