Craig Yeast

Craig Yeast wasn't ready to give up football when the Hamilton Tiger Cats decided to release him in July seven games into the Canadian Football League season. However, he's finding that life without football is not as difficult as he imagined. "I'm actually enjoying myself and finding plenty of ways to stay busy," said Yeast. Yeast played 34 games with the Cincinnati Bengals and the New York Jets in the National Football League from 1999-2001 before reviving his career in the CFL. He had 158 catches for 2,613 yards from 2003 until his release in July.

Harrodsburg's Craig Yeast will be inducted into the Kentucky Athletics Hall of Fame at halftime of Saturday night's UK-Mississippi football game. Yeast is UK's all-time leading receiver with 208 catches for 2,899 yards from 1995-1998. He played in the NFL and Canadian Football League.

Patrick Bugg feels like he's known Mark Dunn all his life. "We've probably known each other since we were 5 or 6 years old. I really can't remember not knowing him," said Bugg. Dunn is actually two years younger than Bugg, but he recalls meeting Bugg for the first time when Bugg was playing baseball with his older brother, Keith. "My brother went to his house and I just followed him. That's how we first met. We started playing sports together at the YMCA. But even back in the neighborhood we were always riding bikes together.

Craig Yeast can still remember his first spring practice under coach Hal Mumme at Kentucky in 1997. "We didn't get along at first. There was a time he would come into the meeting room, say something to me and then there was no more communication after that. But I guess he knew what he was doing. I didn't let him break me and he did push me to become the best player I could be," said Yeast, 29. Yeast, a three-sport standout at Harrodsburg, went on to not only become the most productive receiver at Kentucky, but also one of the best ever in the Southeastern Conference.

LEXINGTON - Taylor Begley says it has been difficult at times watching Kentucky's offense move the ball only to have something go wrong to keep him from having a chance to help the Wildcats put points on the scoreboard. The fifth-year senior placekicker said he has had his highs and lows this season as Kentucky has struggled to consistently score points. "It's been a tough year," Begley said. "Up until (Kentucky's 13-7 win over Mississippi State Saturday) there have been a lot more lows than highs.

HAMILTON, Ontario - Harrodsburg native Craig Yeast, has been named the Canadian Football League's offensive player of the week after helping the Hamilton Tiger-Cats upset the Edmonton Eskimos 40-14 last weekend. Yeast caught six passes for 166 yards in Hamilton's 40-14 victory. In the first half, he made a spectacular over-the-shoulder catch that set up the Tiger-Cats' first touchdown. Yeast, a former Harrodsburg High School and University of Kentucky standout is in his third season in the CFL. He has 58 catches for 930 yards and three touchdowns this season for Hamilton, which is 3-10 with five games remaining.

Craig Yeast will continue his professional football career in the Canadian Football League. Yeast, a former player at Harrodsburg High School and the University of Kentucky, signed a two-year contract with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats Thursday. He led Hamilton is receiving yards and kick returns last season. He played in 18 games and caught 59 passes for 1,184 yards and eight touchdowns. He also returned 41 kickoffs for 805 yards, 53 punts for 420 yards and eight missed field goals for 250 yards and one score.

Country music singer Eddie Montgomery of Montgomery Gentry loves Kentucky athletics and shares his thoughts in a question-and-answer with sports editor Larry Vaught: 1. How do you keep up with the Kentucky football and basketball teams? "I talk to people back home all the time. I read The Advocate-Messenger. Any way I can find to get information, I do it. We watch the games on satellite if we are not working. If the bus is not parked where the satellite will pick up the games, then we move the bus to where we can watch.

His team is not winning and his family is not with him, but Craig Yeast says he's still having fun playing in the Canadian Football League. Yeast, 27, signed with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in August after playing the second half of the National Indoor Football League season with the Lexington Horsemen. The former Harrodsburg and University of Kentucky standout is hoping his play will earn him a spot back in the National Football League in 2004. "To be honest, our team does not have a lot of offensive weapons and there are so many different rules in this league that we don't always have our best playmakers on the field together," Yeast said.

HAMILTON, Ontario - Craig Yeast, a former Harrodsburg High School and University of Kentucky standout, signed a free-agent contract Tuesday with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League, the Canadian Press reported. Yeast, a wide receiver-kick returner, joins a Hamilton team desperate for offense. The Tiger-Cats are 0-7 and have scored a league-low 100 points this season. Yeast, 27, set school receiving records at Kentucky with 208 receptions and 2,899 yards from 1995-98.