Although the NIU football team is still awaiting word on whether it will be playing another game this season, one Huskie is already assured of it.

Senior cornerback Brett Tucker has been invited to play in the first ever Martin Luther King All-America Classic. The game is to be played on January 15, 1990 in San Jose, California and features the nation’s Division I All-Stars versus the top Division II and III players.

Tucker, the six-foot, 200-pound Sycamore native, ranks second in team tackles this season with 74 and second in interceptions with two. Last year, Tucker was named Associated Press Honorable Mention All-America.

Although sidelined with a knee injury the last several weeks, Tucker says he hopes to be ready for the game.

“It’s great,” Tucker said. “It’s a perfect capping to my college career. As of right now I’m not sure if I can play. I’m going to do the best that I can to get my knee ready for the game.”

The King Classic is not the only college all-star game that has an interest in Tucker. The prestigious Blue-Gray Game would also like Tucker to play, however, that game is played on Christmas Day and Tucker said his knee might not be ready by then.

“Coach Pettibone says they’re (Blue-Gray) inviting me, I just haven’t received an official invitation yet. I’d love to play in it but it’s a lot sooner than the other one (King Classic).”

The Huskie co-captain went down with a knee injury during practice in the final month of the season and did not play in the Huskie’s last three games.

Tucker marks the first Huskie to be invited to a post-season bowl game since linebacker Frank Lewandoski played in the Blue-Gray Game in 1979.