Illini football comprised one quarter of the inaugural Illinois Athletics Hall of Fame class. Dick Butkus, Dike Eddleman, Red Grange, George Halas, George Huff, Buddy Young and Bob Zuppke were the seven representatives of the gridiron in the 28 member class.
In the second class, they were joined by Jim Grabowski, Dana Howard, Alex Agase and Ray Elliot. Speaking of football, if you want to do some live AFL betting then you should check out that hyperlink. As we look ahead to the next potential set of Illini football Hall of Famers, we notice no truly obvious, glaring omissions, but still plenty of accomplished players left out. Let’s take a look at who the next six should be.
You’ll also want to take a look at our next five choices from men’s basketball for the 2019 class over at this link.
Bill Burrell
He finished fourth in 1959 Heisman Trophy balloting. Illini football and Heisman Trophy candidate are not phrases that often go together, and thus the OL/LB is up next.
Jack Trudeau
The first two classes had no quarterbacks and also nobody from the 1983 Rose Bowl team (the first, last and only B1G side to play all nine other B1G schools and beat them all). Trudeau checks off both boxes. Yes, he’s gotten into plenty of legal trouble, but this Hall of Fame is about athletic accomplishments, not morals, character or setting an example (if that were the criteria, then Trudeau would be nowhere near the Hall of Fame).
To this day, Trudeau is still the all time leading passer in Illini football history.
Kurt Kittner
While Trudeau is first in career passing yards, Kittner is #1, and by a very wide margin, in both TD passes and passing attempts. He’s right near the top for all the other major categories too.
The only other signal caller in school history to lead his team to a 10-1 regular season record and a B1G title is the next natural selection.
David Williams
The ’83 team was so dominant that we need to make sure some more guys get in on the third attempt, and Williams also checks another important, currently empty box- wide receiver. No wideouts made the first two classes, and Williams is far and away the best that we’ve ever seen at that position in the Illini football program.
Simeon Rice
Speaking of guys who dominate Illini football history at their position, take a look at the career sacks and tackles for a loss list. In TFL-yards lost, Rice is #1 with a bullet, accruing 69-385. That’s way ahead of Moe Gardner who has 52 for 226. In sacks, Rice has 44.5, with the next closest challenger being Scott Davis, at 23. Yes, it’s nearly double! Do remember though that sacks weren’t kept as a stat until 1983.
Robert Holcombe
In addition to being the school’s all time leading rusher, he’s also tied for fourth in touchdowns. Just because all the teams he played on were really awful doesn’t mean he should go overlooked. He consistently produced, despite the fact that every opponent had to worry about stopping him, and none of his teammates.
Names you could easily swap in to this list:
J.C. Caroline, Kevin Hardy, Don Thorp, Al Brosky
The next tier/names to consider in future years down the road:
Brandon Lloyd, A.J. Jenkins, Jeff George, Tony Eason, Jim Juriga, Moe Gardner, John Karras, Craig Swoope, Jason Reda, Chris White, John Sullivan, Darrick Brownlow, Mikel Leshoure, John Holecek
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and Chicago Now.
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