CHAMPAIGN — A warm August day, with nary a cloud in the sky, still stands out in my mind.
Another practice at Camp Rantoul, the former home of Illinois football training camp on the grounds of the old Chanute Air Force Base, was happening a decade ago in 2014.
Then, like a blur, an unknown Illinois wide receiver at the time, Mikey Dudek, reached in the air, snagged a pass from quarterback Wes Lunt with one hand and held on while basically twisting and turning in mid-air.
It was a sight to see. Greatest catch ever, one of the dozens of fans in attendance threw out there?
Maybe. Maybe not.
That’s the beauty of sports. Debates about the greatest, the best ever, rage on to this day. From the barstools at the Esquire Lounge to the social media accounts of sports fans anywhere to the pages of The News-Gazette, it’s hard to quantify what we see with our own eyes and compare it to the illustrious past of a particular sport.
Take Illinois football, for instance. The highs and lows of each Illini season shape the vibe of Champaign-Urbana every fall.
Have a successful season, like what the Illini accomplished in 2022? Focus on how Illinois can improve its bowl stock entering Memorial Stadium on a crisp, October afternoon with the leaves changing.
Have a disappointing season, like what the Illini went through in 2023 and in so many seasons before? Focus on what the Illinois men’s basketball starting lineup will look like on a crisp, October afternoon with the leaves changing.
Players, of course, play the game. And on the front page of today’s sports section, we unveiled a topic that is sure to cause a lot of conversation, perhaps some controversy and plenty of debate. The four greatest football players to ever play for the orange and blue.
The four players whose names are synonymous with the Illini. The four players whose pictures you could imagine on a Mount Rushmore of Illinois football.
Two of our choices — Dick Butkus and Red Grange — are pretty self-explanatory. Just look at the larger-than-life statues of the two legends, with Grange on the west side of Memorial Stadium and Butkus near the Smith Center entrance, that are in Champaign and no further evidence is needed.
But who to put in the two other spots? Well, that is a bit more difficult. Dana Howard and Simeon Rice made the cut based on their impressive careers, with Howard a tackling machine the likes we’ve never seen in an Illinois uniform. Same is true for Rice when it comes to quarterback sacks.
Are there other viable options? Of course. Quarterbacks like Jeff George, Jack Trudeau, Kurt Kittner, Juice Williams and Nathan Scheelhaase come to mind. Running backs like Robert Holcombe, Chase Brown, Antoineo Harris, Jim Grabowski and J.C. Caroline certainly stand out. Wide receivers such as David Williams, Brandon Lloyd, A.J. Jenkins and Arrelious Benn. Can’t forget about offensive linemen Brad Hopkins, David Diehl, Tony Pashos or Jim Juriga.
Defensive linemen Johnny Newton, Corey Liuget, Whitney Mercilus, Moe Gardner or Bill Burrell. Good luck with linebackers. Outside of Butkus and Howard, there’s Kevin Hardy, Darrick Brownlow, John Sullivan, John Holecek and J Leman.
Don’t forget defensive backs Al Brosky, Devon Witherspoon, Eugene Wilson, Henry Jones and Vontae Davis.
Theses lists and debates could go on and on. We unveiled our Mount Rushmore of Illinois football — Butkus, Grange, Howard and Rice — in today’s paper, with plans to do the same for the rest of the 17 Big Ten teams later on this summer before the new-look league kicks off its season in late August.
Who should we include for perennial powerhouses like Ohio State, Michigan and Southern California? Let the debate begin.
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