By Woodrow Carroll
When the Seattle Seahawks selected Illinois defensive back Devon Witherspoon with the No. 5 pick in last weekend’s National Football League (NFL) draft, it made him the highest Illinois player drafted since the Fighting Illini’s Kevin Hardy and Simeon Rice went No. 2 and No. 3 in the 1996 NFL draft.
The top pick in the 1996 NFL draft was Keyshawn Johnson, a wide receiver from the University of Southern California was selected by the New York Jets.
The first Illinois player to be picked in the first round of an NFL Draft was Tony Butkovich, a running back, the No. 11 pick of the then-Cleveland Rams in 1944. The Rams packed up shortly after and relocated in Los Angeles. Only once has an Illinois player been the No.1 pick in the NFL draft, quarterback Jeff George selected by the Indianapolis Colts.
Illinois’ Jim Grabowski was first overall pick by the Miami Dolphins in 1966, however, when the Dolphins were an American Football League team, prior to the two leagues’ merger. Grabowski ended up signing with Green Bay who had picked him No. 9.
Perhaps, more than anything, the regard shown Witherspoon, tells us how well the football program at the University of Illinois has moved forward. Under second-year coach Brett Bielema, the Fighting Illini closed with a 8-5 record last season.
Prior to last season, the last winning Illinois football team was the 2011 edition, and, the 2011 Illini were a deceptive reading.
In 2011, in what turned out to be the last of head coach Ron Zook’s seven seasons at the helm, Illinois opened by winning six straight games. Six losses followed and Zook was out of a job. Illinois defeated UCLA in the Kraft Fight Hunger under interim coach Vic Koenning to give Illinois a final record of 7-6, a meaningless winning season for sure.
Witherspoon was the second Big Ten player selected. Ohio State’ quarterback C.J. Stroud was the No. 2 overall choice.
Northwestern offensive tackle Peter Skoronski saw his name called by the Tennessee Titans as the No. 11 selection, one pick after the Bears” No. 10 pick, Darnell Wright of Tennessee. (See page 11.) Skoronski is the grandson of former Green Bay Packers’ great Bob Skoronski who was a part of Packers Glory under head coach Vince Lombardi.
No Northern Illinois University player was picked among the 259 selections who made the cut. However, ‘Mr. Irrelevant’ did play in DeKalb last Fall.
The term Mr. Irrelevant applied to the last player selected in the seven rounds of the draft. In this case, the 259th pick in the 2023 draft. That final pick, Mr. Irrelevant was Desjuan Johnson from Toledo.
Johnson, a defensive end, was on the Toledo team that handed Northern Illinois a 52-32 defeat on NIU’s Homecoming October 8, 2022.
Thanks to compensatory draft picks, a total of 42 players were selected in that seventh and final round. The compensatory draft takes in free agency losses, minority hiring, and host of other issues.
How did the Mid-American Conference (MAC) stack up with the Big Ten at draft time? Go ahead and draw your own conclusions.
A grand total of 28 Big Ten players were drafted before the New England Patriots made Eastern Michigan offensive guard Sidy Sow, the 117 overall pick, the first player from a MAC team drafted. A Canadian with an alliterative name, Sow has his work cut out for him in his quest for a pro career.