Illinois Football: The 30 greatest Illini players of all time

The early 1990s were special times for the Illinois football defensive. Some great players would go on to do great things. One of those ferocious players was Simeon Rice. He was one of the most feared players in program history.

Rice didn’t lead the Illini in tackles, in fact, he isn’t even in the top 10 all-time, but he was a force to be reckoned with in college football. He is the current leader for the Illini in career tackles for loss with 69 tackles. Rice leads the program in single-season tackles for loss with 23 tackles.

The most impressive stat record that Rice holds is quarterback sacks. He is the career sacks leader for Illinois with 44.5 career sacks, which are 21.5 sacks more than the No. 2 player on the list.

The great performances that Rice had on the football field earned him accolades while with the Illini. He was a First-Team All-American at linebacker for the 1994 and 1995 campaigns. Illinois also went to the Holiday Bowl and Liberty Bowl while Rice was terrorizing the opposing backfields.

Rice continues to be a mainstay in the Illinois record books. His great play earned him the No. 3 pick in the NFL Draft where he would go on to have a great career. This guy was one of the most feared players on both levels of football. He is one of the best we have seen and that is why he is No. 5 on this list.