Super Bowl LVIII (58) is coming up, and the Illinois football team will once again be represented.
While we haven’t won a lot on the football field at the college level, the Illini have had a pretty impressive run of players playing in the Super Bowl.
Out of the last 27 Super Bowls, so since Super Bowl 32 in 1998, an Illinois player has been on a Super Bowl roster in 23 out of those 27 Super Bowls. We have only missed four Super Bowls in that span of time.
The latest former Illini player to see the big game? That would be former Illinois guard, Nick Allegretti.
Allegretti started 36 games for Illinois, but I would argue the most impressive feat for the talented guard is the fact he stuck with the program through tough times. Allegretti came to Champaign in 2014. Tim Beckman was fired in 2015. Lovie Smith entered the picture in 2016. In the four seasons Allegretti played, Illinois had a total of 14 wins. As an Illinois fan, it means a lot that he stuck with us through the tough times.
After being selected in the seventh round of the 2019 NFL Draft by the Kansas City Chiefs, Allegretti has been on a wild ride. He has made the Super Bowl in 2020, 2021, 2023, and now in 2024. Two out of those first three Super Bowl appearances were victories as well. On February 11, Allegretti will try to win his third Super Bowl in six seasons.
Nick Allegretti is already setting high marks for Illinois football players in the Super Bowl
Allegretti’s run in the Super Bowl is quite impressive. Illinois football players have been a part of some special teams in the past as well. Eugene Wilson (2004, 2005, 2008), Michael Buchanan (2015), Michael Hoomanawanui (2015), Tavon Wilson (2015), and Ted Karras (2017, 2018, 2019) were all contributors to the run Tom Brady and the New England Patriots had from the early-2000s to the late 2010s.
Despite a lot of Illinois players being a part of the big game, Allegretti has a chance to set some records for former Illini players. He has now been a part of four Super Bowls, which is just one behind Preston Pearson, who played in five Super Bowls (1969, 1975, 1976, 1978, 1978).
If Allegretti and the Chiefs come out victorious on February 11, he would have the most Super Bowl wins by an Illinois football player. He is currently tied with a slew of other former Illini with this honor at two Super Bowls. Getting to three wins would put him at the top of the mountain.