Top 10 Illinois Fighting Illini football players of all time

9. Tony Eason – QB, 1980-1982

Eason was an amazing quarterback for the Fighting Illini in the early 1980s. When he became the primary starter for Illinois in 1981, the team began to have much more on–field success. 

During his junior and senior years, he combined 6,608 yards and 37 touchdowns. For Illinois, he still holds the single-season record for passing yards in a season with 3,671. Eason would lead Illinois to one bowl appearance, the 1982 Liberty Bowl, which was a loss against the Alabama Crimson Tide.

Eason would move on to the NFL, being selected by the New England Patriots in the first round of the 1983 NFL Draft. He was the primary starter for the 1985 Patriots team which would go on to Super Bowl XX, which they lost to the Chicago Bears, 46-10. After being demoted by the Patriots in 1989, he was signed by the New York Jets for two more seasons, mostly as a backup by that point in his career.