Top 10 Illinois Fighting Illini football players of all time

7. Dana Howard – LB, 1990-1994 

During his time at Illinois, Howard racked up numerous accolades, which would eventually propel him into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2018. These accolades included: second team All-Big Ten three times, Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year twice, first team All-American twice, the Dick Butkus award — given to one of the top linebackers at any level of football — and the Jack Lambert award — given to the top linebacker in college football. 

To this day, Howard is the all–time leading tackler for the Fighting Illini, with a record of 595 tackles over his four–year stint with Illinois. He is also the first player at Illinois to finish four seasons in a row with at least 100 tackles per season. 

After college, Howard was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the 1995 NFL Draft in the fifth round. After being waived by Dallas, he would go on to play for the St. Louis Rams before being released by them at the end of the season. He would then be signed by the Chicago Bears, where he played three games, and then he signed with the Philadelphia Eagles in 1999, before officially retiring after his stint in Philly.