Super Bowl LII, the last game of the football season, has come and gone and unfortunately will end without any Fighting Illini getting a Super Bowl ring. Ted Karras was the last Illinois alumnus in the playoffs, but he could only watch as Arizona alum Nick Foles outdueled Michigan’s Tom Brady en route to the Super Bowl MVP award.
Thirty-two years ago, Tony Eason became the first and (so far) only Fighting Illini to ever start the Super Bowl, and it went very poorly. Let’s take a look at how he got there.