June 26, 2007

The Fighting Illini football program will be represented in the upcoming Arena Football League playoffs, which get started this weekend.

Tim McGill, who played on the defensive line for Illinois in 1998 and 1999, will line up at defensive tackle when his Tampa Bay Storm hosts the Columbus Destroyers this Saturday, June 30 at Noon ET on ESPN in the Wild Card Round. The playoffs culminate with ArenaBowl XXI, to be played July 29 in New Orleans.

Tampa Bay finished the regular season with a 9-7 record and earned the No. 3 seed in the National Conference for the AFL playoffs. McGill contributed 18 tackles and five sacks during the 2007 regular season.

Jeff Ruffin, who followed McGill at Illinois and lettered from 2001-03, was the only other ex-Illini to have played this year in the AFL. Ruffin posted 21 tackles and four sacks for the Arizona Rattlers, who finished 4-12 in 2007 but failed to make the playoffs.