CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Former Fighting Illini football student-athlete Glenn Foster, Jr. tragically died Monday in western Alabama.

Foster, 31, lettered for the Illini from 2010-12 as a defensive lineman, playing in 41 games and helping Illinois to the 2010 Texas Bowl and 2011 Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl. He totaled 73 tackles, including 11 tackles for loss and 4.5 quarterback sacks for the Illini. Recruited out of Chicago Mt. Carmel High School by Ron Zook, Foster also played for Tim Beckman as a senior in 2012. After an outstanding performance at the Illinois Pro Day in the spring of 2013, Foster was signed by the New Orleans Saints as an undrafted free agent and played for two seasons. He graduated from the UI in the fall of 2012 with a degree in sociology.

In recent years, Foster was the owner of a granite countertop business with retail stores in New Orleans and Baton Rouge. Foster's death is being investigated by authorities in Alabama.