CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Former Illinois football defensive lineman Don Thorp will serve as the team's honorary captain on Saturday night, when the Illini open the 2023 campaign against Toledo at Memorial Stadium.
Thorp played football at Illinois from 1980-83 and was a captain of the Illini's 1983 team that went undefeated in Big Ten, won the conference title, and earned a berth to the Rose Bowl. Thorp finished his Illini career as the program record-holder in career tackles for loss (40), and he was named the Big Ten Player of the Year and a first-team All-American in 1983.
A sixth-round selection by the New Orleans Saints in the 1984 NFL Draft, Thorp played 14 games and made three starts during his four-year professional career. The Buffalo Grove native is one of several members of the 1983 Illinois football team who is making the trip back to Champaign for the squad's 40-year reunion.
