On Wednesday, Illinois football announced that it would honor the legacy of Red Grange and his six-touchdown day for Memorial Stadium’s rededication game on Oct. 19, when the Illini host the Michigan Wolverines.

October’s game will mark exactly 100 years since ‘The Galloping Ghost’ ran for five touchdowns and threw for another against the Wolverines. The game was Memorial Stadium’s “Dedication Game,” which honored those who served the nation in World War I.

In the first game ever played at Memorial Stadium, the Illini beat the Wolverines 39-14.

Earlier this year, the program also announced three different throwback helmets that the team would use this season.

The Rededication throwback uniforms feature helmets that look to imitate the leather caps that were worn when Red Grange played. The helmets are handpainted by one of two artists specializing in airbrushing football helmets.

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At Illinois Football Media Day on Thursday, The Champaign Room had the opportunity to speak with players and gauge their opinions on the throwback uniforms.

“The helmet was sick. You’ve never seen that type of helmet.” sophomore wide receiver Malik Elzy said. “I feel like I could drip them out. Put something on with them.”

“That was lit, seeing the uniforms. That was lit,” defensive back Torrie Cox Jr. said. The junior transferred in from Ohio this offseason. “I ain’t never had no special uniform as well, you know? They look nice. We’re gonna ball in them.”

Terrance Brooks, a defensive back and fellow incoming transfer, doesn’t quite share Cox’s enthusiasm.

“I love the helmet, but no I’m not really a fan of the jersey I’m not gonna lie,” junior defensive back Terrance Brooks said. Brooks is a former top-100 recruit, transferring in from Texas.”

While Brooks had his likes and dislikes about the uniform, some teammates seem to love it.

Teammate Zy Crisler, entering his third year at Illinois after starting his career at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, is one of those teammates.

“It was really cool to me,” offensive lineman Zy Crisler said. I ain’t really see how they used to wear the helmets with the little flaps, like little beanie hats back in the day. “It’s kind of nice and kind of cool. It made me go read more about back when they played and stuff like that. So I was pretty excited seeing it. I like the jerseys too, they’re pretty cool.”

“I like them. Especially the helmet, the helmet is pretty hard,” freshman quarterback Trey Petty said. He also tapped into how important the uniforms is, not just how they look. “Being able to be a part of that, the 100th anniversary and being able to wear those jerseys is a big honor.”

Tight end Tanner Arkin is also on the same page as Crisler and Petty, acknowledging the historical significance of the uniforms.

“I think they’re awesome. I think they did a great job,” Arkin said. “And I just think there’s so much history here. I just feel honored that I’m able to play in this 100 [year] anniversary game. I think it’ll be an awesome experience, especially against Michigan.”

When the Michigan Wolverines, the current defending champs, make the trip down to Champaign, the Illini will do their best to recreate what Red Grange did: beat the Wolverines.

What are your thoughts on the uniforms? Let us know in the comments!

An Illinois sheriff who hired the deputy charged in the death of Sonya Massey announced on Friday that he would retire, five weeks after the deputy fatally shot the 36-year-old Black woman in her home.

The Sangamon county sheriff, Jack Campbell, who won the office in 2018, said politics stood in the way of his effectiveness as sheriff and suggested he and his family had received death threats. Campbell, a 30-year veteran of the department, had previously said he did “not intend to step down”.

“We must honor the life of Sonya Massey by ensuring that no one else falls victim to such tragic and senseless action. That has been my sincere mission since that fateful day,” Campbell said in a statement. “But it has become clear that the current political climate has made it nearly impossible for me to continue effectively in my role.”

A Republican, the 60-year-old Campbell said he would vacate his office no later than 31 August.

Governor JB Pritzker, a Democrat, demanded this week that Campbell step aside, saying he had not provided answers to questions about how Sean Grayson became a deputy in the central Illinois county that’s home to the state capital, Springfield. Grayson, 30, was fired after being indicted on murder and other charges in Massey’s 6 July killing.

Previously, Massey’s father, James Wilburn, called Campbell “an embarrassment” and called for him to quit.

Grayson, who is white, has pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm and official misconduct. He is being held without bond in the Menard county Jail. His defense attorney has declined to comment on the case.

Authorities said that after Massey called 911 to report a suspected prowler, two deputies had gone to her residence in Springfield, about 200 miles south-west of Chicago.

Sheriff’s body camera video released on 22 July confirmed prosecutors’ earlier account of the tense moment when Grayson yelled across a kitchen counter at Massey to set down a pot of hot water. Following Grayson’s direction to remove the pot of water from the stove, she said: “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus.” Grayson then pulled his 9mm pistol and yelled at her to drop the pot before firing three times, striking her below the left eye, according to autopsy findings.

When Grayson was fired, Campbell said it was evident the deputy “did not act as trained or in accordance with our standards”.

Campbell attended a listening session with community members on 29 July, asking for the Massey family’s forgiveness and saying: “I offer up no excuses.”

Illinois law enforcement records show that Grayson’s policing career began in 2020, with six jobs in four years.

A decade ago, he was kicked out of the army for the first of two drunken driving convictions in which he had a weapon in his car, authorities said. He was convicted of DUI again less than a year later.

Law enforcement experts say those convictions plus his previous employment record should have raised serious questions when the Sangamon county sheriff’s department hired him in May 2023.

He was disciplined while a deputy for Logan county, north of Springfield, for not following a superior’s command to halt a high-speed chase – an indiscretion Campbell said he was not made aware of when seeking a reference from Logan county. But there is no evidence he was forced out of any of those jobs.

“This man [Grayson] should have never had a badge,” Wilburn said. “And he should have never had a gun. He should have never been given the opportunity to kill my child.”

Wilburn’s call for Campbell’s job was followed by that of several Democrats on the GOP-dominated county board and then Pritzker, who claimed Campbell had not been forthcoming with answers about Grayson’s hiring, what reforms he planned to implement and why he hadn’t met with the Massey family.

“I just want to know and he has been unwilling to answer the questions – if he’d been willing to do these things, then act. He’s had a month,” Pritzker said. “There would be a lot less frustration, a lot more perhaps a sense of safety. But none of that was done by the sheriff.”

Campbell’s office reserved a website exclusively for questions about the incident, where Grayson’s personnel file, audio of 911 calls, deputies’ field reports from 6 July and other documents requested by the public were posted. He said he had contacted Massey family intermediaries asking to sit down with them on four occasions but none had been accepted.

Marc Ayers, a Democratic county board member who sought Campbell’s departure, said in a statement that the board “must implement bold reforms to bring further accountability and transparency” to the sheriff’s office.

“I invite the community to heal and come together as we fight for justice not just for Sonya Massey, but for all Sangamon county residents,” Ayers said.

Campbell worked for the sheriff’s office for more than 24 years as a deputy before retiring in 2016. He ran unsuccessfully for sheriff in 2014 but won four years later.

An emailed message was sent seeking comment from Ben Crump, the civil rights attorney representing the Massey family.

If convicted, Grayson faces prison sentences of 45 years to life for murder, six to 30 years for battery and two to five years for misconduct.

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