Chambana Sun

Former Illini All-American Devon Witherspoon has been selected for his second consecutive Pro Bowl, as announced by the NFL on Thursday. Witherspoon, who played college football at Illinois, becomes the first player since Dick Butkus to earn a Pro Bowl spot in each of his first two NFL seasons after finishing his collegiate career with the Illini.

This season, Witherspoon recorded 90 tackles, six tackles for loss, one sack, and seven passes defended. Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald praised Witherspoon's performance: "He plays with his hair on fire," said Macdonald. "You talk about shocking effort, and if you want to shock people, watch 21 play. We talk about ball finding energy, and it kind of all comes together with Spoon."

Witherspoon joins an elite group of former Illini players like Dick Butkus (1965-66) and Bob Trumpy (1968-69), who also made Pro Bowls in their first two professional seasons. He is the first Illinois player to achieve back-to-back Pro Bowl selections since Vontae Davis did so with the Indianapolis Colts from 2014-15.

Additionally, three other Illinois alumni are Pro Bowl alternates this year: Chase McLaughlin (K) from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as a first alternate; Kerby Joseph (S) from the Detroit Lions as a second alternate; and Chase Brown (RB) from the Cincinnati Bengals as a third alternate. Notably, Joseph leads the NFL in interceptions with nine.

The list of past Illini players who have made it to the Pro Bowl includes notable names such as Les Bingaman, Buddy Young, J.C. Caroline, Abe Woodson, Bobby Mitchell, Bill Brown, Ray Nitschke among others over several decades.