ISU honors football team at fan rally

Posted on January 21, 2015

Illinois State athletics director Larry Lyons addresses the crowd at a rally for the football team Tuesday night at Redbird Arena. (Scott Laughlin/WJBC)

By Joe Ragusa

NORMAL – Redbirds fans got one last chance to cheer on the historic 2014 football team during a rally at Redbird Arena.

Head Coach Brock Spack says the fans were always there, even when they weren't all able to get tickets to the championship game.

"I don't think Frisco (Texas) was ready for you, I really don't. Had there of been 10,000 tickets, I think we would have sold every one of them," Spack said. "We didn't get that opportunity, but I think we stunned the city of Frisco and stunned the state of Illinois and the world of college football."

Illinois State President Larry Dietz admits he wasn't too familiar with where the FCS national championship was played prior to Illinois State's run in the FCS playoffs this year.

"Before this year, I had barely heard of Frisco, Texas. I had never been there," Dietz said. "Now, I think of Frisco as a winter destination."

State Rep. Dan Brady, R-Bloomington, presented Spack with a statewide resolution at the rally Tuesday night as a symbol of the state's respect for the program’s accomplishments in 2014.

Team awards were given out after the rally. Tre Roberson earned the offensive player of the year award, Mike Banks won defensive player of the year honors and Tevin Allen was Illinois State's special teams player of the year. The Fred Cleland award went to Bradon Prate.

Joe Ragusa can be reached at [email protected].

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