Current Pro Football Players from Illinois
Football Players, and athletes of all sports really, take pride in where they’re from. Whether it’s the state, city or area code – you always notice players wanting to rep their home area.
Fans tend to do the same thing. It’s always more fun to pull for a player when they’re from your home state (or even your hometown), especially when that player also happens to be playing on your favorite team.
With all that in mind, we went through NFL.com and pulled the home states (or, in a few cases, countries) of every player on the 53-man active rosters for each team.
We found 60 players from the state of Illinois
Here are all 60 guys on NFL Rosters at the start of the 2023 season including what town they’re from and what team they play for.
| Name | City | State | Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dennis Gardeck | Lake in the Hills | Illinois | Arizona Cardinals |
| Scott Miller | Barrington | Illinois | Atlanta Falcons |
| David Edwards | Downers Grove | Illinois | Buffalo Bills |
| A.J. Epenesa | Oak Park | Illinois | Buffalo Bills |
| Trent Sherfield | Danville | Illinois | Buffalo Bills |
| T.J. Edwards | Lake Villa | Illinois | Chicago Bears |
| Dan Feeney | Orland Park | Illinois | Chicago Bears |
| Cole Kmet | Lake Barrington | Illinois | Chicago Bears |
| Doug Kramer | Hinsdale | Illinois | Chicago Bears |
| Jack Sanborn | Lake Zurich | Illinois | Chicago Bears |
| Robert Tonyan | McHenry | Illinois | Chicago Bears |
| Charlie Jones | Deerfield | Illinois | Cincinnati Bengals |
| Ted Karras | Chicago | Illinois | Cincinnati Bengals |
| Cameron Mitchell | Bolingbrook | Illinois | Cleveland Browns |
| Greg Newsome II | Chicago | Illinois | Cleveland Browns |
| Ethan Pocic | Lemont | Illinois | Cleveland Browns |
| Jonathan Harris | Aurora | Illinois | Denver Broncos |
| Brandon Johnson | Elgin | Illinois | Denver Broncos |
| Alex Palczewski | Mount Prospect | Illinois | Denver Broncos |
| Scott Daly | Downers Grove | Illinois | Detroit Lions |
| Name | City | State | Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| Graham Glasgow | Aurora | Illinois | Detroit Lions |
| Sam LaPorta | Highland | Illinois | Detroit Lions |
| Riley Patterson | Edwardsville | Illinois | Detroit Lions |
| Nick Broeker | Springfield | Illinois | Houston Texans |
| Kendrick Green | Peoria | Illinois | Houston Texans |
| Sean Clifford | Barrington | Illinois | Green Bay Packers |
| Royce Newman | Nashville | Illinois | Green Bay Packers |
| Jayden Reed | Chicago | Illinois | Green Bay Packers |
| Lukas Van Ness | Barrington | Illinois | Green Bay Packers |
| Dallis Flowers | Chicago | Illinois | Indianapolis Colts |
| Eric Johnson | Plainfield | Illinois | Indianapolis Colts |
| Alec Pierce | Glen Ellyn | Illinois | Indianapolis Colts |
| Brian Allen | Hinsdale | Illinois | Los Angeles Rams |
| Antonio Johnson | East St. Louis | Illinois | Jacksonville Jaguars |
| Kirk Cousins | Barrington | Illinois | Minnesota Vikings |
| Dean Lowry | Rockford | Illinois | Minnesota Vikings |
| Nick Allegretti | Frankfort | Illinois | Kansas City Chiefs |
| Jimmy Garoppolo | Arlington Heights | Illinois | Las Vegas Raiders |
| Aidan O’Connell | Long Grove | Illinois | Las Vegas Raiders |
| Robert Spillane | Oak Park | Illinois | Las Vegas Raiders |
| Name | City | State | Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adoree’ Jackson | Belleville | Illinois | New York Giants |
| John Michael Schmitz | Flossmoor | Illinois | New York Giants |
| Jake Elliott | Western Springs | Illinois | Philadelphia Eagles |
| Albert Okwuegbunam | Springfield | Illinois | Philadelphia Eagles |
| Terron Armstead | Cahokia Heights | Illinois | Miami Dolphins |
| Robert Jones | Rockford | Illinois | Miami Dolphins |
| Taybor Pepper | Urbana | Illinois | San Francisco 49ers |
| Ezekiel Elliott | Alton | Illinois | New England Patriots |
| Vederian Lowe | Rockford | Illinois | New England Patriots |
| Julian Love | Westchester | Illinois | Seattle Seahawks |
| Tony Adams | Belleville | Illinois | New York Jets |
| Zaire Barnes | Mundelein | Illinois | New York Jets |
| Solomon Thomas | Chicago | Illinois | New York Jets |
| Keeanu Benton | Chicago | Illinois | Pittsburgh Steelers |
| Miles Boykin | Tinley Park | Illinois | Pittsburgh Steelers |
| Mason Cole | Chicago | Illinois | Pittsburgh Steelers |
| John Ridgeway | Bloomington | Illinois | Washington Commanders |
| Matthew Jackson | Chicago | Illinois | Tennessee Titans |
| Naquan Jones | Evanston | Illinois | Tennessee Titans |
| Peter Skoronski | Park Ridge | Illinois | Tennessee Titans |
Hall of Fame Players from Illinois
In addition to the current players from Illinois we compiled a list of all players that have gone on to make it into the NFL Hall of Fame:
| Name | City | Induction Year |
|---|---|---|
| Bryant Young | Chicago Heights | 2022 |
| John Lynch | Hinsdale | 2021 |
| Steve Atwater | Chicago | 2020 |
| Duke Slater | Normal | 2020 |
| Mac Speedie | Odell | 2020 |
| Shannon Sharpe | Chicago | 2011 |
| Fritz Pollard | Chicago | 2005 |
| Hank Stram | Chicago | 2003 |
| Marv Levy | Chicago | 2001 |
| Ron Yary | Chicago | 2001 |
| Kellen Winslow | East St. Louis | 1995 |
| Mike McCormack | Chicago | 1984 |
| George Musso | Collinsville | 1982 |
| Dick Butkus | Chicago | 1979 |
| Ray Nitschke | Elmwood Park | 1978 |
| George Connor | Chicago | 1975 |
| Tony Canadeo | Chicago | 1974 |
| Charles Bidwill | Chicago | 1967 |
| Hugh “Shorty” Ray | Highland Park | 1966 |
| John “Paddy” Driscoll | Evanston | 1965 |
| George Trafton | Chicago | 1964 |
| George Halas | Chicago | 1963 |
