From DeVito to Devon: 7 players with Illinois connections playing in Super Bowl LX
Nahshon Wright is a Pro Bowler & Derrick Rose's jersey is retired | Chicago Sports Tonight
The Patriots advance to the Super Bowl for the first time since 2018. And, Derrick Rose's No. 1 jersey retired by the Chicago Bulls.
Need to pick a rooting interest? Unsure what to watch for in Super Bowl LX? How about picking a player from the Land of Lincoln to follow.
Here are seven players with ties to Illinois playing in Super Bowl LX on Feb. 8.
Patriots quarterback Tommy DeVito
The one-time fan favorite quarterback for the Giants, DeVito grew up in Cedar Grove, New Jersey. However, he has a tie to Illinois.
After playing five years of football at Syracuse, DeVito transferred from the Orange to play at Illinois under Bret Bielema. In Champaign, DeVito threw for 2,650 yards and 15 touchdowns as he led the Illini to eight wins.
Patriots offensive tackle Vederian Lowe
Lowe was a Land of Lincoln lifer, growing up in Rockford, attending Auburn High School and playing for the Illini.
The Vikings selected him with the 184th overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, but he found a home in New England after Minnesota traded him to the Patriots in 2023.
Lowe started four games for New England in the 2025 season.
Patriots linebacker Robert Spillane
Although Spillane played at Western Michigan in college, he grew up in Oak Park and attended Fenwick.
It's no surprise he was successful at football, either. It's in Spillane's blood. He's the grandson of 1953 Heisman Trophy winner and College Football Hall of Fame halfback Johnny Lattner.
However, Spillane's story after college is impressive.
After going undrafted in the 2018 NFL Draft, Spillane earned a reserve linebacker role in Pittsburgh. The Raiders made him a starting linebacker in the 2023 season.
In March 2025, he broke through with a payday when he signed a three-year, $33 million contract and will start at linebacker for the Patriots in the Super Bowl.
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Seahawks safety Julian Love
The Westchester, Illinois, native attended Nazareth Academy and starred so bright he made it onto Notre Dame's radar.
He started eight games for the Irish as a freshman, broke out in 2017 as a full-time starter and was a consensus All-American in 2018 as Notre Dame made it to the College Football Playoff.
In the NFL, however, he had a change of position. The Giants moved him from cornerback to strong safety, and the Seahawks solidified him as a starting safety when Seattle signed him out of free agency in 2023.
Love made a Pro Bowl appearance in his first season in Seattle and has been the starting free safety in head coach Mike MacDonald's defense.
Seahawks defensive end Rylie Mills
Mills offers one of the biggest "what if" questions in Notre Dame football history.
Growing up in Lake Bluff, Mills attended Lake Forest High School and was ranked as one of the best defensive players in Illinois as a senior. He signed with the Irish and improved as Notre Dame transitioned from Brian Kelly to Marcus Freeman.
In the 2024 season, Mills was a second-team All-American. In the 2024 College Football Playoff, he was a force against Indiana before suffering a knee injury that kept him out for the rest of the playoff.
Had he been healthy, it's fair to wonder if Notre Dame's defense would've fared better in the national championship game against Ohio State. Now a Seahawk, Mills spent most of the offseason rehabbing the injury he suffered against Indiana.
Seahawks tight end Eric Saubert
The Hoffman Estates native took the long road to the NFL.
He played football at FCS-level Drake, and got on NFL radars in the 2017 East-West Shrine Game.
The Falcons selected Saubert with the 174th overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft, and he bounced around 11 different NFL teams, including the Chicago Bears, before cementing himself in Seahawks' lore in the 2025 season.
Saubert was put on injured reserve. On Dec. 13, he was not only activated from IR, but he also received a one-year contract extension to stay in Seattle through 2026. Just five days after getting his extension, Saubert caught the game-winning two-point conversion in overtime to beat the Los Angeles Rams, which secured the Seahawks' first playoff berth since the 2022 season.
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Seahawks cornerback Devon Witherspoon
Growing up in Pensacola, Florida, Witherspoon's tie to Illinois is simply being one of the best defensive players in the past decade for the Illini.
He committed to Illinois in 2019, and started every game as a freshman in the 2019 season. In 2022, he was the Big Ten Defensive Back of the Year, a first-team All-Big Ten selection and a consensus All-American.
That led to Witherspoon being selected fifth overall in the 2023 NFL Draft by Seattle, where he's made the Pro Bowl in each of his first three seasons and was a second-team All-Pro cornerback in 2025.