Mike Dudek out for season

#27      

EJ33

San Francisco
Just heartbreaking news and, as always, Dudek handles it like a champion. He's one of the all time great Illini.
 
#28      
If there was a dislike button, I'd click it, but I share everyone else's sentiments.
 
#29      
This.

I feel horrible for the kid. He had next level talent.

I feel horrible for the team that will likely struggle even more without our best player and one of the few seniors.

We just can't have nice things.

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#31      
absolutely awful. Mike was exciting as heck to watch . Life isn't fair sometimes . Thanks for everything Dudek! And I wish you the best of luck moving forward .
 
#32      

sbillini

st petersburg, fl
DudeK deserves better. He's worked so hard. I just feel terrible for the guy. With his work ethic he'll go far. Just not in football, unfortunately.

As a football player. With his work ethic, intelligence, and endearing personality, I could very much see him having success in coaching.

Nonetheless, I feel awful for him. But I have confidence he'll be successful in whatever he does.
 
#34      

skamin7

Wellington, FL
My son plays slot receiver and is definitely not the tallest or strongest out there and has really looked up to Mike for all he has done and given. It is such a shame to see his career end this way. I just hope my son can be half the player he was for the short time he was able to be. We are all very proud of you and are glad you were in the orange and blue. I hope nothing but success for you in the next phase of your life.
 
#35      

foby

Bonnaroo Land
It makes me very sad that his career ends this way. However, I feel that he will have an extremely bright future full of a lot of big successes. He is just that type of person.
 
#38      
As a football player. With his work ethic, intelligence, and endearing personality, I could very much see him having success in coaching.

Nonetheless, I feel awful for him. But I have confidence he'll be successful in whatever he does.

I agree 100% with this. Whatever Dudek plans to do next, give it one more shot, retire, etc. should Dudek give coaching a try I hope Lovie offers him an opportunity as a GA. (Not sure why he wouldn't) His attitude, personality, and other intangibles as a great human being would be an asset. Plus he would get to learn/study under some great minds.
 
#41      
Wait, you mean SC is going to air something that isn't just manufactured hype or controversy? Wow!
I always thought SVP was one of the best - and this just solidified it.
SVP deserves as much screen time as anyone at ESPN. If you know anything about him, this kind of stuff is right down his alley. He's plugged in to more than just the stats and superficial stuff.
 
#42      

ILL in IA

Iowa City
I hope the rest of the team is motivated to go out and play each week while Mikey can't. Rally around him and do him right.
 
#44      

TownieMatt

CU Expat
Chicago
Awesome for SVP to do that segment. This isn't a national story, but you can tell it was important to him to include it.

I think we can all relate to Mikey's situation. Life is rarely fair, but it's how you respond to adversity that matters. Luckily, we all know Mike has the determination to excel at whatever he decides to do after football. All the best young fella!
 
#45      
This is such a statistical aberration that it makes me wonder if one of his previous injuries was mismanaged by this or the previous staff, leaving him more susceptible to future injury.

I just feel awful for the guy.

I can assure you this was not the case.

Also, this injury is to his right left knee, while the others were to his left right.
 
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#46      
At a time when there are so many negative stories in sports and ESPN suffering through a long list of problems, it is so refreshing to see great, make that outstanding personal stories about Mike Dudek and a tip of the cap from Scott Van Pelt. Both are class individuals.
 
#47      

Deleted member 631370

D
Guest
Put a #18 patch on the front of every jersey - let's use this as motivation to play our hardest every single play. Just like he did.

Best of luck Mike.

That seems like a great tribute to him. I'd love to see the team do that.
 
#48      
Just the toughest of bad breaks. If he could stay healthy I'd think he'd have a bright future in the NFL as a slot guy in the mold of Wes Welker/Victor Cruz et al.

Terrible news.
 
#49      
There’s really no perfect thing to say when something like this happens to yet again take away the opportunity to play the game someone loves ... but this young ,an has handled everything (good and bad) as best can be expected .... and he has taken full advantage of his free education (which far too many kids don’t do under similar circumstances) ... so I feel very good about his future moving forward ... God Bless .
 
#50      
So incredibly sad to hear. Though I know it's incredibly unlikely, I will keep my fingers crossed that Mikey can play football again. The kid is so talented and has such an awesome attitude; he deserved a much better set of luck.

As others have said, SVP's tribute was awesome, and I hope this really inspires the team to at least never, ever back down/give in this year.