Mike Dudek (born August 21, 1995) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

wide receiver known for his time with the

Illinois Fighting Illini The Illinois Fighting Illini () are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The university offers 10 men's and 11 women's varsity sports. The University operates a number of athletic faci ...

. As a true freshman, Dudek broke Illinois' school record for receiving yards by a freshman, previously set by

Arrelious Benn Arrelious Markus Benn (born September 8, 1988) is a former American football wide receiver. He was drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the second round of the 2010 NFL Draft. He played college football for the University of Illinois Fightin ...

in 2007.

High school

During his senior season, Dudek recorded 2,361 yards of

Total offense Total offense (or total offence) is a gridiron football statistic representing the total number of yards rushing and yards passing by a team or player. Total offense differs from yards from scrimmage, which gives credit for passing yardage to the ...

, averaging 196.8 yards per game, and caught 23 TDs. This earned Dudek the Upstate Eight Conference Player of the Year award in 2013 and 1st Team All-State honors from the ''

News-Gazette ''The News-Gazette'' may refer to: * ''The News-Gazette'' (Champaign–Urbana), a daily newspaper serving the Champaign–Urbana Metropolitan Area and Danville, Illinois * ''The News-Gazette'' (Winchester, Indiana), a daily newspaper based in Wi ...

'', ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

'', and IHSFCA. Despite these honors, Dudek's only received two

Football Championship Subdivision The NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly known as Division I-AA, is the second-highest level of college football in the United States, after the Football Bowl Subdivision. Sponsored by the National Collegiate Athleti ...

offers, from

North Dakota State North Dakota State University (NDSU, formally North Dakota State University of Agriculture and Applied Sciences) is a public land-grant research university in Fargo, North Dakota. It was founded as North Dakota Agricultural College in 1890 as th ...

and

Illinois State Illinois State University (ISU) is a Public university, public university in Normal, Illinois. Founded in 1857 as Illinois State Normal University, it is the oldest public university in Illinois. The university emphasizes teaching and is reco ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

was Dudek's only Football Bowl Subdivision scholarship offer and he was primarily recruited by

Mike Bellamy Michael Sinclair Bellamy II (born June 28, 1966) is a former American football wide receiver who played in the National Football League (NFL) for the Philadelphia Eagles from 1990] to 1991. He is currently the running backs coach for the Illinoi ...

College career

Dudek enrolled early at Illinois and participated in spring 2014 practices, impressing coaches and drawing early comparisons to

Wes Welker Wesley Carter Welker (born May 1, 1981) is an American football coach and former wide receiver who is the wide receivers coach for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as an assistant coach for the San ...

. After Illinois' week 2 win over

Western Kentucky Western Kentucky is the western portion of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It generally includes part or all of several more widely recognized regions of the state. ;Always included * The Jackson Purchase, the state's westernmost generally recogniz ...

in which Dudek had four receptions for 55 yards and a touchdown, he was named

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

Freshman of the Week. Later in the season Dudek was named to the

Biletnikoff Award The Fred Biletnikoff Award is presented annually to the most outstanding receiver in American college football by the Tallahassee Quarterback Club Foundation, Inc. (TQCF), an independent not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization. The award was creat ...

watch list. The Biletnikoff Award is awarded annually to the most outstanding receiver in American college football. In the October 4th game at home against

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

, Dudek became the fourth player in school history to catch at least 200 yards in a game, joining Steve Hull, A. J. Jenkins, and College Football Hall of Fame Inductee David Williams. At the end of the 2014 season, Dudek led all

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

freshmen in receptions and receiving yards. In 2015 spring workouts, Dudek tore his ACL and was medically

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

, ending his season.

Statistics

Through the end of the 2017 regular season, Dudek's statistics are as follows:

Personal life

Due to his physical stature as a wide receiver, Dudek oftentimes draws comparisons to

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

wideout

. Dudek has also been timed running as fast as

receiver

Brandon Marshall Brandon Tyrone Marshall (born March 23, 1984) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver for 13 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the UCF Knights, and was drafted by ...

at . Dudek has an older brother, Danny, who played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

for

Dayton Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Da ...

References

External links

Illinois Fighting Illini bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dudek, Mike 1995 births Living people Players of American football from Naperville, Illinois American football wide receivers Illinois Fighting Illini football players