Jul. 5—CHAMPAIGN — Summer workouts are part of the deal for Illinois football. A necessary piece of preseason preparation.
But once each session, the workouts become so much more — a Lift for Life. With the goal of raising money to fight rare diseases.
The Illinois chapter of Uplifting Athletes started in 2012 and continues to go strong.
On Thursday, the 120 participating Illinois football players split into teams and competed in a handful of different exercises, including a giant sled push inside the Irwin Indoor Practice Facility on the UI campus.
Illinois senior linebacker Luke Zardzin was one of the leaders of the Illinois group.
The honor was passed to him two years ago.
“At first, I was like, ‘OK, good resume booster,” the three-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree said.
A visit to the Uplifting Athletes base in Philadelphia showed Zardzin it is so much more.
“I really fell in love with the organization,” he said. “I thought it was a really cool movement. It’s really good for college athletes especially. A lot of times, we have tunnel vision. We don’t really think about other perspectives. It’s just a great way in the middle of the summer to bring this different perspective.”
Zardzin, a native of Mount Prospect in the Chicago suburbs, enjoys being a leader.
“It’s in my hands,” he said. “I feel like I need to do the best I can. It’s kind of like when you’re doing a group project. You’re not doing it for yourself. You’re doing it for everybody around you.”
With one of last year’s leaders, Miles Scott, unable to continue in that role, senior defensive back Grayson Griffin jumped in.
“I was lucky enough to get asked to fill Miles’ spot,” said Griffin, a two-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree from Aurora.
“Nobody has ever had anything but positive things to say about it,” Griffin said.
Lending a hand
How do the athletes raise money?
“It’s all on us. It’s all on our team to reach out to people,” Zardzin said. “We’ve got the link. We send it out to people. We find donors. We do anything we can to get some more money.”
Illinois is coming off a 10-win season, the first at the school since 2001. Unshockingly, donors are more willing to help, and donations were way up for this year’s event.
“People love to help out, especially when you’re on the highest of highs,” Griffin said.
“This is the most money we’ve raised in the last five or so years,” Zardzin added.
This year — with money still coming in — the total is at $4,500 with a goal of $6,000. That’s up from $2,500 in 2023.
“It’s been easier on me and Grayson,” Zardzin said.
With Zardzin and Griffin in their final season, new blood will need to step up in 2026. Zardzin has some ideas.
“Aidan Laughery would be a great guy for this,” Zardzin said of the Illini running back. “He’s got the local connections in Gibson City. He would do a great job with this.”
Since 2012, the Illinois chapter has raised more than $100,000.
One more time
Coming off his most productive season at Illinois, Zardzin is looking forward to 2025. A special teams contributor the last two seasons, Zardzin had his most productive game with three tackles and a pass breakup during the Illini’s 38-28 win against Northwestern last November at Wrigley Field.
“Summer’s been great,” he said. “The team’s looking really good. We’re coming together.”
Lift for Life is part of it.
At Thursday’s event, players dressed up in different themes for the six different competitions.
“We’re getting workouts in, but we’re doing it for a good cause,” Griffin said. “It’s a blast.”
Zardzin’s team did no win the competition. Neither did Griffin’s team. So much the benefit of inside knowledge.
“We struggled (Thursday),” Zardzin said, “but we had a good time.”