From Illinois High Schools to the Super Bowl LX Spotlight

Sunday night will feature at least two former Illinois high school football players celebrating a championship. Both the Patriots and Seahawks have guys on the team who graduated from high school in Illinois. If neither Seattle nor New England are teams you root for, maybe you could get excited about these five guys who attended high school in the Land of Lincoln.

Vedarian Lowe – T, Patriots

Lowe was born and raised in Rockford, Illinois and went to Auburn High School. Then he played college football at the University of Illinois, and was drafted in 2022 by New England.

Robert Spillane – LB, Patriots

Spillane is from Oak Park, Illinois and attended Fenwick High School before playing in college at Western Michigan. He was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Titans, and had played for the Steelers, and Raiders before signing with the Patriots last spring.

Julian Love – S, Seahawks

From Westchester, Illinois and Nazareth Academy in LaGrange Park, Illinois, Love played collegiately for Notre Dame and was drafted by the Giants in 2019, before signing with the Seahawks in March of 2023.

Rylie Mills – DE, Seahawks

Mills is from Lake Bluff, Illinois, and attended Lake Forest High School. He played in college at Notre Dame before being drafted by the Seahawks in 2025.

Eric Saubert – TE, Seahawks

Born in Chicago, Saubert played ball and graduated from Hoffman Estates High school. He went to college at Drake University, and was drafted in the 2017 draft by the Falcons. He has bounced around the league playing with 10 different teams, signing with the Seahawks last March.

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NFL Super Bowl rings are coming to Illinois regardless of who wins Sunday night. Will Fenwick and Auburn get the buff? Or will Nazareth Academy, Hoffman Estates and Lake Forest high celebrate an alumnus victory? Either way, Illinois is well represented in this year’s NFL finale.