Josh Whitman. For most fans, this name rings a bell as one of the greatest tight ends in Fighting Illini football history, an amazing scholar-athlete, or even an NFL player, but that is his past life. Now after returning to his alma mater for three years in the nationally renowned law program, he is ready to take on the next course of his life.

Whitman started his accomplishments while in high school, lettering in both basketball and football and graduating as Harrison High School's valedictorian with a 4.0 GPA. On the field, Whitman was named Region IV Most Valuable Player and a North-South All Star his senior year. In the classroom, he represented his class as Student Body President and as a member of the National Honor Society. Nothing seemed to be too much to handle for Whitman.

These accomplishments allowed him to prepare for the next portion of his life at the University of Illinois. Whitman was a four-year starting tight end for the Fighting Illini, and ended his career with 52 receptions and seven touchdowns. He was a two-time Verizon/CoSida Academic All-American and named the 1999 Fighting Illini Scholar-Athlete of the Year. His senior year, Whitman had the honor of delivering the NCAA Scholar-Athlete Award speech at the College Football Hall of Fame Banquet in New York in front of a crowd of "who's who" in college football.

Whitman was not just at Illinois to play football. He made the most of his opportunity to continue his education. He majored in finance in a nationally ranked program and graduated magna cum laude with a 3.99 GPA in only three and a half years. When not in the classroom or on the field, Whitman also found time to serve on the Illinois Athletic Advisory Board and the Director's Athletic Board which consists of a faculty senate committee that included deans from several colleges and members of the board of trustees.

After receiving his degree, Whitman would go on to a four-year career as a tight end in the NFL for the Buffalo Bills, San Diego Chargers, Seattle Seahawks and Miami Dolphins.

Whitman knew that after getting his undergraduate degree, he wanted to play professional football as long as he could. But knowing that making a longstanding career in football was slim, he began thinking about what to do next.

"I knew I was going to go back to school, but I wasn't sure for what," Whitman said. "So I gave myself a lot of time to think about it. I compared the MBA program to the law school program. I thought about which degree would most fit my interests. I felt like law school would give me a lot of flexibility down the road to do a lot of different things."

At this point in his life, after deciding to walk away from professional football, it seemed that he had already accomplished so many amazing experiences to last a couple of lifetimes. But sitting down and doing nothing was not an option. Whitman enrolled in the University of Illinois College of Law School in the fall of 2005. After his first year of law school, he interned at Foley and Lardner LLP in Milwaukee. He was able to represent their Major League Baseball account. Whitman also worked during his first year in law school for the University of Illinois' Athletic Department as the Coordinator of Special Projects being mostly involved with the Memorial Stadium renovation project.

Whitman would follow in suit with his past and excel in the classroom. He graduated this spring and has left with impressive achievements, awarded the Rickert Award for Excellence in Academic Achievement and Excellence in Legal Writing. The Rickert Award Program was established in the fall of 1976 after a distinguished lawyer who practiced law in southern Illinois. The Rickert Award Program is considered the most prestigious awards program conducted by the College of Law.

Also, in his last year of law school, Whitman's article, "Winning at all Costs: Using Law & Economics to Determine the Proper Role of Government in Regulating the Use of Performance Enhancing Drugs in Professional Sports," was awarded the U of I Law Review's Best Note Award and was nominated by the College of Law for the Burton Award for Legal Achievement, a national legal writing award.

Whitman will next be taking a one-year assignment as a law clerk in Lafayette, Ind. for 7th Circuit Court of Appeals Justice Michael Kanne. If things go well, he would like to follow that with another clerkship at the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. Although Whitman is currently interested in law, it would not be surprising to see him pursuing a career in college sports administration in the future.

"College sports is something that I believe in very much," he said. "I believe in the mission of college athletics and the opportunity that we give people to get an education who maybe otherwise wouldn't have it. Working in that capacity would really excite me down the road."

Whatever route Whitman decides to take on in his future, he will do everything he can to be successful at it. And with his past record, the odds are in his favor.

"I take a lot of pride when I undertake something," he said. "Doing whatever it is to do the best that I can. It's a personal pride thing. It's one of the things I've tried to live by. Whenever I get really busy, its being able put one step in front of the other. You push through it. It's the only way that I know how to do things."