Seven Redbird Greats Named To MVFC 40th Anniversary Team
ST LOUIS – A total of seven Illinois State football standouts have been voted among the best in Missouri Valley Football Conference history, as the league announced its 40th Anniversary Team on Tuesday. For 40 days, fans voted to recognize the league's all-time best players, with more than 2,000 ballots cast.
Founded in 1985, the MVFC is the nation's premier NCAA FCS conference and capped its 40th season with its 14th NCAA Division I FCS title on Jan. 6, 2025, won by North Dakota State.
There's not much that has eluded the MVFC in its first 40 seasons of competition. The league's first four decades have included national championships, national players of the year, national coaches of the year, No. 1 national rankings, and countless All-Americans. NDSU earned five-straight national championships from 2011-15 and three-straight from 2017-19. The league also has NCAA titles in 1997 (YSU), 2002 (WKU), 2021 and 2024 (NDSU), and 2022 and 2023 (SDSU).
40TH ANNIVERSARY TEAM SELECTIONS FROM ILLINOIS STATE (AS VOTED BY FANS)
Boomer Grigsby, LB, 2001-04
Tre Roberson, QB, 2013-15
Marshaun Coprich, RB, 2012-15
James Robinson, RB, 2016-19
Laurént Robinson, WR, 2003-06
James O'Shaughnessy, TE, 2010-14
JT Bohlken, P, 2017-21
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