Celebrating his 50th birthday Tuesday is former Fighting Illini football starter Arael Doolittle.
He came to the University of Illinois after a two-year junior college stint at Cisco, located between Fort Worth and Abilene, Texas.
A native of Columbus, Ohio, Doolittle was a starter for Coach Mike White’s Illini in 1986 and ’87. Standing 6-foot-4 and weighing 300 pounds, he and Tom Schertz manned Illinois’ two tackle positions.
Though the Illini were sub-.500 teams both years, they lost six games by eight points or fewer.
Doolittle received a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts and communications in 1988.