Tricks Of The Trade: College Football's Biggest Pranskter

University of Illinois linebacker Brit Miller has seen it all.  As a freshman in 2005, Miller watched as his teammates suffered through a 2-9 season. 

He started four games that year and had a career high 12 tackles against Northwestern, including his first career sack. 

In 2006, Miller’s team finished at 2-10 and had trouble seeing any improvement heading into the 2007 season.

However, the Illini became one of the hottest teams of 2007, upsetting Big Ten rival and No. 1-ranked Ohio State 28-21 at Ohio Stadium. 

Miller registered three solo tackles in that game, helping the defense force three turnovers and keep highly touted running back Chris Wells under 80 yards rushing. 

Miller, despite his stellar play in last year’s Rose Bowl, has never been considered a leader on the field.  It becomes a whole different story off of it.

The 6-foot-1, 250-pound senior from Decatur considers himself the team prankster.  Stopping at nothing to keep the Illini loose, Miller is always on the lookout for the next person to frustrate.

“This is kind of an ongoing one right now,” he explained.  “We’ll switch name plates with the freshmen [who] don’t really notice it because [it’s their] locker, so [they] keep getting notes from the coaches and they don’t know why.” 

Lockers are prime targets for pranks, especially sophomore quarterback Eddie McGee’s.  “The other day we stuffed anything we could in [his] locker, including a bicycle.  He was pretty mad when he came in the next morning.  We were loving it.”

Young players aren’t the only ones who Miller likes to mess with.  The face of the team, junior quarterback Juice Williams, once found his helmet stuck to his head.  “I mess with Juice all the time,” said Miller.

“Every now and then we get this sticky spray that you [usually] put on a brace and we’ll spray it in someone’s helmet and earpieces.  If you put the thing on while it’s still dry you’re just stuck until you start sweating.  It’s hilarious.  Every guy had their helmets on during warm-ups and [couldn’t] get it off.  Coach says ‘take off your helmet’ and they say ‘I can’t, Coach.’”

Luckily for Miller, the Illini are a close team after last season and knows his teammates can handle all of his different surprises. 

“There’s always skirmishes,” he said.  “We invite those openly.  If you get mad about stuff like that, we have ways to get discrepancies out.  Every Wednesday night, we have fight night, like wrestling matches.”

Heading into his final season in Champaign, Miller has some big shoes to fill.  Last year’s star middle linebacker, J Leman, has taken his ability to the NFL. 

Can Miller handle all of the pressure with the expectations higher than ever and the team coming off a Rose Bowl appearance? 

“You don’t want to [mess] with this guy,” he said. 

Otherwise, you might find a bicycle in your locker the next morning.