VIDEO: Full Milo Eifler Zoom Media Conference

The Illini Now/Sports Illustrated presents the full 50-minute Zoom video media conference with Illinois linebacker Milo Eifler from Wednesday.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- The Illini Now/Sports Illustrated presents the full 50-minute Zoom video media conference with Illinois linebacker Milo Eifler from Wednesday. 

Some highlights: 

The projected starting linebacker was asked if he may consider taking a pass on the 2020 season if plans proceeded without a vaccine being available and distributed. 

"I don't know. That's kind of why I started this and [an Illinois athletics spokesperson] asked me if I wanted to talk [to media] today and I said, 'Hell yeah'," Eifler said. "If there was a vaccine? Of course, [if there was a vaccine] all college football players would be like, 'Put me in right now'. In the back of your head, you're like ,'There's no vaccine, there's no way to, there's quarantining and after the quarantining, I guess I'm okay so I won't catch the virus again.' But then there's long-term effects. There's always this back and forth, you know what I'm saying? From the bottom of my heart, I love football. I want to play with my guys...all of that coming from an athlete. But then, coming from the personal side, there's questions like, 'What if I catch it and I can't go see my parents anymore?' That's kind of where I'm at right now." 

Eifler is on the phone daily with his mother Rachel Morello-Frosch, who has a master’s and doctorate degree in public health and is a research professor at University of California-Berkeley in the school’s department of public health.

Eifler, a transfer from Washington who is originally from California, had 12 starts in 13 games last season for the Illini defense. The 6-foot-2, 225-pound linebacker finished the 2020 campaign with 69 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, one pass broken up and one fumble recovery. Eifler, who is a native of Berkeley, Calif., had a sack in front of his home state fans on the first defensive play of the game in the 2019 Redbox Bowl loss to California.