University of Illinois QB1 Wes Lunt is aware of his parody Twitter account (@WesLunt12), but he does not follow it, as the quarterback does not have Twitter. For many, like this author for instance, having a parody Twitter account would be considered a compliment.
Provided of course, the account was clever, funny, and kept things above board. The previous Wes Lunt parody account, in operation while the signal caller was at Oklahoma State, didn’t play nice.
“I was pretty up to date on that (Fake Wes Lunt account). We also had one at Oklahoma State and we had to shut it down,” Lunt said because it was calling out people, it was calling out Matt Barkley for Heisman and stuff.”
“I think the one at Illinois has been a little bit better, I know our media guys kind of try to keep it under control if it gets too much.
So there you go, Fake Wes Lunt, you’ve been warned. Cross the line and you’ll be kaput. I also asked Lunt if he feels that it’s a compliment, the idea of someone making the effort and putting in the time to create a fake Twitter account.
“I guess, if that’s what they want to do. I feel like they they should just be themselves,” he responded. The entire conversation is below with the Twitter parody account topic beginning around the 5:30 mark.
https://soundcloud.com/p-m-banks/more-wes-lunt-b1g-media-day
Lunt was the seventh-ranked quarterback in the nation when he came out of Rochester, Illinois in 2012, and while he’s performed well and been efficient during his college football career, he has yet to put up big numbers or win awards. This fall will be the last chance for the senior.
The Illini quarterback is just as unimpressed by motivational team slogans as he is by fake Twitter accounts. Asked if sloganeering is overrated Lunt gave a fantastically accurate response.
“I feel like if you need a slogan to get going, then you might not want to do it,“ Lunt responded.
College football slogans can come off trite and meat-headed even when done well, and in the Tim Beckman era, the slogans were nothing short of disastrous (WINT, OSKEE). So it’s not surprising that the face of Illini football, from a player stand point, wouldn’t be too high on “hang in there” cat poster type talk.
Besides, Wes Lunt seems too business like, mature and professional for these kinds of things. He certainly has NFL aspirations and potential, but he also aspires to be an Athletic Director someday. He’s already done marketing and sales internships within the University ticket office.
I appeared on CLTV’s “Sports Feed” at WGN Studios with Jarrett Payton. We discussed Illini football, Lovie Smith and Wes Lunt. Video below:
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes regularly to the Chicago Tribune’s RedEye publication and Bold Global.
He also consistently appears on numerous radio and television talk shows all across the country. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram and Sound Cloud.