Painless Podcast

The FadeAway with Deon Thomas and Eric Schmidt - Episode 8 Steve Raquel, President of the Council of Chiefs and 29th Chief Illiniwek (1993) For Fighting Illini fans, the “War Chant” music has been synonymous with Illinois athletics for nearly 40 years. As of August 2017, the University of Illinois announced the chant is no more. With this backdrop, we recently saw protests and unrest at the university, as the 2017 Homecoming Parade was interrupted by Chief protesters. Steve Raquel, the 29th Chief Illiniwek, and current President of the Council of Chiefs, joins Deon and Eric to share insight into the University’s decision on the War Chant, as well as some history on Chief Illiniwek and how the Chief was “retired” in 2007. Deon also shares his views, as a former Illini athlete. The FadeAway is hosted by Deon Thomas and Eric Schmidt. Deon currently does television studio work for the Big Ten Network and radio color analysis during Fighting Illini Men’s Basketball games. Eric can be seen on the Comcast “Ga