Bliefnick removed from QU Sports Hall of Fame; is McClain’s removal from QU Legal Hall of Fame next?

June 24, 2023 | By J. Robert Gough, Publisher

Tim Bliefnick, left, was selected for the Quincy University Athletic Hall of Fame in 2019, the same year Mike McClain was named to the QU Legal Hall of Fame.

QUINCY — Tim Bliefnick graduated from Quincy University in 2005 and played football for the Hawks as a student-athlete.

He was good enough to be named an All-American and be selected for the school’s Sports Hall of Fame in 2019. The following paragraph is from a QU news release announcing the school’s induction class for that year:

Tim Bliefnick ’05 was a linebacker on the football team and finished with 287 career tackles, fourth-best in school history. His 104 tackles as a senior in 2004 rank fourth all-time in a single season. Bliefnick also was named to the NAIA All-American second team and the Don Hansen All-Region first team that season. Bliefnick was named to numerous all-conference teams during his career and was an NAIA All-American Scholar-Athlete. Bliefnick was a four-time recipient of the Kevin and Sue Breheny Scholarship, and he received the Mart Heinen Award his senior year, given to the most outstanding male and female senior athletes at Quincy University.
QU Sports Information

Now as Bleifnick resides in the Adams County Jail and awaits his August 11 sentencing following the guilty conviction of him killing his estranged wife, Becky, QU’s Sports Hall of Fame Committee voted this month to remove him from the Hall. The vote was taken at the urging of QU administration.

Tim Bliefnick’s murder trial, which garnered national media coverage including CourtTV, highlighted his association with the university.

The university appeared to have already begun laying the groundwork for Bliefnick’s removal once he was arrested on March 13.

His 2019 class was listed, but his name had already been removed. You can still Google for the information and find a link, but when you click Tim Bliefnick (2019) – Hall of Fame – Quincy University Athletics, you get:

Bliefnick’s name was listed in the program for this year’s Hall of Fame induction ceremony on April 15.

QU Spokesman Matt Bergman said he didn’t “expect to have new information regarding this situation until after July 3.”

QU also has a legal Hall of Fame. Michael McClain, a retired state representative, attorney and lobbyist from Quincy, was inducted on April 27, 2019.

FBI agents raided McClain’s Quincy home on May 14, 2019, and McClain was charged by the federal government with nine counts of conspiracy bribery and falsifying records in connection with Commonwealth Edison’s relationship with the office of then-Illinois Speaker of the House Michael Madigan, McClain’s long-time friend. McClain and three others were found guilty on those felony charges last month.

McClain also faces federal racketeering and bribery charges along with Madigan in connection with AT&T’s lobbying efforts. That trial is set for 2024.

McClain was a member of the Quincy University Board of Trustees, but his term expired in May 2019 — the same month as the FBI raid on his home. He did not return to the board.

Bergman did say earlier this month the university’s Athletic Hall of Fame was expected to take up the Bliefnick issue. However, he did not say if the QU Legal Hall of Fame Committee would consider the same action regarding McClain.

“The Legal Hall of Fame Selection Committee meets during the academic year, with its next meeting anticipated for September 2023,” Bergman wrote. “The draft agenda and date for the next committee meeting will not be available prior to the start of the 2023 fall semester.”