Alex Kube, Former Cary-Grove and NIU Football Star, Dies at Age 29

A former Cary-Grove football standout, who went on to play for Northern Illinois University and start his own athletic training facility, has died at age 29.

Alex Kube was pronounced dead at Mercy Health in Rockford at 11:50 p.m. on Wednesday and the cause of his death was not listed, according to the Daily Herald. Winnebago County Coroner Bill Hintz told the newspaper the results of his autopsy are “pending further studies."

Kube trained many athletes in the McHenry area at his Elite 7 facility before he moved his business to Rockford last year, the Daily Chronicle reports. Kube, who lived in Rockford at the time of his death, was a current defensive backs coach at Rockford East High School and is remembered for his sparkling personality, his generosity and his success on and off the football field.

“Alex played the game with an unbelievable amount of passion,” former NIU teammate Pat Schiller told the newspaper. “The one word that sticks out to me when thinking about our time together was ‘passion.’ He was one of the most emotional players I’ve ever played with. ... There’s truly not enough words that can describe the type of man, player and most importantly, friend that he was. He touched so many of us, and we will all miss him.”

While at Cary-Grove, the 2006 C-G graduate helped drive the football program’s success. The Daily Herald reports:

Kube was among the core group of players responsible for transforming a then-mediocre Cary-Grove football program into a perennial powerhouse. He was a linebacker/safety on the 2004-05 Cary-Grove squad that finished runner-up to Libertyville in Class 7A.

During his senior year at Cary-Grove, he was named the Trojans’ team captain and MVP, Larry Myer Defensive Player Award recipient, first team All-Fox Valley Conference, first team Northwest Herald All-Area and Player of the Year, first team Daily Herald Fox Valley All-Area and team co-captain, first team Chicago Sun-Times All-Area, second team Chicago Tribune All-State, first team Champaign News-Gazette All-State, and first team IFCA All-State, according to a bio on the Elite 7 website.

Kube is also credited with helping lead Rockford East’s football team as a coach.

"He made a huge difference. He taught those guys how to play the right way," Griffin told the newspaper."He was definitely a spoke in our tire. We wouldn't have had the success we had without him.”

The Rockford Register Star reports:

East went from 5-31 the previous five years to 4-5 this season after head coach Gary Griffin hired Kube to coach the E-Rab defensive backs. East was the only conference team to beat co-champion Boylan, ending a 27-year losing streak to the Titans. The E-Rabs also ended a conference-record 30-year losing streak to Belvidere in the season finale to knock the Bucs out of the playoffs.

As a freshman at NIU, Kube earned All-American accolades from the Sporting News and ranked second in the nation in tackles among first-year players with 111. He became the first freshman to lead NIU in tackles in 31 years despite sitting out the season finale, according to his bio on the NIU website.

During his senior year, he started all 14 games as a side linebacker.

Following his senior year at NIU, Kube was invited to the Minnesota Viking’s rookie camp and had a tryout with the Chicago Bears. He also played with the Arena Football League’s Chicago Rush.

He went on to start Elite 7, which focused on football training, sports specific training and personal training.

Photo credit: Elite 7 website