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Fred Biletnikoff
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Fred Biletnikoff | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Date of birth | February 23, 1943 (age 64) |
| Place of birth |  Erie, Pennsylvania |
| Position(s) | Wide Receiver |
| College | Florida State |
| NFL Draft | 1965 / Round 3/ Pick 39 |
| AFL Draft | 1965 / Round 2 |
| Career Highlights | |
| Pro Bowls | AFL All-Star 1968, 1970 NFL Pro Bowl 1971, 1972, 1974, 1975 |
| Awards | Super Bowl XI MVP |
| Stats | |
| Statistics | |
| Team(s) | |
| 1965-1969 1970-1978 1980 |
AFL Oakland Raiders NFL Oakland Raiders CFL Montreal Alouettes |
| College Hall of Fame | |
| Pro Football Hall of Fame, 1988 | |
Frederick S. Biletnikoff (born February 23, 1943 in Erie, Pennsylvania) is a retired American football player and NFL coach. His position was wide receiver.
Contents |
Biletnikoff was the first consensus All-American football player at Florida State University. After college, he was drafted by the Oakland Raiders in the second round of the 1965 American Football League draft, and by the Detroit Lions in the third round of the 1965 NFL Draft. Biletnikoff signed with the Raiders, and he spent his entire AFL/NFL playing career in Oakland, retiring from the league after the 1978 season. He also played one season (1980) with the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League.
Biletnikoff was known as a wily, sure-handed receiver who made clutch catches to keep crucial drives alive. He had an uncanny ability to get open, even when everyone in the stadium knew that the ball was coming his way. He was famous for using liberal quantities of Stickum on his hands to improve his chances of catching a pass. He also tended to not wear any knee pads.
Biletnikoff's career total of 589 receptions is relatively unimpressive by today's standards, but it was a remarkable considering he would regularily smoke two packs of cigarettes per day. Also, this achievement is even more remarkable considering the more run-oriented offenses in the 60s and 70s, when the regular season was only 14 games long. The same can be said of his record of 10 straight seasons with 40 or more receptions. He played in both Super Bowls II and XI, in which he was named MVP. He also played in five AFC Championships, three American Football League title games, four Pro Bowls and two American Football League All-Star games.
Biletnikoff began his career in coaching soon after his retirement. He served on the coaching staff of the Orange Glen High School (1982), Palomar Junior College (1983), Diablo Valley Junior College (1984), Oakland Invaders (1985), Arizona Wranglers (1986) and Calgary Stampeders (1987-88).
In 1991, Biletnikoff was voted into the College Football Hall of Fame. The Fred Biletnikoff Award, awarded annually to the best wide receiver in college football since 1994, was named in his honor.
He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on July 30, 1988. In 1999, he was ranked number 94 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Football Players.
On January 31, 2007 Biletnikoff retired as the wide receivers coach for the Oakland Raiders, which had been his role for 10 seasons. His retirement ended an 18 year coaching career with the Raiders.
- Biography on raiders.com [1]
- Pro Football Hall of Fame: Member profile
| Preceded by Lynn Swann |
NFL Super Bowl MVPs Super Bowl XI, 1977 |
Succeeded by Randy White Harvey Martin |
Categories: 1943 births | Living people | AFL All-Star players | American Conference Pro Bowl players | American football wide receivers | Florida State Seminoles football players | Lambda Chi Alpha brothers | Oakland Raiders (AFL) players | Oakland Raiders players | Montreal Alouettes players | People from Erie, Pennsylvania | Pro Football Hall of Fame | Russian-Americans | Super Bowl MVPs