Fred Biletnikoff
 Fred Biletnikoff at an autograph show in 2003 |
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No. 14, 25
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| Wide Receiver | |||||||||
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Personal information
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| Date of birth: February 23, 1943 | |||||||||
| Place of birth: Erie, Pennsylvania | |||||||||
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Career information
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| High school: Erie (PA) Technical Memorial | |||||||||
| College: Florida State | |||||||||
| NFL Draft: 1965 / Round: 3 / Pick: 39 | |||||||||
| Debuted in 1965 for the Oakland Raiders | |||||||||
| Last played in 1978 for the Oakland Raiders | |||||||||
| Made coaching debut in 1980 for the Montreal Alouettes | |||||||||
| Last coached in 2006 for the Oakland Raiders | |||||||||
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Career history
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As coach:
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Career highlights and awards
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Career NFL statistics
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| Pro Football Hall of Fame | |||||||||
| College Football Hall of Fame | |||||||||
Frederick S. "Fred" Biletnikoff (born February 23, 1943) is a former American football wide receiver and coach. He spent the majority of his professional playing and coaching days with the Oakland Raiders. Biletnikoff retired as an NFL player after the 1978 season, and played one additional season in the Canadian Football League for the Montreal Alouettes.
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Early years [edit]
Biletnikoff was born and raised in Erie, Pennsylvania, by Russian parents who emigrated to the US during the Russian Civil War. In Erie, he attended what was then Technical Memorial High School and is now Central Tech. The Central Tech field is now named Fred Biletnikoff athletic field.
Turning down other notable offers Biletnikoff chose Florida State University, where he was a member of the Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity.
Playing career [edit]
Biletnikoff was the first consensus All-American to play for Florida State University. After graduating from Florida State he was drafted by the Oakland Raiders in the second round of the 1965 American Football League draft and Detroit Lions in the third round. Biletnikoff signed with the Raiders where he played until retiring at the end of the 1978 season. He also played one season (1980) with the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League.
In high school he excelled in football, basketball, baseball and track and field earning 1st team recognition his senior year on Pennsylvania's all-state football and basketball teams. He was later honored along with other HS football greats Tony Dorsett, Joe Montana and Mike Ditka to the all-time 1st team Pennsylvania football team.
At Florida State, Biletnikoff missed several games his first varsity season (as a sophomore—freshmen were not eligible) with a broken foot. He played on both sides of the ball his junior season (1963), leading the team in receptions and interceptions and taking an interception 99 yards for a touchdown (off a pass thrown by George Mira of the Miami Hurricanes), a record that held until another NFL Hall of Famer, Deion Sanders, broke the record by one yard in 1995.
Biletnikoff's NFL career total of 589 receptions and record 10 straight seasons of 40 or more receptions is even more impressive when it is taken in account that he played most of his career when teams' emphasized running the ball over passing it down field and 13 of his seasons were played in 14 game regular seasons. He played in the second AFL-NFL World Championship game and in Super Bowl XI, in which he was named MVP. In 1969, he was selected to the Sporting News AFL All-League Team. He also played in three American Football League title games, two American Football League All-Star games, five AFC Championships, and four AFC–NFC Pro Bowls.
Coaching career [edit]
Biletnikoff began his career in coaching soon after his retirement from playing. He served on the coaching staff of the Orange Glen High School (1982), Palomar College (1983), Diablo Valley College (1984), Oakland Invaders (1985), Arizona Wranglers (1986) and Calgary Stampeders (1987–88).
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.
Fred Biletnikoff, Jr. is currently the Offensive Coordinator/Assistant Head Coach of the Arena Football League team, the Spokane Shock. Biletnikoff was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1988 and was voted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1991. The Fred Biletnikoff Award, awarded annually to the best wide receiver in college football since 1994, was named in his honor. In 1999, Biletnikoff was ranked number 94 on The Sporting News' list of the "100 Greatest Football Players".
Personal Life [edit]
Fred's daughter, Tracey was murdered on February 15th, 1999, which led Fred to start the Tracey Biletnikoff Foundation.
Awards [edit]
1978 – Fred Biletnikoff Award
See also [edit]
External links [edit]
- Biletnikoff's 1965 Topps football card
- Pro Football Hall of Fame profile
- The Pennsylvania Football News All-Century Team
- Gallery of Fred Biletnikoff football cards
| Awards | ||
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| Preceded by Lynn Swann |
NFL Super Bowl MVPs Super Bowl XI, 1977 |
Succeeded by Randy White Harvey Martin |
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- 1943 births
- Living people
- All-American college football players
- American Football League All-Star players
- American Football League All-League players
- American Conference Pro Bowl players
- Players of American football from Pennsylvania
- American football wide receivers
- College Football Hall of Fame inductees
- Florida State Seminoles football players
- Montreal Alouettes players
- Oakland Raiders (AFL) players
- Oakland Raiders players
- People from Erie, Pennsylvania
- Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees
- American people of Russian descent
- Super Bowl MVPs
- Montreal Alouettes coaches
- Calgary Stampeders coaches
