Joe Gilliam

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Joe Gilliam
No. 17
Position:Quarterback
Personal information
Born:(1950-12-29)December 29, 1950
Charleston, West Virginia, U.S.
Died:December 25, 2000(2000-12-25) (aged 49)
Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.
Height:6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight:187 lb (85 kg)
Career information
High school:Pearl
(Nashville, TN)
College:Tennessee State
NFL draft:1972 / Round: 11 / Pick: 273
Career history
 * Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics
TDINT:9–17
Passing yards:2,103
Passer rating:53.2
Pass attempts:331
Pass completions:147
Player stats at NFL.com · PFR

Joseph Wiley Gilliam, Jr. (December 29, 1950 – December 25, 2000) was a professional football player, a quarterback with the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL) for four seasons. Primarily a backup, he started the first six games of the 1974 season.

Early years

Born in Charleston, West Virginia, Gilliam was the third of four children of Ruth and Joe Gilliam Sr. He grew up in Nashville, Tennessee, and spent many hours on the campus of Tennessee A&I State University (renamed Tennessee State University in 1968), where his father was the defensive coordinator for the Tigers football team.

Gilliam displayed his own athletic abilities at a young age, beginning at Washington Junior High School, where he participated in

tumbling, track, and basketball. In 1966, he became the starting quarterback at Pearl High School and led the squad when they played in the city's first season of integrated football. While in high school, Gilliam kept close to the Tigers program as a ball boy for home games.[1]

While at Tennessee State, he played under legendary coach

McNeese State. Trailing 16–6, Gilliam threw two touchdown passes to John Holland to take a 19–16 lead. A third touchdown pass to Ollie Smith clinched a 26–23 victory. Gilliam's teammate at Tennessee State was Ed "Too Tall" Jones
.

Professional career

Gilliam was selected by the

Oakland Raiders. After fans began demanding Terry Bradshaw's return, Gilliam was benched. He also received numerous death threats, some of them racially charged.[5] Bradshaw returned as the starter on Monday night in week 7 and led the team to a win in Super Bowl IX, the first of four Super Bowl championships with him at the helm of the offense. "He gave me my job back," Bradshaw told sportscaster James Brown on a February 2000 edition of Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel on HBO. He spent most of the 1975 season as the backup quarterback to Bradshaw but was demoted to 3rd string quarterback behind Hanratty after a poor performance at the end of the season against the Los Angeles Rams and missing some team meetings.[6][7] The 1975 season was his last on an NFL roster, as the team repeated as champions in Super Bowl X
.

Gilliam felt that his demotion was based on racial reasons. In an interview with The Tennessean a year before his death, he said "I thought if you played well, you got to play. I guess I didn't understand the significance of being a black quarterback at the time."[8] Wide receiver John Stallworth recalled that Gilliam's demotion was due to his poor on-field performance, disobeying Chuck Noll's game plan, and substance abuse issues and there was no racial motivation whatsoever on the team's part. He noted that Noll was "completely color-blind" as a coach and not racist in any way. Linebacker Andy Russell said that Gilliam was "immensely talented" as a quarterback, but unable to stay off of drugs.

The Steelers waived Gilliam prior to the 1976 preseason after he missed a team meeting.[9] He battled heroin, cocaine, and alcohol addiction on and off over the next several years and even ended up living in a cardboard box under a bridge for two years.

He was arrested in

Dixie Football League
. He played with the Blue Knights for six seasons while working the docks of New Orleans, loading and unloading barges.

In

Washington Federals.[5] Gilliam played in four games, starting two of them, throwing five touchdowns and ten interceptions. Gilliam was cut early in training camp in January 1984,[19] and retired from the sport for good. In 1986, Joe Gilliam was inducted into the American Football Association's Semi Pro Football Hall of Fame.[20]

Personal life and death

Gilliam ran a football camp for teens at Tennessee State in Nashville in mid-2000. He earned the nickname "Jefferson Street Joe" for the boulevard that runs by Tennessee State University in Nashville.[21][22]

Gilliam died of a cocaine overdose[23] on Christmas Day, 2000 shortly after watching an NFL game between the Dallas Cowboys and Tennessee Titans. He was four days away from his 50th birthday. Gilliam was sober for three years prior to his death and able to attend the final Steelers game at Three Rivers Stadium.[24][25]

Gilliam's daughter is R&B singer Joi. His ex son-in-law is rapper Big Gipp of the Goodie Mob.

References

  1. ^ "Joe Gilliam Jr. had athletic leadership skills". The African American Registry. Retrieved September 27, 2007.
  2. ^ Forbes, Dick (November 4, 1972). "Bengals' invasion puts Steeler VP in orbit". Cincinnati Enquirer. p. 33. Retrieved 2022-08-26 – via newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Joe Gilliam 1972 Game Log". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference. Retrieved 2022-08-26.
  4. ^ Blount, Roy Jr. (September 23, 1974). "Gillie was a Steeler driving man". Sports Illustrated. p. 22.
  5. ^ a b Klingaman, Mike (May 2, 1983). "Joe's doors". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. (Baltimore Evening Sun). p. 9.
  6. ^ Young, Dick (January 14, 1976). "Steelers' Gilliam...Trade me, but not to Jets". Daily News. p. 91. Retrieved 2022-08-21 – via newspapers.com.
  7. ^ Musick, Phil (January 14, 1976). "Spotlight seeks Gilliam". The Pittsburgh Press. p. 52. Retrieved 2022-08-21 – via newspapers.com.
  8. ^ Goldstein, Richard (December 27, 2000). "Joe Gilliam Is Dead at 49; Pioneer Black Quarterback". New York Times. Retrieved March 28, 2020.
  9. ^ Musick, Phil (June 4, 1976). "Steelers waive Joe Gilliam". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 12. Retrieved 2022-08-21 – via newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Gilliam to USFL". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. March 22, 1983. p. 28.
  11. ^ "Pro football: Saints cut Joe Gilliam". Wilmington (NC) Morning Star. Associated Press. September 1, 1977. p. 1-D.
  12. ^ "Ex-Steeler Gilliam quits semipro team". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Associated Press. August 9, 1978. p. 4B.
  13. ^ "Joe Gilliam arrested". Pittsburgh Press. UPI. October 13, 1978. p. B-12.
  14. ^ "BirminghamProSports.com". www.birminghamprosports.com.
  15. ^ "Joe Gilliam beaten". Pittsburgh Press. UPI. August 21, 1979. p. B-6.
  16. ^ "Former Steeler Gilliam found beaten". Gettysburg Times. Associated Press. August 21, 1979. p. 9.
  17. ^ Visser, Leslie (February 1, 1983). "Jefferson Street Joe is back in the game". Miami News. (Boston Globe). p. 4B.
  18. ^ "Cut by Gold, Gilliam back on the street". Pittsburgh Press. Associated Press. February 28, 1983. p. C1.
  19. ^ "Federals cut Joe Gilliam". The Day. New London, CT. Associated Press. January 31, 1984. p. 22.
  20. ^ "2010 Hall of Fame" (PDF). American Football Association. Retrieved January 20, 2023.
  21. ^ Zeise, Paul (December 30, 2000). "Gilliam paved the way for black quarterbacks in the NFL". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved March 28, 2020.
  22. ^ McClean, Tony (January 12, 2005). "Remembering "Jefferson Street" Joe Gilliam". Black Athlete Sports Network. Archived from the original on March 22, 2007. Retrieved March 28, 2020.
  23. ^ "Quarterback Joe Gilliam Died of Drug Overdose". ABC News. January 12, 2001. Retrieved March 28, 2020.
  24. ^ Walker, Teresa M. (December 27, 2000). "A career of highs, lows". Tuscaloosa News. Associated Press. p. 6C.
  25. ^ Sharp, Tom (December 30, 2000). "Loved ones gather to say final goodbye". Spartanburg (SC) Herald-Journal. Associated Press. p. C2.

External links