Paul Mitchael Frerotte (March 30, 1965 – June 11, 2008) was an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who played as a

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for four seasons in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL), all with the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

Biography

Frerotte is perhaps best known for scoring three

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s during the

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, a record for an offensive lineman. Frerotte played in three

Super Bowls The Super Bowl is the annual History of the NFL championship, league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966 NFL season, 1966 (with the excep ...

: XXV, XXVI, and XXVII. He attended Kittanning High School and

Penn State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

Personal life

Known as "Pit Bull" by his Bills teammates, Frerotte often wore an elaborate mask of eye black during games. He was a well-known

Harley-Davidson Harley-Davidson, Inc. (H-D, or simply Harley) is an American motorcycle manufacturer headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Founded in 1903, it is one of two major American motorcycle manufacturers to survive the Great Depression along with i ...

enthusiast, who once threatened

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's Joe Theismann with bodily harm after he mounted Frerotte's motorcycle without permission. Frerotte is the cousin of NFL

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

Gus Frerotte. Mitch died from a massive heart attack at his mother's home on June 11, 2008. The coroner's report attributed his death to

hypertrophic cardiomyopathy Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM, or HOCM when obstructive) is a condition in which muscle tissues of the heart become thickened without an obvious cause. The parts of the heart most commonly affected are the interventricular septum and the ...

, a genetic heart condition which the

American Heart Association The American Heart Association (AHA) is a nonprofit organization in the United States that funds cardiovascular medical research, educates consumers on healthy living and fosters appropriate Heart, cardiac care in an effort to reduce disability ...

calls the most common cause of sudden death in young athletes.

References

External links

* , databasefootball.com
Pro-Football-Reference.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frerotte, Mitch 1965 births 2008 deaths American football offensive guards Buffalo Bills players Penn State Nittany Lions football players People from Kittanning, Pennsylvania Players of American football from Armstrong County, Pennsylvania Deaths from cardiomyopathy