Freddie Solomon (January 11, 1953 – February 13, 2012) was a professional

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

player who was selected by the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team p ...

in the 2nd round of the

1975 NFL Draft The 1975 National Football League draft was held January 28–29, 1975, at the New York Hilton at Rockefeller Center in New York City, New York. With the first overall pick of the draft, the Atlanta Falcons selected quarterback Steve Bartkows ...

. A native of Sumter, South Carolina, he was a graduate of

Sumter High School Sumter High School is a co-educational four-year public high school serving grades 9 through 12 in Sumter School District located in the south side of Sumter, South Carolina, United States. With an enrollment of approximately 2,300 students, Sumt ...

class of 1971. A 5'11", 184-lb. wide receiver from the

University of Tampa The University of Tampa (UT) is a private university in Tampa, Florida. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. UT offers more than 200 programs of study, including 22 master's degrees and a broad variety of majors, ...

(where he had played quarterback), Solomon played in 11 NFL seasons for the Dolphins and

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's Nationa ...

from 1975 to 1985. On December 5, 1976, Solomon had a career game, with 5 catches for 114 yards and a touchdown, 1 rushing attempt for 59 yards and a touchdown, and a punt return for 79 yards and a touchdown. Solomon won two

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the gam ...

s as a member of the 49ers. On " The Catch",

Dwight Clark Dwight Edward Clark (January 8, 1957 – June 4, 2018) was an American professional football player who was a wide receiver for nine seasons with the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL) from 1979 He was a member of San ...

's famous leaping grab that helped the 49ers beat the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divis ...

in the 1982 NFC Playoffs, Solomon was the primary target on the play, but slipped coming out of his cut. Solomon made several key plays on the 49ers final drive of that game. Solomon died on February 13, 2012 after a nine-month battle with colon and liver cancer.

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* 1953 births 2012 deaths American football return specialists American football wide receivers Miami Dolphins players San Francisco 49ers players Tampa Spartans football players Sportspeople from Sumter, South Carolina Players of American football from South Carolina African-American players of American football Deaths from colorectal cancer Deaths from liver cancer 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American people {{widereceiver-1950s-stub