Mike Siani (born May 27, 1950) is a former 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 played wide receiver for nine seasons for the Oakland Raiders and Baltimore Colts.

Career

Siani was a high school football star with the

New Dorp High School New Dorp High School, commonly referred to as New Dorp or NDHS, is a public school in New Dorp on the East Shore of the New York City borough of Staten Island in the New Dorp neighborhood. The school is administered by the New York City Departme ...

"Centrals", in

New Dorp New Dorp is a neighborhood on the East Shore of Staten Island, New York City, United States. New Dorp is bounded by Mill Road on the southeast, Tysens Lane on the southwest, Amboy and Richmond Roads on the northwest, and Bancroft Avenue on the n ...

, Staten Island,

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, New York, graduating in 1968. At New Dorp, Siani played for legendary coach Sal Somma. Somma and Siani have been inducted into the

Staten Island Sports Hall of Fame The Staten Island Sports Hall of Fame mission is "to recognize those individuals who have made extraordinary contributions to Staten Island sports history, and by virtue of their accomplishments, service, or force of character, have enriched tha ...

. Siani attended

Villanova University Villanova University is a private Roman Catholic research university in Villanova, Pennsylvania. It was founded by the Augustinians in 1842 and named after Saint Thomas of Villanova. The university is the oldest Catholic university in Penns ...

, where he not only played football but also excelled in baseball. Between 1968 (when he was still in high school) and 1972, Siani was drafted on four occasions by three Major League organizations (the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

, the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

, and the Texas Rangers), but he never signed. On the football field Siani wore number 88 and earned close to 30 achievement awards. He was selected to the 1971 College Football All-America Team. Siani was inducted into the Villanova University Sports Hall of Fame in 1988. Siani was the first round draft choice of the Oakland Raiders. In 1972, his first year in Oakland, he set multiple rookie team records for receiving and finished as the runner-up to

Franco Harris Franco Harris (March 7, 1950 – December 20, 2022) was an American professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons, primarily for the Pittsburgh Steelers. A nine-time Pro Bowl selection ...

NFL Rookie of the Year Various entities present a National Football League Rookie of the Year Award each season to the top rookie(s) in the National Football League (NFL). The NFL considers the (rookie) of the year awards by the Associated Press (AP) to be its official ...

. He played for the Raiders through 1977, appearing in 74 games with 32 starts, and he caught 128 passes for 2,079 yards and 13 TDs. With the Raiders having a surplus of wide receivers, the team traded Siani along with a

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the '' International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the '' Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the so ...

third-round selection (72nd overall–traded to

Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston from its founding in 1960 to 1996 before relocating to Memphis, and later Nashville, Tennessee becoming the Tennessee Titans. The Oilers began play in 1960 a ...

) to the Colts for

Raymond Chester Raymond Tucker Chester (born June 28, 1948) is a former American Football tight end. After graduating from Douglass High School in Baltimore, Maryland, Chester played college football at the historically Black University, Morgan State. He was a ...

and a 1979 second-round pick (33rd overall–traded to

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The cl ...

for Dave Pear) on July 21, 1978. Siani played three seasons with the Colts before finishing his NFL career in 1980. When his playing career ended, Siani was an indoor football coach for several teams, being named the interim head coach for the Myrtle Beach Stingrays,

Fayetteville Guard The Fayetteville Guard was a professional indoor football team in the National Indoor Football League (NIFL) and American Indoor Football Association (AIFA). They played home games at the Cumberland County Crown Coliseum from 2005 to 2010. The ...

and

Florence Phantoms The Florence Phantoms were a professional indoor football team based out of Florence, South Carolina, in the United States. They were an expansion member of the American Indoor Football Association (AIFA) in 2006, and were the AIFA Champions o ...

. He was named the head coach of the Atlantic City CardSharks in 2004, and the

Richmond Raiders The Richmond Raiders were a professional indoor football team located in Richmond, Virginia the Richmond Coliseum as their home arena. The Raiders began play in the 2010 as an expansion team of the American Indoor Football Association (AIFA). The ...

of the

American Indoor Football Association American Indoor Football (AIF) was a professional indoor football league, one of the several regional professional indoor football leagues in North America. The AIFL began as a regional league with six franchises on the East Coast of the United ...

in 2010. Siani has been employed as a scout for the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

, and was the quarterbacks and wide receivers coach for the

Princeton Tigers The Princeton Tigers are the athletic teams of Princeton University. The school sponsors 35 varsity teams in 20 sports. The school has won several NCAA national championships, including one in men's fencing, three in women's lacrosse, six in ...

Varsity

Sprint Football Sprint football, formerly called lightweight football, is a varsity sport played by United States colleges and universities, under standard American football rules. As of the 2022 season, the sport is governed by the Collegiate Sprint Football ...

program in 2009. The Cincinnati Reds' 2018 draft choice with the same name is a distant relative of Siani's.

Books

“Cheating is Encouraged: A Hard-Nosed History of the 1970’s Raiders” was authored by Mike Siani and Kristine Setting Clark.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Siani, Mike 1950 births Living people American football wide receivers Baltimore Colts players Oakland Raiders players Princeton Tigers football coaches Sportspeople from Staten Island Players of American football from New York City Villanova Wildcats baseball players Villanova Wildcats football players New Dorp High School alumni People from New Dorp, Staten Island