Jeffrey M. Wittman (born March 4, 1971) is an American high school teacher and former

gridiron football Gridiron football,"Gridiron football"
''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Ret ...

fullback Fullback or Full back may refer to: Sports * A position in various kinds of football, including: ** Full-back (association football), in association football (soccer), a defender playing in a wide position ** Fullback (gridiron football), in Americ ...

Biography

Wittman attended

Gates Chili High School Gates Chili High School is a secondary school in the Gates Chili Central School District in Gates, New York. It opened in September 1958. The current principal of the school is Kenneth L. Hammel. Gates Chili High School has a science wing, with a ...

Gates, New York Gates is a town in Monroe County, New York, United States. The town is named after General Horatio Gates. The population was 28,400 at the 2010 census. Gates and North Gates are census-designated places located within the town's boundaries. Histo ...

, where he competed in football and wrestling. In football, he was a two-way player as a tailback and

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

. While he expressed a desire to play in

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...

, he went on to play

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

at the

NCAA Division III NCAA Division III (D-III) is a division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. D-III consists of athletic programs at colleges and universities that choose not to offer athletic scholarships to their stu ...

level. As a

for

Ithaca College Ithaca College is a private college in Ithaca, New York. It was founded by William Egbert in 1892 as a conservatory of music and is set against the backdrop of the city of Ithaca (which is separate from the town), Cayuga Lake, waterfalls, and go ...

during the 1989–1992 seasons, Wittman was named a first-team

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

n for Division III three times: 1990, 1991, and 1992. He was a member of the 1991 Ithaca Bombers football team that won the Division III championship, rushing for 159 yards and three

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

s in the title game. At the completion of his college career, Wittman held Ithaca records for touchdowns in a single season (19 in 1992), total points scored in a single season (114 in 1992), career rushing touchdowns (44), career touchdowns (45), career total points scored (270), and career rushing yards (3410); through the 2022 season, he continues to hold Ithaca records for most rushing yards in a single game (272 yards on November 14, 1992), average rushing yards-per-game for a season (134.3 in 1990), and career playoff points scored (68). Following his collegiate career, Wittman became a teacher and coach within the

Gates Chili Central School District The Gates Chili Central School District is a public school district in Rochester, New York that serves approximately 4,000 students in most of the town of Gates and a large portion of the town of Chili in Monroe County Monroe County may refer ...

in his hometown. In 2001, Wittman was inducted to the athletic hall of fame at Ithaca College. In 2013, he was inducted into the

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were vote ...

. In 2014, he was inducted the athletic hall of fame at Gates Chili High School, and the walk of fame at Frontier Field in

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...

. Wittman's college head coach was Jim Butterfield, also an inductee of the College Football Hall of Fame.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wittman, Jeff 1971 births Living people Players of American football from Rochester, New York American football running backs Ithaca Bombers football players College Football Hall of Fame inductees American high school teachers American wrestling coaches Coaches of American football from New York (state)