Michael Pittman Sr. (born August 14, 1975) is a former

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 wit ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. The ...

. He was drafted by the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division, an ...

in the fourth round of the

1998 NFL Draft The 1998 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 18–19, 1998, at the Theater at ...

. He played college football at

Fresno State California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California. It is one of 23 campuses in the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers bachelo ...

. Pittman also played for the

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) NFC South, South divisio ...

and

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquar ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ma ...

(NFL), and the

Florida Tuskers Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to t ...

of the United Football League (UFL). He won a

Super Bowl ring The Super Bowl ring is an award in the National Football League given to the team members of the winning team of the league's annual championship game, the Super Bowl. Since only one Vince Lombardi Trophy is awarded to the team (ownership) its ...

with the Buccaneers in

Super Bowl XXXVII Super Bowl XXXVII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Oakland Raiders and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers to decide the National Football League (NFL) cham ...

Early years

Pittman attended

Mira Mesa Senior High School Mira Mesa Senior High School (MMHS) is a public high school in the San Diego Unified School District. The school is recognized as a National Blue Ribbon School and a California Distinguished School. The school has an overall rating of 9.6/10 accor ...

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

, and graduated in 1993. He was a first-team All-Eastern League honoree. He played with older brother Wayne.

College career

Pittman is an alumnus of

University. He rushed for 3,017 yards during his career at Fresno State. He was named second-team All-

Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, New Mexico, Utah, Washington, and Texas. Due to most of ...

(WAC) Pacific Division in 1996, and first-team All-WAC Pacific Division in 1997. Pittman is a member of

Alpha Phi Alpha Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. () is the oldest intercollegiate historically African American fraternity. It was initially a literary and social studies club organized in the 1905–1906 school year at Cornell University but later evolved in ...

fraternity. He was teammates with QB

Billy Volek John William Volek (born April 28, 1976) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League. He was signed by the Tennessee Titans as an undrafted free agent in 2000 and also played for the San Diego Chargers. He ...

and QB David Carr. *1995: 127 carries for 561 yards with 7 TD. 15 catches for 111 yards. *1996: 214 carries for 1,132 yards with 13 TD. 15 catches for 109 yards. *1997: 238 carries for 1,057 yards with 8 TD. 32 catches for 255 yards with 2 TD.

Professional career

Arizona Cardinals

Pittman received two years of probation for pleading no contest to misdemeanor battery in January 1998, and the ''

Tucson Citizen The ''Tucson Citizen'' was a daily newspaper in Tucson, Arizona. It was founded by Richard C. McCormick with John Wasson as publisher and editor on October 15, 1870, as the ''Arizona Citizen''. When it ceased printing on May 16, 2009, the daily ...

'' reported that his draft stock fell due to the domestic violence incident. He was selected in the fourth round of the

(95th overall) by the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Pittman's career high for rushing yards in a season was 926 in 2004 and his career kiijpl;'kpojuhuoiokp[poo9ijuhyypuokplokkuop[okoopiihigh for receiving yards was 597, with 75 catches, in 2003. The highest combination in one year was 2003 when he had a total of 1,348 yards (751 rushing and 597 receiving). On January 26, 2003, Pittman played in

and rushed for 124 yards on 29 carries in Tampa Bay's 48–21 victory over the Oakland Raiders. Pittman was suspended for the first three games of the 2004 NFL season for violating the NFL's personal conduct policy. He was sentenced to 14 days in prison for intentionally driving his car into a car containing his wife and child. On November 7, 2004, Pittman scored on a 78-yard

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 Americ ...

run against the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The t ...

, formerly the longest run in Tampa Bay Buccaneers history. On March 22, 2005, Pittman launched his official website, Pittman32.com, which has since gone offline. On September 11, 2005, the website was praised by Greg Auman of the

St. Petersburg Times The ''Tampa Bay Times'', previously named the ''St. Petersburg Times'' until 2011, is an American newspaper published in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. It has won fourteen Pulitzer Prizes since 1964, and in 2009, won two in a single ...

as "the team's best player site". On January 7, 2006, during a Wild Card playoff game between the Buccaneers and

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) ...

, Pittman was involved in an altercation with Redskins'

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are two slightly di ...

Sean Taylor Sean Michael Maurice Taylor (April 1, 1983 – November 27, 2007) was an American football safety for the Washington Redskins of the National Football League (NFL). He was selected fifth overall in the 2004 NFL Draft by the Redskins, where h ...

, who allegedly spat on him following a play. Pittman responded with a blow to Taylor's helmet. Taylor was ejected from the game that the Redskins won 17–10. Pittman became a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

following the 2007 season.

Denver Broncos

On May 27, 2008, Pittman was signed by the

and was wanted to change positions to fullback but stayed running back. Cornerback

Dré Bly Donald André Bly (born May 22, 1977) is a former American football cornerback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for eleven seasons. He played college football for the University of North Carolina (UNC), and earned All-American ...

was already wearing No. 32, so Pittman was assigned No. 28 as his jersey number. His official website was renamed Pittman28.com to reflect the change. The website has since gone offline, with Pittman no longer playing in the NFL. Pittman was placed on season-ending

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...

with a neck injury. In eight games (three starts) during the 2008 season, Pittman rushed 76 times for 320 yards and four touchdowns.

Florida Tuskers

On August 12, 2009, Pittman signed with the

Personal life

Pittman's eldest son, Michael Jr., plays wide receiver for the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 20 ...

. His younger son, Mycah, plays wide receiver for

Florida State Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the sta ...

References

External links

Just Sports StatsDenver Broncos bioTampa Bay Buccaneers bioUnited Football League bioUFL stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pittman, Michael Sr. 1975 births Living people Players of American football from New Orleans Players of American football from San Diego African-American players of American football American football running backs Fresno State Bulldogs football players Arizona Cardinals players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players Denver Broncos players Florida Tuskers players 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American sportspeople