Michael John Tilleman (March 30, 1944 – September 18, 2020) 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 was a

defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that typically lines up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the Guard (American football), offensive guards; however, he may also line up opposite one of the offensive Tackle (gridir ...

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) for 11 seasons (1966–76). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Montana Grizzlies The Montana Grizzlies and Lady Griz are the nicknames given to the athletic teams of the University of Montana, located in Missoula, Montana, Missoula. The university is a member of the Big Sky Conference and competes in NCAA Division I, fieldin ...

Biography

Early life

Tilleman was born and raised on a ranch near Zurich, Montana by Henry (Hank) and Irma Tilleman (née D'Hooge), where he went to school in a one-room schoolhouse. He was a

prep PowerPC Reference Platform (PReP) was a standard system architecture for PowerPC-based computer systems (as well as a reference implementation) developed at the same time as the PowerPC processor architecture. Published by IBM in 1994, it allow ...

star at Chinook High School and attended the

University of Montana The University of Montana (UM) is a public research university in Missoula, Montana, United States. UM is a flagship institution of the Montana University System and its second largest campus. Fall 2024 saw total enrollment hit 10,811, marki ...

on scholarship.

Playing career

Tilleman played for the

Grizzlies Grizzlies may refer to: *Grizzly bears Sports ; Sports teams named after the grizzly bear: United States: * Memphis Grizzlies, a National Basketball Association team in Memphis, Tennessee * Fresno Grizzlies, a Triple-A minor league baseball team b ...

from 1963 to 1964, where he was a second-team All-

Big Sky Conference The Big Sky Conference is a List of NCAA conferences, collegiate athletic conference, affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division I, Division I with college football, football competing in the Football Cha ...

selection in both seasons. After graduating from UM, he bypassed his senior season to sign with the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

who had selected him with the 163rd pick of the

1965 NFL draft The 1965 NFL draft was held at the Summit Hotel in New York City on Saturday, November 28, 1964. The first player selected was Tucker Frederickson, back from Auburn, by the New York Giants. The draft was marked by the failure of the St. Loui ...

. He was drafted in earlier rounds by the Kansas City Chiefs but opted for the Vikings because the NFL was a stronger league than the AFL. He played for four different NFL teams during his pro career: two years for the Minnesota Vikings, he was drafted in the expansion draft by 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 National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

and hence an original Saint, two years for the

Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston, Texas, from its founding in 1960 Houston Oilers season, 1960 to 1996 Houston Oilers season, 1996. The Houston Oilers began play as a charter member of the Ame ...

bought out his option with the Oilers and was traded for a first-round draft choice by the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...

to get him to Atlanta. He finished his pro career in Atlanta. An offensive lineman once commented that he would rather catch javelins for an hour than to take head slaps from Mike Tilleman.

Personal life

Mike and his wife Gloria lived in

Havre, Montana Havre ( ) is the county seat of and the largest city in Hill County, Montana, United States. Havre is nicknamed the crown jewel of the Hi-Line (Montana), Hi-Line. It is said to be named after the city of Le Havre in France. As of the 2020 Unite ...

, where they ran Tilleman Motor Company, a local General Motors dealership. They had three grown children, Suzanne, Christopher and Craig, the latter of whom runs the car dealership. Mike Tilleman hosted a celebrity pheasant hunt, called "Legends for Lights", where former NFL players went to Havre every Fall and all money raised was donated to the Northern Lights Athletic Foundation for the MSU-Northern athletic program, providing scholarships and paying for one full-time coaching position. Tilleman died on September 18, 2020, aged 76.Area legend Mike Tilleman passes away at age 76
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References

External links

College Football Data Warehouse
– Montana Grizzlies results 1960–1964

– career NFL stats {{DEFAULTSORT:Tilleman, Mike 1944 births 2020 deaths People from Chinook, Montana American football defensive tackles Montana Grizzlies football players Minnesota Vikings players New Orleans Saints players Houston Oilers players Atlanta Falcons players Players of American football from Montana People from Havre, Montana Businesspeople from Montana