Patrick Lee Tilley (born February 15, 1953) is an American former 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

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

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 the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...

(1976–1986). He was selected to the

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (since 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's All-star, star players. The format has changed ...

after the 1980 season. Tilley played football and graduated in 1971 from

Fair Park High School Fair Park Middle School is a former high school located at 3222 Greenwood Road in Shreveport, Louisiana, United States. The school was originally named Fair Park High School when it opened in 1928, and it was the second high school in the city. ...

in Shreveport. Thereafter, he enrolled at

Louisiana Tech University Louisiana Tech University (Louisiana Tech, La. Tech, or simply Tech) is a public university, public research university in Ruston, Louisiana, United States. It is part of the University of Louisiana System and Carnegie Classification of Institu ...

in Ruston, where he played for the

Bulldogs The Bulldog is a British breed of dog of mastiff type. It may also be known as the English Bulldog or British Bulldog. It is a stocky, muscular dog of medium size, with a large head, thick folds of skin around the face and shoulders and a rel ...

. Tilley led the

in receiving from 1978 to 1982 and started every game but one from 1978 to 1985. His best season was in 1981 when he caught 66 passes for 1040 yards and three TDs. After his football career ended with the 1986 season with the St. Louis Cardinals, Tilley became the area director for the

Fellowship of Christian Athletes The Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) is an international nonprofit Christian sports ministry based in Kansas City, Missouri, Kansas City. History FCA was founded in 1954 by Eastern Oklahoma State College, Eastern Oklahoma A&M basketball c ...

and gave motivational messages throughout northwest Louisiana. In his Christian testimony, Tilley said, "When I put God first in my life, my football career boomed." Tilley also coached the Bossier City Battle Wings of

af2 The AF2 (often styled as af2, and short for arenafootball2) was the Arena Football League's developmental league; it was founded in 1999 and played its first season in 2000. Like its parent AFL, the AF2 played using the same arena football r ...

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

References

1953 births Living people Fair Park High School alumni American football wide receivers Louisiana Tech Bulldogs football players St. Louis Cardinals (football) players National Conference Pro Bowl players Leaders of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes Players of American football from Shreveport, Louisiana Bossier–Shreveport Battle Wings coaches 20th-century American sportsmen {{widereceiver-1950s-stub