Joe Gilliam
| No. 17 | |||||||||||||||
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| Position: | Quarterback | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
| Date of birth: | December 29, 1950 | ||||||||||||||
| Place of birth: | Charleston, West Virginia, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Date of death: | December 25, 2000 (aged 49) | ||||||||||||||
| Place of death: | Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||||||||||||||
| Weight: | 187 lb (85 kg) | ||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| High school: | Pearl (TN) | ||||||||||||||
| College: | Tennessee State | ||||||||||||||
| NFL Draft: | 1972 / Round: 11 / Pick: 273 | ||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||||
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| TD-INT: | 9-17 |
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| Passing yards: | 2,103 |
| QB Rating: | 53.2 |
| Pass attempts: | 331 |
| Pass completions: | 147 |
| Games played: | 20 |
| Player stats at NFL.com | |
Joseph Wiley Gilliam, Jr. (December 29, 1950 – December 25, 2000) was a professional football player, a quarterback with the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League for four seasons. Primarily a backup, he started the first six games of the 1974 season.
Born in Charleston, West Virginia, Gilliam was the third of four children of Ruth and Joe Gilliam, Sr. He grew up in Nashville, Tennessee, and spent many hours on the campus of Tennessee A&I State University (renamed Tennessee State University in 1968), where his father was the defensive coordinator for the Tigers football team.
Gilliam displayed his own athletic abilities at a young age, beginning at Washington Junior High School, where he participated in tumbling, track, and basketball. In 1966, he became the starting quarterback at Pearl High School and led the squad when they played in the city’s first season of integrated football. While in high school, Gilliam kept close to the Tigers program as a ball boy for home games.
While at Tennessee State, he played under legendary coach John Merritt. He was an All-American his junior and senior seasons. In 1970, the Tigers went 10-0 and played in the now defunct Grantland Rice Bowl played in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Gilliam passed for two touchdowns, and ran for a third, as Tennessee State defeated Southwestern Louisiana 26-25. They were named Black College National Champions. Gilliam's senior season saw a repeat of accolades. He was named All-American, and the Tigers returned to Baton Rouge. With a 8-1 record, the Tigers faced McNeese State. Trailing 16-6, Gilliam threw two touchdown passes to John Holland to take a 19-16 lead. A third touchdown pass to Ollie Smith clinched a 26-23 victory. Gilliam's teammate at Tennessee State was Ed "Too Tall" Jones.
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