Name Ernie Mills Positions Wide receiver | Weight 87 kg Height: 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | |
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Date of birth: (1968-10-28) October 28, 1968 (age 47) NFL draft: 1991 / Round: 3 / Pick: 73 Similar People Yancey Thigpen, Andre Hastings, Leon Searcy | ||
Ernie Mills: Football Wide Receiver
Ernest Lee Mills, III (born October 28, 1968) is an American former college and professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for nine seasons during the 1990s. Mills played college football for the University of Florida, and thereafter, he played professionally for the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Carolina Panthers and the Dallas Cowboys of the NFL.
Contents
- Ernie Mills Football Wide Receiver
- Early years
- College career
- Pittsburgh Steelers
- Carolina Panthers
- Dallas Cowboys
- Personal life
- References
Early years
Mills was born in Dunnellon, Florida in 1968. He attended Dunnellon High School, and played CB/ATH for the Dunnellon Fighting Tigers, earning a second-team all-state selection as a senior.
College career
Mills accepted an athletic scholarship in 1986 to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where he was a four-year letterman for coach Galen Hall and coach Steve Spurrier's Florida Gators football teams from 1987 to 1990.
Memorably, in 1990, he caught a 70-yard pass thrown by quarterback Shane Matthews from the Gators' own 2-yard-line, setting up a crucial field goal in the Gators' 17–13 victory over the Alabama Crimson Tide.
As a senior, Mills was a second-team All-SEC (SEC) selection, and a team captain of the Gators squad that finished with a 9–2 overall win-loss record and a best-in-the-SEC record of 6–1. He tied tight end Kirk Kirkpatrick with 770 yards receiving, and led the team with ten touchdowns in 1990.
Mills graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor's degree in exercise and sport sciences in 1990.
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers selected Mills in the third round (73rd overall) of the 1991 NFL Draft, and Mills played for the Steelers for six seasons from 1991 to 1996. He had his best NFL season in 1995, when he caught thirty-nine passes for 679 yards, eight touchdowns, and over 2000 all-purpose yards helping the Steelers gain a berth in Super Bowl XXX.
In 1996, he only registered 92 receiving yards, while recovering from a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, that he suffered during Super Bowl XXX.
Carolina Panthers
On March 4, 1997, he signed as a free agent with the Carolina Panthers. He was waived on February 9, 1998, after having a disappointing season with 127 receiving yards.
Dallas Cowboys
On February 26, 1998, he signed as a free agent with the Dallas Cowboys, reuniting with head coach Chan Gailey who was his offensive coordinator with the Steelers. He was the team's third receiver behind Michael Irvin and Billy Davis. He registered 28 receptions for 479 yards and 4 receiving touchdowns (led the team), until suffering a lacerated small intestine in the eleventh game of the season against the Seattle Seahawks. The injury caused him to miss the last 5 games and a total of six months.
In 1999, he was the third receiver behind Michael Irvin and Rocket Ismail, but suffered a quad muscle injury that forced him to miss the last 5 games and the playoffs. He finished the season as the team's fourth leading receiver with 30 receptions for 325 yards. He was released on April 4, 2000.
Mills finished his nine-year NFL career with 196 receptions for 2,934 yards and twenty touchdowns.
Personal life
Mills was the wide receivers coach for the Jacksonville University football team in Jacksonville, Florida from 2007 to 2012. He is currently the wide receivers coach at Florida A&M University, and has held that position since 2013.