Ike Hilliard

Early years

Hilliard was born in Patterson, Louisiana in 1976. He attended Patterson High School, where he was a star high school football player for the Patterson Lumberjacks.

College career

Hilliard accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where he played wide receiver for coach Steve Spurrier's Florida Gators football team from 1994 to 1996. During his three seasons as a Gator, the team won three SEC Championships in 1994, 1995, and 1996. As a junior in 1996, he was paired with fellow Gators receiver Reidel Anthony and both posted 1,000-yard seasons, and both Hilliard and Anthony were recognized as first-team All-Southeastern Conference (SEC) selections and consensus first-team All-Americans, as the Gators won the Bowl Alliance national championship—their first-ever national football title. The Gators finished the season with a record of 12–1 after a 52–20 victory over the top-ranked Florida State Seminoles in the 1997 Sugar Bowl. Memorably, he set three Sugar Bowl records against the Seminoles: he had 150 receiving yards, including an 82-yard touchdown catch, and scored a total of three touchdowns for eighteen points.

Hilliard declared himself eligible for the NFL Draft after his junior season, and finished his college career with 126 receptions for 2,214 yards and twenty-nine touchdowns. In a 2006 series published by The Gainesville Sun, he was recognized as No. 14 among the 100 all-time greatest Gator players from the first century of Florida football. He was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a "Gator Great" in 2009.

New York Giants

The New York Giants chose Hilliard in the first round (seventh pick overall) of the 1997 NFL Draft, and he played his first eight seasons for the Giants from 1997 to 2004. He became a regular starter in 1998, helping the Giants reach Super Bowl XXXV following the 2000 regular season. He finished his career with the Giants with 368 receptions for 4,630 yards and twenty-seven touchdowns.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Hilliard signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after the 2004 season. During his first two seasons with Tampa Bay, he was used mainly as a third or fourth receiver, but in 2007 he started ten games making sixty-two receptions for 722 yards. Hilliard was released by the Buccaneers on February 25, 2009. Hilliard finished his NFL career with 546 catches for 6,397 yards and thirty-five touchdowns.

In his twelve-season NFL career, Hilliard appeared in 161 regular season games, started 105 of them, and made 546 catches for 6,397 yards and thirty-five touchdowns. He also had 126 rushing yards on sixteen attempts.

NFL statistics

Receiving statistics

Returning statistics

Coaching career

Forced to retire after a neck injury, Hilliard became a volunteer receivers coach for the UFL's Florida Tuskers in 2009. In 2010, he became the Tuskers' new wide receivers coach for the coming season.

In 2011, Hilliard returned to the NFL as an assistant wide receivers coach for the Miami Dolphins, followed by the Washington Redskins in 2012, and the Buffalo Bills in 2013. He was named the wide receivers coach of the Washington Redskins of the NFL for the second time in January 2014.

Personal life

Hilliard is the nephew of former New Orleans Saints running back Dalton Hilliard.