George Lilja

Infobox NFLretired


width=
caption=
position=center
number= 62
birthdate=birth date and age|1958|3|3
deathdate=
debutyear=1981
finalyear=1987
draftyear=1981
draftround=4
draftpick=
college=Michigan
teams=Los Angeles Rams (1982)
New York Jets (1983-1984)
Cleveland Browns (1984-1986)
Dallas Cowboys (1987)
stat1label=Games Played
stat1value=54
stat2label=Seasons Played
stat2value=6
stat3label=Fumbles
stat3value=1
pfr=
dbf=LILJAGEO01
highlights=1980 First Team All American
HOF=
CollegeHOF=

George Vincent Lilja (born March 3, 1958 in city-state|Evergreen Park|Illinois) is a former professional American football offensive lineman who played for several National Football League teams over the course of six seasons. He is also a former collegiate All-American center for the Michigan Wolverines football team. He was a member of the 1980 Big Ten Conference Champions who played in the 1981 Rose Bowl.

College

Lilja attended Carl Sandburg High School in city-state|Orland Park|Illinois where he was both a baseball and football standout before enrolling at the University of Michigan. Lilja played center for the Michigan Wolverines from 1979-1980. At 6'4" and 260 pounds, Lilja started 24 straight games at center during his junior and senior seasons. As a senior in 1980, Lilja received numerous awards and honors, including being named the team's co-captain (with Anthony Carter), receiving the University's Myer Morton Award (given by the M Club of Chicago for the football player who shows the greatest development and most promise as a result of spring practice), and being named a first-team All American by Walter Camp. He was named second-team All-American and All Big Ten by a numerous sports news organizations. He is one of eleven centers to become an All-American for Michigan football. [cite web|url=http://bentley.umich.edu/athdept/football/fballam/aalilja.htm|title=University of Michigan Football All-American, 1980, Team Co-Captain, 1980: George Lilja|publisher=The Regents of the University of Michigan|accessdate=2007-11-26|date=2007-02-10] The 1979 team played in the Gator Bowl, and the 1980 Big Ten Conference Champions played in the 1981 Rose Bowl. [cite web|url=http://www.mgoblue.com/document_file/fbl-bowl-history-2003.pdf|title=Michigan's Bowl History|accessdate=2007-12-31|publisher=University of Michigan & Host Interactive] The 1981 Rose Bowl marked the first bowl game victory for Bo Schembechler.cite news|title=Woolfolk totes Wolverines: Butch: Biggest game? You bet|accessdate=2007-12-11|date=1981-01-04|publisher=Pacific Stars and Stripes]

Lilja wore #59 for the Wolverines while redshirting as a junior varsity player in 1976 and for four years as a varsity player from 1977-1980. [cite web|url=http://141.211.39.65/allroster/fbsearch.htm|title=Bentley Historical Library -- -- U of M Football Rosters: Lilja|accessdate=2007-11-26|date=2003-08-25|publisher=The Regents of the University of Michigan] During the 1980 Purdue game, Lilja's jersey was ripped to the point where he could not go back out and play. When the equipment staff could not locate his backup jersey, they ripped the jersey of freshman center Doug James, put it on Lilja, and sent him back into the game wearing James' jersey. After the game, James got calls from friends expressing surprise that the freshman had gotten playing time in a big game. [cite book|author= Brandstatter, Jim|title=Tales from Michigan Stadium|publisher=Sports Publishing|year=2002|pages= 73|isbn=1596700157]

Lilja's last game for Michigan was the 1981 Rose Bowl, which the Wolverines won 23-6, over Washington. [cite web|url=http://www.tournamentofroses.com/history/gamescores.asp|title=Pasadena Tournament of Roses: Past Game Scores|accessdate=2007-11-26|date=2007|publisher=Tournament of Roses] Teammate Brad Bates later recalled: "I was walking off the field with George Lilja, and he said, 'Let's turn around for a Kodak moment,' . . . 'You could see that big orange backdrop against the mountains. This was Bo's first bowl victory." [cite book|author=Cnockaert, Jim |title=Michigan: Where Have You Gone?|publisher=Sports Publishing|year= 2004|pages= 8-9|isbn=1582617716] .

Professional career

Lilja was drafted by the Los Angeles Rams in the fourth round of the 1981 NFL Draft and played six seasons in the NFL with the Rams (1982), New York Jets (1983-1984), Cleveland Browns (1984-1986), and Dallas Cowboys (1987). Lilja suffered an injured ankle in 1981 and spent the entire year on injured reserve.cite web|url=http://www.newyorkjets.com/team/all_time/player/464-george-lilja|title=George Lilja - #61 - T - Michigan - Profile|accessdate=2007-11-26|publisher=New York Jets] He appeared in 54 NFL games and started none. [cite web|url=http://www.nfl.com/players/georgelilja/profile?id=LIL249174|title=George Lilja|publisher=NFL Enterprises LLC|accessdate=2007-11-26] He played on Marty Schottenheimer's 1986 Cleveland Browns who went 12-4 and advanced to the American Football Conference championship game against the Denver Broncos in the 1986 NFL Playoffs. [cite web|url=http://www.databasefootball.com/teams/teamyear.htm?tm=CLE&yr=1986&lg=nfl|title=1986 Cleveland Browns|publisher=databaseSports.com|work=databaseFootball.com |accessdate=2007-11-26] Their playoff run included back-to-back overtime (the first being double overtime) home playoff games decided by 23-20 scores. [cite web|url=http://www.databasefootball.com/boxscores/gamedata.htm?dy=3&mth=1&yr=1987&tm=CLE&lg=NFL|title=AFC Divisional Playoff (box score)|publisher=databaseSports.com|work=databaseFootball.com |accessdate=2007-11-26] [cite web|url=http://www.databasefootball.com/boxscores/gamedata.htm?dy=11&mth=1&yr=1987&tm=CLE&lg=NFL|title=AFC Championship (box score)|publisher=databaseSports.com|work=databaseFootball.com |accessdate=2007-11-26] The latter game is known for The Drive. [cite web|url=http://www.profootballhof.com/history/decades/1980s/the_drive.jsp|title="The Drive"|publisher=Pro Football Hall of Fame|accessdate=2007-11-26]

Family and faith

Lilja is married to his wife Meg, and they have four children, Danielle, David, Bethany, and George III (who usually goes by Duke).cite web|url=http://www.connectionmagazine.org/2003_08/sp_george_lilja.htm|title=George Lilja: Where is the Former Browns Offensive Lineman today?|publisher=connectionmagazine.org|accessdate=2007-11-26|author=Stefanovsky, Londa] Lilja is not related to Ryan Lilja. [cite web|url=http://www.cleveland.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/sports/1180860072294500.xml&coll=2|title=The Plain Dealer: Everything Cleveland|publisher=The Plain Dealer|accessdate=2007-11-26|date=2007-06-03|author=Tony] Lilja's parents raised him in a Christian manner with his five brothers and two sisters.

Lilja has long been part of Christian athlete groups and writes and speaks about his Christian faith. [cite web|url=http://www.thegoal.com/players/football/lilja_george/lilja_george.html|title=George Lilja: "Is there anything more important in life than playing football?"|publisher=thegoal.com|accessdate=2007-11-26] He espouses the biblical quote:

Notes

External links

* [http://www.databasefootball.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=LILJAGEO01 George Lilja] ] @ [http://www.databasefootball.com databaseFootball.com]