Franco Grilla (born July 21, 1970) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

placekicker who played three seasons in the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

(AFL) with the Albany Firebirds and

Orlando Predators The Orlando Predators were a professional arena football team based in Orlando, Florida and member of the Arena Football League (AFL). The team was most recently owned by Orlando Predators LLC, a company owned by David A. Siegel, and played its ...

. He played college football at the

University of Central Florida The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public research university whose main campus is in unincorporated Orange County, Florida. UCF also has nine smaller regional campuses throughout central Florida. It is part of the State University ...

and attended Piper High School in Sunrise, Florida. He was also a member of the

Birmingham Barracudas The Birmingham Barracudas were a Canadian football team that played the 1995 season in the Canadian Football League. The Barracudas were part of a failed attempt to expand the CFL into the United States. Franchise history In the beginning Ins ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

(CFL).

College career

Grilla played for the

UCF Knights The UCF Knights are the athletic teams that represent the University of Central Florida in Orlando, Florida. The Knights participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I ( FBS for football) as a member of the Am ...

from 1989 to 1992. ''

Orlando Sentinel The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is the primary newspaper of Orlando, Florida, and the Central Florida region. It was founded in 1876 and is currently owned by Tribune Publishing Company. The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is owned by parent company, '' Tribune P ...

s 25th Anniversary UCF Football Team. He set the school record with 103 consecutive

extra point The conversion, try (American football, also known as a point(s) after touchdown, PAT, or (depending on the number of points) extra point/2-point conversion), or convert (Canadian football) occurs immediately after a touchdown during which the sc ...

s made and is second in career field goals made with 47. He kicked a game-winning field goal as time expired on a frozen field in Youngstown, Ohio in 1990 that gave UCF a first-round win in the

Division I-AA The NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly known as Division I-AA, is the second-highest level of college football in the United States, after the Football Bowl Subdivision. Sponsored by the National Collegiate Athleti ...

playoffs against the previously unbeaten

Youngstown State Penguins The Youngstown State Penguins are the athletic teams of Youngstown State University of Youngstown, Ohio. The university is a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I, and the Penguins compete in football as memb ...

. He was inducted into the UCF Athletics Hall of Fame in 2005.

Professional career

Grilla played for the Albany Firebirds in 1994, earning Second Team All-Arena honors. He was signed by the

in May 1995. He was released by the Barracudas in August 1995. Grilla played for the

from 1997 to 1998.

References

External links

Just Sports Stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grilla, Franco Living people 1970 births Players of American football from Miami American football placekickers Canadian football placekickers Players of Canadian football from Florida UCF Knights football players Albany Firebirds players Birmingham Barracudas players Orlando Predators players Piper High School (Florida) alumni