Fred Childress, also known as Freddie Childress (born September 17, 1966) is a former all-star offensive lineman in 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 ...

and the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

. He was nicknamed as "the Big Chill" for his 6 feet 4 inch and 345 pound size.

Early life

While born in Little Rock, Arkansas, Childress grew up in

Helena, Arkansas Helena is the eastern portion of Helena–West Helena, Arkansas, a city in Phillips County, Arkansas. It was founded in 1833 by Nicholas Rightor and is named after the daughter of Sylvanus Phillips, an early settler of Phillips County and the n ...

, playing football in high school for the Central High School Cougars. Coming out of high school, Childress was highly recruited by many top football programs, finally deciding to stay home and attend the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and the largest university in the state. Founded as Arkansas ...

, then coached by

Ken Hatfield Kenneth Wahl Hatfield (born June 6, 1943) is a former American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at the United States Air Force Academy (1979–1983), the University of Arkansas (1984–1989), Clemson University (1 ...

College

Childress played his college football at the

, where he was selected as a 2nd team All-American by ''

Pro Football Weekly ''Pro Football Weekly'' (sometimes shortened to ''PFW'') is an American sports magazine, founded in 1967, and website that covers the National Football League (NFL). It was owned by Pro Football Weekly LLC and headquartered in Riverwoods, Illinoi ...

'' as a senior in 1988. There he played with other standouts such as Steve Atwater and Barry Foster. Childress was immediately a starter at offensive guard as a freshman for Arkansas in 1985, helping the team finish 10-2 and beating the Arizona State Sun Devils in the

1985 Holiday Bowl The 1985 Holiday Bowl was a college football bowl game played December 22, 1985, in San Diego, California. It was part of the 1985 NCAA Division I-A football season. It featured the unranked Arizona State Sun Devils, and the 14th ranked Arkansas ...

, 18-17. As a senior, Childress helped Arkansas win the 1988 Southwest Conference championship, finishing 10-2. Childress and teammate Wayne Martin were suspended for the

1989 Cotton Bowl Classic The 1989 Mobil Cotton Bowl Classic was a college football bowl game played on January 2, 1989, at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. The game was played on January 2, the day after New Year's Day, since New Year's Day fell on a Sunday. The bowl game fea ...

by head coach Ken Hatfield for undisclosed reasons, and Arkansas lost the Cotton Bowl to

Troy Aikman Troy Kenneth Aikman (born November 21, 1966) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons with the Dallas Cowboys. After transferring from Oklahoma, he played college football at UCLA, ...

and the UCLA Bruins, 17-3.

Professional career

Childress was selected in the 2nd round of the 1989 NFL Draft by the Cincinnati Bengals. After two seasons of tryouts, he finally played one season for the New England Patriots in 1991 (scoring a touchdown) and another in 1992 for the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (A ...

. Childress moved to the CFL with the

Shreveport Pirates The Shreveport Pirates were a Canadian Football League team, playing at Independence Stadium in Shreveport, Louisiana, United States, in 1994 and 1995. Despite a relatively strong fan base, they were one of the least successful of the CFL's A ...

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson ...

and switched to 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 ...

in (both failed expansion franchises in the CFL bid to play in the US). He then went on to an 8-year stay with the

Calgary Stampeders The Calgary Stampeders are a professional Canadian football team based in Calgary, Alberta. The Stampeders compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The club plays its home games at McMahon Stadium and are the third-o ...

, where he was an all-star 6 times, received the

CFL's Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman Award The Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman Award is annually awarded to the best offensive lineman in the Canadian Football League. The two nominees for the award are the Leo Dandurand Trophy winner from the East Division, and the DeMarco-Becket Memor ...

in , the DeMarco-Becket Memorial Trophy in and won the Grey Cup in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

and 2001. Childress played his final three seasons with the

Saskatchewan Roughriders The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division. The Roughriders were founded in ...

. He retired from the CFL after the season. He was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame as a player in 2020.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Childress, Fred 1966 births Living people American football offensive linemen Arkansas Razorbacks football players Birmingham Barracudas players Calgary Stampeders players Canadian football offensive linemen Cleveland Browns players New England Patriots players Players of American football from Arkansas Sportspeople from Little Rock, Arkansas Saskatchewan Roughriders players Shreveport Pirates players Canadian Football Hall of Fame inductees