Fred Junior Miller Jr. (born February 6, 1973) 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 with ...

offensive tackle Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...

. He most recently played for the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

of 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 ...

(NFL). He was drafted by the

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis from 1995 to the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, where the team had played from 1946 to 1994. The arri ...

in the fifth round of the

1996 NFL Draft The 1996 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 20–21, 1996, at the Paramount ...

. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

at Baylor.

NFL playing career

Miller was expected to struggle with

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their h ...

rookie sensation

Jevon Kearse Jevon Kearse (born September 3, 1976), nicknamed "the Freak", is a former American football player who was a defensive end in the National Football League (NFL) for eleven seasons during the late 1990s and 2000s. Kearse played college football f ...

Super Bowl XXXIV Super Bowl XXXIV was an American football game played at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta on January 30, 2000, to determine the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 1999 NFL season, 1999 season. The National Football Conference (NFC) champ ...

, having given up several sacks to Kearse in the regular season match up between the teams. In Super Bowl XXXIV, Miller gave up no sacks (with the exception of one that was negated by a Kearse penalty) in the Rams' 23–16 championship win. Miller had the distinction of making the Rams' first reception of the game on a tipped pass, an unusual accomplishment for an offensive lineman. It would be Miller's final game with the Rams, as he signed with the Rams' Super Bowl opponent—the Titans—for the 2000 season. In 2005, Chicago Bears teammate

Olin Kreutz Olin George Kreutz (; born June 9, 1977) is an American former professional football player who was a center in the National Football League (NFL) for fourteen seasons. He played college football for University of Washington, and earned consensu ...

broke Miller's jaw in an altercation. The team had originally stated, "Fred Miller broke his jaw while getting out of bed in the middle of the night." Both players were fined $50,000 by the NFL. On February 18, 2008 the Bears released him. He was re-signed by the Bears a week into the regular season on September 10.

Coaching career

Miller was an assistant coach of the varsity football team at

North Shore Country Day School North Shore Country Day School is a selective prep school in Winnetka, Illinois Winnetka () is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, located north of downtown Chicago. The population was 12,316 as of 2019. The village is one of th ...

Winnetka, Illinois Winnetka () is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, located north of downtown Chicago. The population was 12,316 as of 2019. The village is one of the wealthiest places in the nation in terms of household income. It was the second- ...

for the 2011 and 2012 seasons. In 2011, he helped the school to a 9–2 record and one of the best seasons in school history, a mere three seasons after the team finished their 2008 season with an 0–9 record. He also coached for the North Shore Titans youth football program.

References

1973 births Living people American football offensive tackles Baylor Bears football players Chicago Bears players St. Louis Rams players Tennessee Titans players High school football coaches in Illinois Players of American football from Houston {{offensive-lineman-1970s-stub