} Paul Mitchael Frerotte (March 30, 1965 – June 11, 2008) was an American professional football player who played as a

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison ...

for four seasons in 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 ...

, all with the Buffalo Bills.

Biography

Frerotte is perhaps best known for scoring three

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Amer ...

s during the

1992 NFL season The 1992 NFL season was the 73rd regular season of the National Football League. Due to the damage caused by Hurricane Andrew, the New England Patriots at Miami Dolphins game that was scheduled for September 6 at Joe Robbie Stadium was res ...

, a record for an offensive lineman. Frerotte played in three

Super Bowls The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...

: XXV, XXVI, and XXVII. He attended

Kittanning High School The Armstrong School District is a large, public school district which encompasses approximately . The District is one of the 500 public school districts of Pennsylvania. In Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, Armstrong School District covers th ...

and Penn State University.

Personal life

Known as "Pit Bull" by his Bills teammates, Frerotte often wore an elaborate mask of

eye black Eye black is a grease or strip applied under the eyes to reduce glare, although studies have not conclusively proven its effectiveness. It is often used by American football, baseball, softball, and lacrosse players to mitigate the effects of b ...

during games. He was a well-known

Harley-Davidson Harley-Davidson, Inc. (H-D, or simply Harley) is an American motorcycle manufacturer headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1903, it is one of two major American motorcycle manufacturers to survive the Great Depressi ...

enthusiast, who once threatened

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...

Joe Theismann Joseph Robert Theismann (born September 9, 1949) is an American former professional football player, sports commentator, corporate speaker and restaurateur. He rose to fame playing quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) and Canad ...

with bodily harm after he mounted Frerotte's motorcycle without permission. Frerotte is the cousin of NFL

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

Gus Frerotte Gustave Joseph Frerotte (; born July 31, 1971) is a former American football quarterback. He was drafted by the Washington Redskins in the seventh round of the 1994 NFL Draft. He played college football at Tulsa. Frerotte, who was selected to ...

. Mitch died from a massive heart attack at his mother's home on June 11, 2008. The coroner's report attributed his death to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a genetic heart condition which the American Heart Association calls the most common cause of sudden death in young athletes.

References

External links

Mitch Frerotte's career stats
databasefootball.com

{{DEFAULTSORT:Frerotte, Mitch 1965 births 2008 deaths American football offensive guards Players of American football from Pennsylvania Buffalo Bills players Penn State Nittany Lions football players People from Kittanning, Pennsylvania