Robert Anthony Lilly (born February 16, 1962) is an American former college and professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player who was a

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to risk management, the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are ...

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 ...

(NFL) for four seasons during the 1980s. Lilly 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 ...

for the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

, and thereafter, he played professionally for the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...

of the NFL.

Early years

Lilly was born in

Alexandria, Virginia Alexandria is an independent city (United States), independent city in the northern region of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of Downto ...

in 1962.Pro-Football-Reference.com, Players
Tony Lilly
Retrieved March 18, 2011. When he was 9 years old he represented the

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

area in the NFL's Punt, Pass, and Kick competition. In 1979, Lilly was one of five players from Northern Virginia named to

United Press International United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ...

's Virginia All-State football team. He attended Woodbridge High School in

Woodbridge, Virginia Woodbridge is a census-designated place (CDP) in Prince William County, Virginia, United States, located south of Washington, D.C.. Bounded by the Occoquan and Potomac rivers, Woodbridge had 44,668 residents at the 2020 census. Woodbridge o ...

,databaseFootball.com, Players
Tony Lilly
. Retrieved March 18, 2011. and he was a standout player for the Woodbridge Vikings high school football team. On October 2, 2004, Woodbridge High School retired the numbers of three former football players, including Lilly's No. 18.

College career

Lilly accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the

in Gainesville, Florida, where he played for coach

Charley Pell Charles Byron Pell (February 17, 1941 – May 29, 2001) was an American college American football, football player and coach. Pell was an Alabama native and an alumnus of the University of Alabama, where he played college football. He is most ...

Florida Gators football The Florida Gators football program represents the University of Florida (UF) in American college football. Florida competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Eastern Division of ...

team from

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...

.
2011 Florida Gators Football Media Guide
'', University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 87, 96, 183 (2011). Retrieved August 30, 2011. He became a starter as a freshman when Tim Groves was injured late in the 1980 season, and remained a regular member of the Gators' starting lineup for his remaining three seasons.Scott Carter,
Catching up with Tony Lilly, Will Muschamp's favorite Gator growing up
" GatorZone.com (January 4, 2011). Retrieved June 2, 2011. As a senior in 1983, Lilly was honored as a first-team All-

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

(SEC) selection and a second-team All-American.

Professional career

The

drafted Lilly in the third round (78th pick overall) in the

1984 NFL Draft The 1984 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 May 1–2, 1984, at the Omni Park Cent ...

,Pro Football Hall of Fame, Draft History
1984 National Football League Draft
Retrieved March 18, 2011. and he played for the Broncos for four seasons from to .National Football League, Historical Players
Tony Lilly
Retrieved March 18, 2011. Lilly started at safety for the Broncos vs. Washington in

Super Bowl XXII Super Bowl XXII was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Washington Redskins and American Football Conference (AFC) champion Denver Broncos to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for th ...

. Lilly was badly beaten (even though he had the angle of pursuit) by RB Timmy Smith on a 58-yard TD run and was also torched by WR Ricky Sanders on 80 and 50-yard TD receptions, all during Washington's epic 35-point 2nd quarter explosion; this would be Lilly's last game played in the NFL. In his four-year NFL career, he played in fifty-eight games, started fifteen of them, and totaled nine

interception In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team b ...

s and three

fumble A fumble in gridiron football occurs when a player who has possession and control of the ball loses it before being downed (tackled), scoring, or going out of bounds. By rule, it is any act other than passing, kicking, punting, or successful ...

recoveries.

Life after the NFL

Lilly was a special education instructor and the head football coach at Potomac Senior High School located in Dumfries, Virginia from 2005 to 2009. In 2006, Lilly coached the Panthers to an 11–2 record in his second season and capturing the Cardinal District and Northwest Regional championships in the state of Virginia. The only two losses that season were to eventual Virginia Division 6 state champion

Osbourn High School Osbourn High School is a public school for grades 9–12 located in Manassas, Virginia, United States and the sole high school of the Manassas City Public Schools system. History Osbourn High School history goes back to 1890 when it was named t ...

and Division 5 champion

Phoebus High School Phoebus High School is a public high school in Hampton, Virginia. Named after the neighborhood and former town of Phoebus, Virginia, Phoebus, it is the newest of the four high schools in Hampton City Schools. It is considered unique for the IDEA ...

. In 2007, Lilly guided the Panthers to a perfect 10–0 regular season on the way to the Virginia Division 5 state championship game, before losing to

Stone Bridge High School Stone Bridge High School is a public secondary school in Ashburn, a community in Loudoun County, Virginia. The school is part of Loudoun County Public Schools. Newsweek ranked Stone Bridge the #4 high school in Virginia and the #1 high school in ...

in the final.Paul Tenorio,
Potomac's Season: 13 Parts Good, One Part Disappointing
" ''The Washington Post'' (December 13, 2007). Retrieved June 5, 2011. His 2007 Potomac Panthers finished the season 13–1 overall. On May 4, 2010, Lilly was named the head football coach of

C.D. Hylton High School C.D. Hylton Senior High School, commonly known as C.D. Hylton or Hylton High School, is a public high school located in Dale City in Prince William County, Virginia, United States, and part of the Prince William County Public Schools division. T ...

, where he also serves as a television production teacher. In his first season as head coach, he directed the team to a 10-0 regular season, before losing in their first playoff game against Battlefield, the eventual Division 6 champion who they had defeated earlier in the season.

References

Bibliography

* Carlson, Norm, ''University of Florida Football Vault: The History of the Florida Gators'', Whitman Publishing, LLC, Atlanta, Georgia (2007). . * Golenbock, Peter, ''Go Gators! An Oral History of Florida's Pursuit of Gridiron Glory'', Legends Publishing, LLC, St. Petersburg, Florida (2002). . * Hairston, Jack, ''Tales from the Gator Swamp: A Collection of the Greatest Gator Stories Ever Told'', Sports Publishing, LLC, Champaign, Illinois (2002). . * McCarthy, Kevin M.,
Fightin' Gators: A History of University of Florida Football
', Arcadia Publishing, Mount Pleasant, South Carolina (2000). . * Nash, Noel, ed., ''The Gainesville Sun Presents The Greatest Moments in Florida Gators Football'', Sports Publishing, Inc., Champaign, Illinois (1998). . {{DEFAULTSORT:Lilly, Tony 1962 births Living people Sportspeople from Alexandria, Virginia Players of American football from Virginia American football safeties Florida Gators football players Denver Broncos players Coaches of American football from Virginia High school football coaches in Virginia