The Tennessee State Tigers football program represents

Tennessee State University Tennessee State University (Tennessee State, Tenn State, or TSU) is a public historically black land-grant university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, it is the only state-funded historically black university in Tenness ...

in the sport of

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 ...

. The Tigers compete in the

NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision 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 Athletic ...

(FCS) as member of the

Ohio Valley Conference The Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern and Southeastern United States, Southeastern United States. It participates in NCAA Divisi ...

History

Championships

National championships

Conference championships

Bowl games

Division I-AA/FCS Playoffs results

The Tigers have appeared in the I-AA/FCS playoffs six times with a record of 3–6.

College Football Hall of Fame

Alumni in the NFL

Over 100 Tennessee State alumni have played in the NFL, including: *

Richard Dent Richard Lamar Dent (born December 13, 1960) is an American former professional football player who was a defensive end in the National Football League (NFL), primarily for the Chicago Bears. He was the MVP of Super Bowl XX. He was elected to t ...

* Onzy Elam *

Joe Gilliam Joseph Wiley Gilliam, Jr. (December 29, 1950December 25, 2000) was a professional football player, a quarterback with the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL) for four seasons. Primarily a backup, he started the first six ga ...

Mike Hegman Michael William Hegman (born January 17, 1953) is a former American football linebacker who played professionally in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys. He played college football at Tennessee State University. Early year ...

* Sylvester Hicks *

Bennie Anderson Tyron Lamar "Bennie" Anderson (born February 17, 1977) is a former American football guard. He played collegiately at Tennessee State University. High school and college careers Anderson attended Cleveland Junior Naval Academy in St. Louis ...

Claude Humphrey Claude B. Humphrey (June 29, 1944 – December 3, 2021) was an American professional football player who played as a defensive end in the National Football League (NFL) for the Atlanta Falcons and Philadelphia Eagles. Humphrey was inducted into t ...

Ed "Too Tall" Jones Edward Lee Jones (born February 23, 1951), commonly known as Ed "Too Tall" Jones due to his height, is a former American football player who played 15 seasons (1974–1978, 1980–1989) in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys ...

Jim Kelly James Edward Kelly (born February 14, 1960) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons with the Buffalo Bills. He also spent two seasons with the Houston Gamblers of the United Stat ...

Greg Kindle Gregory Lamarr Kindle (born September 16, 1950) is a former American football offensive lineman who played four seasons in the National Football League (NFL) with the St. Louis Cardinals and Atlanta Falcons. He was drafted by the Cardinals in th ...

Loaird McCreary Loaird Arthur McCreary (born March 15, 1953) is a former American football tight end who played four seasons in the National Football League (NFL) with the Miami Dolphins and New York Giants. He was drafted by the Miami Dolphins in the second ro ...

Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie Dominique Reshard Rodgers-Cromartie (born April 7, 1986) is a former American football cornerback who played 11 years in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for Tennessee State University, and was drafted by the Arizona ...

* Harold Rice *

Anthony Shelton Anthony Levala Shelton (born September 4, 1967) is a former American football defensive back who played two seasons with the San Diego Chargers of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in the eleventh round ...

Jim Thaxton James Ivory Thaxton (born January 11, 1949) is a former American football tight end who played five seasons in the National Football League with the San Diego Chargers, Cleveland Browns, New Orleans Saints and St. Louis Cardinals. He was drafted ...

* Mike Jones * Larry Kinnebrew * Steve Moore * Herman Hunter *

Gilbert Renfroe Gilbert Renfroe (born February 18, 1963) is an American former gridiron football quarterback. Early career Renfroe played college football at Tennessee State University from 1982 to 1985. With the Tennessee State Tigers, he finished fourth all- ...

* Malcolm Taylor

Annual Classic

Southern Heritage Classic The Southern Heritage Classic presented by FedEx is an annual historically black college football game between the Golden Lions of University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (UAPB) and the Tigers of Tennessee State University. UAPB replaced the Jacks ...

References

External links

* {{Ohio Valley Conference football navbox American football teams established in 1916 1916 establishments in Tennessee