Mike Gillette

Mike Gillette (born c. 1967) is a former American football and baseball player. He was a placekicker for the University of Michigan Wolverines football team from 1985 to 1988 and a punter for the 1988 team. He also played baseball for Michigan, and later played professionally in the minor leagues. Gillette finished his college football career is the leading scorer in Michigan football history with 295 points on 53 field goals, 130 extra points, and one touchdown. He also set Michigan records for the longest field goal (56 yards) and most field goals in a single game (five).

Mike Gillette
Michigan Wolverines – No. 19
PositionPlacekicker, punter
Personal information
Born:c. 1967 (age 55–56)
Height6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight185 lb (84 kg)
Career history
College
Bowl games1986 Fiesta Bowl
1987 Rose Bowl
1988 Hall of Fame Bowl
1989 Rose Bowl
High schoolSt. Joseph (MI)

Football career

Gillette grew up in St. Joseph, Michigan, and was an all-state quarterback, placekicker and punter at St. Joseph High School.[1][2] He enrolled at the University of Michigan in 1985.

Gillette had the best season of his career in 1988 and was selected by conference coaches for the United Press International as a first-team kicker on the 1988 All-Big Ten Conference football team.[3] High and low points of Gillette's 1988 season include the following:

  • On September 10, 1988, Gillette missed a 48-yard field goal attempt with three seconds left in a 19-17 loss to Notre Dame.[4]
  • On October 8, 1988, Gillette ran 40 yards for a touchdown on a fake punt against Michigan State. With a total of 11 points in the game (a field goal and two extra points in addition to his touchdown), he became Michigan's all-time leading scorer, passing the mark of 244 points set by Anthony Carter from 1979 to 1982.[5]
  • On October 15, 1986, Gillette kicked a game-winning 34-yard field goal as time ran out in a 20-17 victory over Iowa.[6]
  • On November 5, 1988, Gillette kicked five field goals in a 22-7 victory over Minnesota. Gillette's five field goals broke the prior Michigan record of four field goals established by Bob Wood in 1975 and tied by Bob Bergeron in 1984.[7]
  • On November 19, 1988, Gillette kicked two field goals in Michigan's 34-31 victory over Ohio State. His second field goal against the Buckeyes covered 56 yards,[8] breaking his own record set two years earlier for the longest field goal in Michigan football history.[9]
  • On January 1, 1989, in his final game for Michigan, Gillette kicked a 49-yard field goal in Michigan's 22-14 victory over USC in the 1989 Rose Bowl. Gillette's 49-yard field goal against USC was the Michigan record for the longest field goal in a bowl game until Quinn Nordin kicked a 57 yarder in the 2020 citrus bowl.[10]

During his four years at Michigan, Gillette was successful on 53 of 75 field goal attempts for 159 points.[11] He also successfully converted 130 of 133 extra point attempts,[12] and ran for a touchdown, giving him a total of 295 points during his Michigan football career.

Baseball career

In addition to his kicking duties, Gillette also played college baseball for the Wolverines.[13] In the summer of 1987, he played catcher for the Harwich Mariners of the Cape Cod Baseball League. When he had to leave the team before the end of the season to return to school for football practice, Gillette was replaced on the Mariners' roster by future major leaguer John Flaherty.[14][15]

Gillette was selected by the Kansas City Royals in the 34th round of the 1988 MLB Draft. He went on to play minor league baseball from 1990 to 1992.[16]

References
  1. Tomy George (October 1, 1985). "Gillette gives U-M plenty to kick about". Detroit Free Press. p. D1.
  2. Tommy George (October 1, 1985). "Gillette gives U-M plenty to kick about, part 2". Detroit Free Press. p. D5.
  3. "Michigan puts seven on all-Big Ten". The Bryan Times. November 23, 1988. p. 21.
  4. Steve Kornacki (September 12, 1988). "U-M's Gillette replays missed kick". Detroit Free Press. p. 8D.
  5. "Gillette's Edge". Detroit Free Press. October 9, 1988. p. 11H.
  6. "Michigan, Gillette shave Iowa". Detroit Free Press. October 19, 1986. p. 4C.
  7. "Michigan keeps on winning". Kokomo (Ind.) Tribune. November 6, 1988. p. 30.
  8. "U-M Summary". Detroit Free Press. November 20, 1988. p. 13D.
  9. Bruce Madej; Rob Toonkel; Mike Pearson; Greg Kinney (1997). Michigan: Champions of the West. Sports Publishing LLC. p. 186. ISBN 1571671153.
  10. "Individual Bowl Game Records". Mgoblue.com. University of Michigan.
  11. "Michigan Football Statistics Archive". University of Michigan. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved November 23, 2015.(type "gillette" in the box for Last Name to pull his statistics)
  12. "Mike Gillette". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 22, 2015.
  13. Ken Paskman (October 22, 1986). "Bo Schembechler, Michigan football coach, on Mike Gillette". orlandosentinel.com. Retrieved September 23, 2021.
  14. "Mariners Action". The Cape Cod Chronicle. Chatham, MA. July 30, 1987. p. 44.
  15. Bulkley, Nat (August 13, 1987). "Meet the Mariners: John Flaherty". The Cape Cod Chronicle. Chatham, MA. p. 56.
  16. "Mike Gillette". baseball-reference.com. Retrieved September 23, 2021.
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