| No. 49, 45 | |||||||||
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| Position | Wide receiver | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born | (1950-05-27)May 27, 1950 (age 75) Staten Island, New York, U.S. | ||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||||||||
| Weight | 195 lb (88 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school | Staten Island (NY) New Dorp | ||||||||
| College | Villanova | ||||||||
| NFL draft | 1972: 1st round, 21st overall pick | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
Playing | |||||||||
Coaching | |||||||||
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Operations | |||||||||
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| Awards and highlights | |||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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Mike Siani (born May 27, 1950) is an American former professionalfootball player who was awide receiver for nine seasons in theNational Football League (NFL) for theOakland Raiders andBaltimore Colts.
Siani was a high school football star with theNew Dorp High School "Centrals", inNew Dorp,Staten Island,New York City,New York, graduating in 1968. At New Dorp, Siani played for legendary coach Sal Somma. Somma and Siani have been inducted into theStaten Island Sports Hall of Fame.
Siani attendedVillanova University, where he not only played football but also excelled in baseball. Between 1968 (when he was still in high school) and 1972, Siani was selected on four occasions by three Major League organizations (theNew York Yankees, theLos Angeles Dodgers, and theTexas Rangers), but he never signed.[1]
On the football field Siani wore number 88 and earned close to 30 achievement awards. He was selected to the1971 College Football All-America Team.[2] Siani was inducted into theVillanova University Sports Hall of Fame in 1988.
Siani was thefirst round draft choice of the Oakland Raiders. In 1972, his first year in Oakland, he set multiple rookie team records for receiving and finished as the runner-up toFranco Harris asNFL Rookie of the Year. He played for the Raiders through 1977, appearing in 74 games with 32 starts, and he caught 128 passes for 2,079 yards and 13 TDs. With the Raiders having a surplus of wide receivers, the team traded Siani along with a1979 third-round selection (72nd overall–traded toHouston Oilers) to the Colts forRaymond Chester and a 1979 second-round pick (33rd overall–traded toTampa Bay Buccaneers forDave Pear) on July 21, 1978.[3][4] Siani played three seasons with the Colts before finishing his NFL career in 1980.[5]
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Won theSuper Bowl | |
| Bold | Career high |
| Year | Team | Games | Receiving | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | ||
| 1972 | OAK | 14 | 13 | 28 | 496 | 17.7 | 70 | 5 |
| 1973 | OAK | 14 | 14 | 45 | 742 | 16.5 | 80 | 3 |
| 1974 | OAK | 6 | 0 | 3 | 30 | 10.0 | 13 | 1 |
| 1975 | OAK | 14 | 4 | 17 | 294 | 17.3 | 44 | 0 |
| 1976 | OAK | 14 | 1 | 11 | 173 | 15.7 | 37 | 2 |
| 1977 | OAK | 12 | 0 | 24 | 344 | 14.3 | 39 | 2 |
| 1978 | BAL | 7 | 0 | 6 | 151 | 25.2 | 49 | 1 |
| 1979 | BAL | 10 | 5 | 15 | 214 | 14.3 | 31 | 2 |
| 1980 | BAL | 10 | 1 | 9 | 174 | 19.3 | 38 | 1 |
| 101 | 38 | 158 | 2,618 | 16.6 | 80 | 17 | ||
| Year | Team | Games | Receiving | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | ||
| 1972 | OAK | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 7.0 | 7 | 0 |
| 1973 | OAK | 2 | 2 | 8 | 113 | 14.1 | 25 | 1 |
| 1975 | OAK | 2 | 2 | 8 | 115 | 14.4 | 23 | 2 |
| 1976 | OAK | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1977 | OAK | 2 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 12.0 | 12 | 0 |
| 9 | 5 | 18 | 247 | 13.7 | 25 | 3 | ||
When his playing career ended, Siani was anindoor football coach for several teams, being named the interim head coach for theMyrtle Beach Stingrays,Fayetteville Guard andFlorence Phantoms. He was named the head coach of theAtlantic City CardSharks in 2004, and theRichmond Raiders of theAmerican Indoor Football Association in 2010. Siani has been employed as a scout for theNew Orleans Saints, and was the quarterbacks and wide receivers coach for thePrinceton Tigers VarsitySprint Football program in 2009.[6]
Major League Baseball playerMichael Siani is a distant relative of Siani's.[citation needed]
“Cheating is Encouraged: A Hard-Nosed History of the 1970s Raiders” was authored by Mike Siani and Kristine Setting Clark.[7]