Zach Piller

Zachary Paul Piller (born May 2, 1976) is an American former college and professional football player who was a guard in the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons during the late 1990s and 2000s. Piller played college football for the University of Florida, where he was a member of a national championship team in 1996. Thereafter, he played professionally for the Tennessee Titans of the NFL.

Early years

Piller was born in St. Petersburg, Florida.^[1] but primarily grew up in Tallahassee, Florida and attended Lincoln High School^[2] where he was a starting offensive lineman for the Lincoln Trojans high school football team.

Piller would later become known for drinking draft beer from a pitcher where he'd then pour the beer into a plastic cup full of ice. In 2011 he would go to become the self proclaimed "King of Wings" at his bar he co founded, Neighbors in Sylvan, TN. June 2016 he would face his greasiest life challenge when the arrival of Florida natives "The Kirkpatrick's " moved to their town. In early September of 2016 Piller would go on to found a movement. The then 351 pound Piller would ask not only his friends, but friends of friends to join him in an uber to for a journey from Tin Roof Downtown out to Neighbors. That movement would only find Piller and his then wife back Downtown in less than 1 hour. Currently you can most likely find him at Jets Pizza just outside of Nashville patiently waiting to hear the end of his friends story

College career

Piller initially accepted an athletic scholarship to attend Georgia Tech in Atlanta, Georgia, where he played for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team. After his freshman year ended, he transferred to the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, and played for coach Steve Spurrier's Florida Gators football team from 1996 to 1998.^[3] Piller was a sophomore letterman on the 1996 Gators squad that defeated the in-state rival Florida State Seminoles in the Sugar Bowl to win the national championship. As a senior team captain in 1998, he was a first-team All-Southeastern Conference (SEC) selection.^[3]

Piller graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor's degree in exercise and sport science in 2006.

Professional career

The Tennessee Titans selected Piller in the third round (eighty-first overall pick) in the 1999 NFL Draft,^[4] and he played for the Titans from 1999 to 2006.^[5] After playing eighty-seven games for the Titans (and starting in fifty-eight of them),^[1] Piller was released by the team on February 20, 2007.

Piller was signed by the Detroit Lions on March 23, 2007; he was released on May 3. Piller signed with the New York Giants on June 7, 2007, only to be released again on September 2. After spending two seasons out of football, Piller was drafted by the Florida Tuskers of the United Football League (UFL) in the UFL Premiere Season Draft in 2009. He signed with the team on August 17,^[6] but was released before the season began.

See also

• Florida Gators football, 1990–99
• Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
• History of Tennessee Titans
• List of Florida Gators football players in the NFL
• List of University of Florida alumni

References

Bibliography

• Carlson, Norm, University of Florida Football Vault: The History of the Florida Gators, Whitman Publishing, LLC, Atlanta, Georgia (2007). ISBN 0-7948-2298-3.
• Golenbock, Peter, Go Gators! An Oral History of Florida's Pursuit of Gridiron Glory, Legends Publishing, LLC, St. Petersburg, Florida (2002). ISBN 0-9650782-1-3.
• Hairston, Jack, Tales from the Gator Swamp: A Collection of the Greatest Gator Stories Ever Told, Sports Publishing, LLC, Champaign, Illinois (2002). ISBN 1-58261-514-4.
• McCarthy, Kevin M., Fightin' Gators: A History of University of Florida Football, Arcadia Publishing, Mount Pleasant, South Carolina (2000). ISBN 978-0-7385-0559-6.
• Nash, Noel, ed., The Gainesville Sun Presents The Greatest Moments in Florida Gators Football, Sports Publishing, Inc., Champaign, Illinois (1998). ISBN 1-57167-196-X.