Before there was Jace Amaro, former Red Raider tight end Andre Tillman helped the Red Raiders win eleven games en route to a Gator Bowl win over the Tennessee Volunteers in 1973. Tillman went on to be a first team All-American and was drafted as the 38th overall pick in the 1974 NFL Draft.
RedRaiders.com’s Don Williams recapped Tillman’s career on the South Plains and his induction into the Southwest Conference Hall of Fame.
"Andre Tillman didn’t want to miss Texas Tech’s 1973 football season — for good reason, as it turned out. The Red Raiders went 11-1, beat Tennessee in the Gator Bowl and Tillman was named a first-team all-American.A little more than 40 years later, he’s going into the Southwest Conference Hall of Fame as part of a nine-member class to be inducted this fall.Tillman caught 26 passes for 428 yards and six touchdowns — good numbers in an era before spread offenses — and used his 6-foot-6 and 231 pounds to block well, too. He made all-SWC in addition to the all-America recognition.All while working around around his sore kneeTillman came to Tech in 1970 as part of Carlen’s first recruiting class and one of the most heralded in the program’s history. He was one of four members Tech signed off the Dave Campbell’s Texas Football 36-player blue-chip list, the second-best haul of any school.A few years later, they were veterans on a squad that beat a Condredge Holloway-led Tennessee team 28-19 in the Gator Bowl.Tillman, 61, is semi-retired but still working in the mortgage industry. He lives in Dallas, where he’s been since a seven-year NFL career.The Southwest Conference Hall of Fame is part of a new wing at the Texas Sports Hall of Fame, which made the announcement"
He will be inducted with other SWC greats such as Arkansas basketball coach Nolan Richardson and Baylor running back/kick returner Walter Abercrumbie,
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