Shawne Merriman
Encyclopedia
Shawne DeAndre Merriman (born May 25, 1984 in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

) (nicknamed Lights Out) is an American football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 linebacker
Linebacker
A linebacker is a position in American football that was invented by football coach Fielding H. Yost of the University of Michigan. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up approximately three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage, behind the defensive linemen...

 for the Buffalo Bills
Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills are a professional football team based in Buffalo, New York. They are currently members of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

 of the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...

. He was drafted 12th overall by the San Diego Chargers
San Diego Chargers
The San Diego Chargers are a professional American football team based in San Diego, California. they were members of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

 in the 2005 NFL Draft
2005 NFL Draft
The 2005 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 23–24, 2005. The league also held an supplemental draft that year, which was held after...

. On November 2, 2010, the Chargers waived Merriman. He was acquired through waivers by the Bills on November 3, 2010.

2005 NFL Draft

Shawne Merriman was drafted in the 1st round (12th overall) in the 2005 NFL Draft out of the University of Maryland
Maryland Terrapins football
The Maryland Terrapins football team represents the University of Maryland in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Football Bowl Subdivision competition. The Terrapins compete within the Atlantic Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference...

 by the San Diego Chargers. He was selected using a pick acquired from the New York Giants as part of the Rivers-Manning trade during the 2004 NFL Draft
2004 NFL Draft
The 2004 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 24-25, 2004 at the theater at Madison Square Garden...

.

The New York Giants
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, representing the New York City metropolitan area. The Giants are currently members of the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...

 traded Philip Rivers
Philip Rivers
Philip Rivers is an American football quarterback for the San Diego Chargers of the National Football League . He was one half of the Manning-Rivers draft trade which sent him to San Diego and the 1st overall pick, Ole Miss quarterback Eli Manning, to the New York Giants. Rivers played college...

 (selected 4th overall in the 2004 Draft), and their 1st round selection for the following year
2005 NFL Draft
The 2005 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 23–24, 2005. The league also held an supplemental draft that year, which was held after...

 (amongst others) for the rights to sign Eli Manning
Eli Manning
Eli Nelson Manning is an American football quarterback for the New York Giants of the National Football League. He is the younger brother of NFL quarterback Peyton Manning and the son of former NFL quarterback Archie Manning...

, who had been selected by the San Diego Chargers
San Diego Chargers
The San Diego Chargers are a professional American football team based in San Diego, California. they were members of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

 with the 1st overall pick that year. Manning had made it clear he was not interested in playing for the Chargers, in a similar fashion to John Elway
John Elway
John Albert Elway, Jr. is a former American football quarterback and currently is the executive vice president of football operations for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League . He played college football at Stanford and his entire professional career with the Denver Broncos...

 in 1983 when selected by the Baltimore Colts
History of the Indianapolis Colts
The Indianapolis Colts are a professional football team based in Indianapolis, Indiana. They play in the AFC South division of the National Football League. They have won 3 NFL championships and 2 Super Bowls....

.

The Giants draft pick ended up being the 12th overall pick in the 2005 NFL Draft
2005 NFL Draft
The 2005 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 23–24, 2005. The league also held an supplemental draft that year, which was held after...

. The Chargers used that selection to take Merriman.

On August 1, after a long holdout period, Merriman signed a 5-year, $11.5 million contract that included $9 million in guarantees and $4 million in incentives.

2005 season

Merriman started off his 2005 rookie year on the inactive list and completed a 10 day hold out from training camp. He did not break the starting lineup until week 7, but recorded 6 sacks in his first 4 starts. He was voted into the Pro Bowl as an OLB after playing the position for the San Diego Chargers in their 3-4 defensive scheme which is the same position he played at the University of Maryland
University of Maryland, College Park
The University of Maryland, College Park is a top-ranked public research university located in the city of College Park in Prince George's County, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C...

. Merriman's best game of the year came in week 15 when the Chargers handed the Indianapolis Colts
Indianapolis Colts
The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. They are currently members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League ....

 their first loss of the season. Merriman recorded 2 sacks and 2 tackles for a loss, one of which stopped Peyton Manning
Peyton Manning
Peyton Williams Manning is an American football quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League . Manning holds the record for most NFL MVP awards with four. He was drafted by the Colts as the first overall pick in 1998 after a standout college football career with the...

 for a 6 yard loss on 4th and goal. It was during this game that Shawne Merriman garnered much national media coverage and in the following week made the Pro Bowl
Pro Bowl
In professional American football, the Pro Bowl is the all-star game of the National Football League . Since the merger with the rival American Football League in 1970, it has been officially called the AFC–NFC Pro Bowl, matching the top players in the American Football Conference against those...

.

On January 4, 2006, Merriman was awarded with The Associated Press Defensive Rookie of the Year award
NFL Rookie of the Year Award
Since 1967, the Associated Press has given two annual Rookie of the Year Awards to National Football League players: one for an offensive player and one for a defensive player. These two are often regarded as the "official" awards...

. He received 28 votes of a panel of 50 NFL
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...

 sportswriters and broadcasters. He beat Seattle Seahawks
Seattle Seahawks
The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle, Washington. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team joined the NFL in 1976 as an expansion team...

 linebacker Lofa Tatupu
Lofa Tatupu
-Seattle Seahawks:Tatupu quickly established himself as one of the top defensive players in the league as a rookie in 2005, in which he was named to the Pro Bowl, while leading the NFC Champion Seahawks in tackles, with 104, en route to their first Super Bowl appearance in franchise history...

, who received 16 votes, Cincinnati
Cincinnati Bengals
The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional football team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the AFC's North Division in the National Football League . The Bengals began play in 1968 as an expansion team in the American Football League , and joined the NFL in 1970 in the AFL-NFL...

 linebacker Odell Thurman
Odell Thurman
Odell Lamar Thurman is an American football linebacker for the Virginia Destroyers of the United Football League. He was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in the second round of the 2005 NFL Draft. He played college football at Georgia....

, with 4, and Dallas
Dallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football franchise which plays in the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League . They are headquartered in Valley Ranch in Irving, Texas, a suburb of Dallas...

 linebacker DeMarcus Ware
Demarcus Ware
DeMarcus Ware is an American football linebacker for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League. He was drafted with the 11th overall pick in the 2005 NFL Draft out of Troy University...

, with one. On February 12, 2006, Merriman participated in the 2006 NFL Pro Bowl
2006 Pro Bowl
The 2006 AFC-NFC Pro Bowl was played on February 12, 2006 at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii. It marked the 27th consecutive time that the National Football League's all-star game was held in Honolulu...

 in Honolulu, Hawaii
Honolulu, Hawaii
Honolulu is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii. Honolulu is the southernmost major U.S. city. Although the name "Honolulu" refers to the urban area on the southeastern shore of the island of Oahu, the city and county government are consolidated as the City and...

. Although in a losing effort, Merriman made 3 tackles and forced one fumble. "I enjoyed myself the whole entire week", said Merriman. "I topped it off today by playing the entire game with all the guys I grew up watching. It's going to be my first of many if I just keep working hard."

2006 season

On October 22, 2006, reports were made public by CNN that Merriman would face a 4-game suspension for violating the NFL's steroid policy. ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....

's Chris Mortensen
Chris Mortensen
Chris "Mort" Mortensen , an award-winning journalist, provides reports for ESPN's Sunday NFL Countdown, Monday Night Countdown, SportsCenter, ESPN Radio and ESPN.com...

 cited a source that claimed the suspension was "definitely for steroid use and not a 'supplement-type' suspension." Mortenson's report later came under scrutiny from Merriman's attorney, David Cornwell, who called the report "irresponsible and erroneous." Under NFL league policy, no player's suspension proceedings are to be announced before the suspension takes place. Subsequently Cornwell stated that he believes the substance his client tested positive for was the anabolic steroid
Anabolic steroid
Anabolic steroids, technically known as anabolic-androgen steroids or colloquially simply as "steroids", are drugs that mimic the effects of testosterone and dihydrotestosterone in the body. They increase protein synthesis within cells, which results in the buildup of cellular tissue ,...

 nandrolone
Nandrolone
Nandrolone is an anabolic steroid that may be present naturally in the human body, albeit in minute quantities of less than 0.4 ng/ml. Nandrolone is most commonly sold commercially as its decanoate ester and less commonly as a phenylpropionate ester...

, and that Merriman claims it must have been in a tainted nutritional supplement he took regularly.

The incident led to the passage of a rule that forbids a player who tests positive for steroids from being selected to the Pro Bowl or winning any performance awards in the year in which they tested positive. The rule is commonly referred as the "Merriman Rule". However, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell
Roger Goodell
Roger S. Goodell is the Commissioner of the National Football League , having been chosen to succeed the retiring Paul Tagliabue on August 8, 2006. He was chosen over four finalists for the position, winning a close vote on the fifth ballot before being unanimously approved by acclamation of the...

 has tried to distance the policy from being associated with the player, stating that Merriman tested clean on 19 of 20 random tests for performance-enhancing drugs since entering the league.

At the start of his 2006 season after the 4 game suspension, Merriman again began his season with success, recording 3 sacks and an interception in his first 2 games. Merriman went on to record 8.5 sacks and make ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....

's midseason All-pro team, prior to dropping an appeal against an NFL enforced 4 week suspension due to testing positive for steroids. In the 2006 regular season, Merriman led the league in sacks with 17 while playing only 12 games. He also added 4 forced fumbles to his career (2 against both the Buffalo Bills
Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills are a professional football team based in Buffalo, New York. They are currently members of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

 and the Denver Broncos
Denver Broncos
The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver, Colorado. They are currently members of the West Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

). Merriman finished third in the balloting for 2006 Associated Press Defensive Player of the Year, behind Jason Taylor and Champ Bailey
Champ Bailey
Roland "Champ" Bailey is an American football cornerback for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League. Bailey was drafted in the 1st round of the 1999 NFL Draft by the Washington Redskins. He played college football at the University of Georgia.Bailey is 8th among Broncos in all-time...

, after having tested positive for using steroids which is against the league's drug abuse policy. Taylor commented that Merriman should not have been considered for the award because of his suspension. Merriman reportedly responded by sending Taylor a "Lights Out" t-shirt
T-shirt
A T-shirt is a style of shirt. A T-shirt is buttonless and collarless, with short sleeves and frequently a round neck line....

 and a box of popcorn
Popcorn
Popcorn, or popping corn, is corn which expands from the kernel and puffs up when heated. Corn is able to pop because, like sorghum, quinoa and millet, its kernels have a hard moisture-sealed hull and a dense starchy interior. This allows pressure to build inside the kernel until an explosive...

 with a note saying enjoy watching him in the playoffs. Merriman, nicknamed "Lights Out", performed a dance to celebrate each of his 17 sacks in 2006–2009 After the Chargers were eliminated in the playoffs by the New England Patriots
New England Patriots
The New England Patriots, commonly called the "Pats", are a professional football team based in the Greater Boston area, playing their home games in the town of Foxborough, Massachusetts at Gillette Stadium. The team is part of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National...

 that season, members of the Patriots began performing Merriman's "Lights Out" dance on the field in celebration. Merriman's Chargers teammate LaDainian Tomlinson
LaDainian Tomlinson
LaDainian Tramayne Tomlinson is an American football running back for the New York Jets of the National Football League. He was drafted by the San Diego Chargers fifth overall in the 2001 NFL Draft. He played college football at Texas Christian.Tomlinson, often referred to by his initials, L...

, referred to the act as showing no class and being disrespectful.

2007 season

In 2007, he announced that he would no longer perform this celebration. In week 4, however, Merriman performed the dance after sacking Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Damon Huard
Damon Huard
Damon Paul Huard is a former American football quarterback. He was signed by the Cincinnati Bengals as an undrafted free agent in 1996. He played college football at Washington....

. After the Charger's slow 1-3 start to the season, Merriman exclaimed that he decided to do the sack dance again due to the urge of his fellow teammates and to help revive the spirits of the Charger fans.

Merriman finished the season with 68 total tackles, with 54 solo and 14 assisted tackles, performing to his usual caliber by tallying 12.5 sacks. His prowess was shown during the season when it was said that his 9.5 sacks through to week 13 was seen as a decline in performance, a quote to which Merriman took a great compliment. After the Chargers finished the season with a loss to the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship game, Merriman was named to the Pro Bowl for a third consecutive year and was named Second-Team All-Pro by the Associated Press.

2008 season

During the 2008 training camp, Merriman had difficulty with his injured knee and sat out of practice for over two weeks. Initial reports were that his recovery would take a few weeks, but on August 23, Merriman reported that he had a tear in both his posterior cruciate ligament
Posterior cruciate ligament
The posterior cruciate ligament is one of the four major ligaments of the knee. It connects the posterior intercondylar area of the tibia to the medial condyle of the femur...

 and lateral collateral ligament. He was told by doctors that he could sustain a possible career-threatening injury should he choose to play without having surgery. Merriman withheld his decision whether or not to play while seeking several different professional opinions, including that of well-known surgeon James Andrews
James Andrews (physician)
James Rheuben Andrews, M.D., born 1942 in Homer, Louisiana, is an orthopedic surgeon who practices at the Andrews Institute for Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine in Gulf Breeze, Florida. He also practices in Birmingham, Alabama at the Andrews Sports Medicine & Orthopaedic Center located at St....

 of Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...

. ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....

's Mike Tirico
Mike Tirico
Michael Todd Tirico is an announcer for ESPN's presentation of Monday Night Football, and second lead broadcaster for ESPN's presentation of the NBA. In addition, Tirico hosts a multitude of programming on ESPN/ABC. He was the host of ABC's golf coverage from 1996 to 2007, and continues in that...

 in the Chargers' Monday Night Football
Monday Night Football
Monday Night Football is a live broadcast of the National Football League on ESPN. From to it aired on ABC. Monday Night Football was, along with Hallmark Hall of Fame, and the Walt Disney anthology television series, one of the longest running prime time commercial network television series...

 game that Merriman went to Miami, Florida
Miami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...

 to get a final opinion on his knee. On August 27, Merriman told Fox Sports
Fox Sports (USA)
Fox Sports is a division of the Fox Broadcasting Company . It was formed in 1994 with Fox's acquisition of broadcast rights to National Football League games...

 that he would go against the advice of the doctors and will try to play through the injury, stating that he simply wants to play and that the career-ending possibilities were "misquoted."

On September 9, it was announced that Merriman would indeed go through with the reconstructive knee surgery to repair his torn knee ligaments and would be placed on the Injured Reserve, missing the rest of the 2008 NFL Season.

Merriman at that point had a total of 39.5 sacks in 3 seasons and had made the Pro Bowl in all 3 seasons that he'd played. His 39.5 sacks are the most for any player from 2005 to 2007, edging out Jason Taylor
Jason Taylor (American football)
Jason Paul Taylor is an American football linebacker who currently plays for the Miami Dolphins in the National Football League. He was drafted by the Miami Dolphins in the third round of the 1997 NFL Draft...

 by just one full sack. He had also been named First-Team All-Pro in his first 2 seasons, while earning a Second-Team All-Pro selection in his 3rd season.

2009 season

In the 2009 season, Merriman was suffering from a painful foot injury as well as his troubled knees. He had only four sacks for the season.

2010 season

At the beginning of the calendar year, Merriman expressed concern that the Chargers may no longer want him, but said that his goal was to remain a Charger if possible. On March 4, 2010, the San Diego Chargers announced that they would place their first and third round franchise tender on Merriman, thus retaining him as a Charger. On August 13, 2010, after two weeks of hold out, Shawne Merriman signed tender and reported to camp.

On October 13, the Chargers announced that Merriman was being placed on injured reserve
Injured reserve
The injured reserve list is a list of reserved players who are injured and unable to play for a period of time, used most prominently in the National Hockey League and National Football League . It is used because these leagues have a maximum number of players on the team roster, so placing a...

 and, per NFL rules, would be released when he is healthy. Merriman had re-injured his calf against Oakland and has been limited in the first five weeks of the season. Merriman was put on waivers by the Chargers on November 2, 2010. He was claimed by the Buffalo Bills the following day.

On November 10, Merriman suffered an Achilles injury during his first workout with his new team. Subsequently, on November 27, the Bills placed Merriman on season-ending injury reserve.
He signed a two-year contract extension with the Bills on January 1, 2011.

2011 season

On October 25, 2011 Merriman was placed on Injured Reserve list for the second consecutive season after suffering setbacks with a Achilles tendon.http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/7148817/shawne-merriman-buffalo-bills-put-ir-achilles-injury Merriman finishes the season recording 9 tackles and a sack.

Legal incident

On September 6, 2009 Merriman was arrested and charged with battery
Battery (crime)
Battery is a criminal offense involving unlawful physical contact, distinct from assault which is the fear of such contact.In the United States, criminal battery, or simply battery, is the use of force against another, resulting in harmful or offensive contact...

 and false imprisonment
False imprisonment
False imprisonment is a restraint of a person in a bounded area without justification or consent. False imprisonment is a common-law felony and a tort. It applies to private as well as governmental detention...

. An acquaintance, reality TV star Tila Tequila, claimed in an arrest complaint that he choke
Choking
Choking is the mechanical obstruction of the flow of air from the environment into the lungs. Choking prevents breathing, and can be partial or complete, with partial choking allowing some, although inadequate, flow of air into the lungs. Prolonged or complete choking results in asphyxia which...

d and restrained
Physical restraint
Physical restraint refers to the practice of rendering people harmless, helpless or keeping them in captivity by means such as handcuffs, fetters, straitjackets, ropes, straps, or other forms of physical restraint...

 her when she tried to leave his home. The charges were dismissed less than a week later on September 11, 2009.

In December 2009, Merriman filed a civil suit against Tequila, alleging intentional interference with contract, unfair competition, and trademark infringement. He claimed that Tequila improperly used his own "Lights Out" logo and disrupted negotiations for t-shirts to be marketed by Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. , branded as Walmart since 2008 and Wal-Mart before then, is an American public multinational corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores. The company is the world's 18th largest public corporation, according to the Forbes Global 2000...

. She failed to respond to the suit at all, and a default judgment was entered in his favor for $2 million. For a limited time, she has the right to appeal the default and attempt to defend herself.

Media appearances

Merriman was featured on an episode of MTV Exposed
Exposed (MTV series)
MTV's Exposed is a television dating show which debuted in December 2006 on MTV. It is produced by Kallissa Productions and Endemol USA. It is also the successor of the dating show Next.-Premise:The premise is based on lie detection software...

.

On October 10, 2007 Merriman was chosen as the cover athlete for EA Sports
EA Sports
EA Sports is a brand of Electronic Arts that creates and develops sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they tried to mimic real-life sports networks by calling themselves "EA Sports Network" with pictures or endorsements of real commentators such as John...

' NFL Tour
NFL Tour
NFL Tour is an arcade football video game. It was released on January 8, 2008. It was developed under the EA Sports BIG division of EA Sports, which is also responsible for such titles as SSX, NBA Street, NFL Street, and the FIFA Street games. The game could be considered a successor to the NFL...

 video game.

Merriman appears in Keri Hilson
Keri Hilson
Keri Lynn Hilson is an American R&B singer-songwriter. Born and raised in Decatur, Georgia, Hilson began her music career as a songwriter, penning tracks for several artists in the mid-2000s as part of the five-person production and songwriting team, The Clutch...

's "Knock You Down
Knock You Down
"Knock You Down" is a song by American singer-songwriter Keri Hilson, taken from her debut studio album, In a Perfect World... . The song features guest vocals from American singer-songwriter Ne-Yo and American rapper Kanye West. The song was written by Hilson, West, and Ne-Yo along with Kevin...

" music video and made a special appearance at WWE's One Night Stand 2008 on June 1, 2008, where he hit superstar Chavo Guerrero with a Singapore Cane.

Merriman is featured in the Nike Football "Leave Nothing" advertisement.

Merriman also made a cameo in season 7 of HBO's Entourage.

Merriman also appeared on Cartoon Network's Destroy Build Destroy along with Antonio Gates.

Merriman appeared on GNC's Athlete Tour 2010 under his MusclePharm sponsorship.

Personal life

Merriman earned his nickname "Lights Out" at Frederick Douglass High School, where he knocked out 4 people in the first half of one game.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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