Sam Merriman
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tucson, Arizona, U.S.
| No. 51 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Linebacker | ||||||
| Personal information | |||||||
| Born | May 5, 1961 Tucson, Arizona, U.S. | ||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | ||||||
| Listed weight | 229 lb (104 kg) | ||||||
| Career information | |||||||
| High school | Amphitheater (Tucson) | ||||||
| College | Idaho | ||||||
| NFL draft | 1983: 7th round, 177th overall pick | ||||||
| Career history | |||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||
| |||||||
Sam Merriman (born May 5, 1961) is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker for five seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Idaho Vandals in the Big Sky Conference and was selected in the seventh round of the 1983 NFL draft by the Seattle Seahawks.
Born and raised in Tucson, Arizona, Merriman graduated from its Amphitheater High School in 1979.[1] He played college football at the University of Idaho in the Big Sky Conference, recruited by head coach Jerry Davitch, a former Arizona Wildcat lineman and high school head coach in Tucson. Merriman had planned on playing at Northern Arizona in Flagstaff, also in the Big Sky, but a coaching change there altered his future further northward.[1]
Merriman was a four-year all-conference starter for the Vandals, but went through a coaching change after a disappointing 3–8 season in 1981, his junior year. He came close to transferring to Hawaii, but decided to stay in Moscow under first-time head coach Dennis Erickson.[1]
In Merriman's senior season in 1982, the Vandals were 8–3 in the regular season and advanced to the second round of the twelve-team Division I-AA playoffs, falling to eventual national champion Eastern Kentucky by eight in a nationally televised game (WTBS) that wasn't decided until the final minute.[2][3]
Following his senior season, he played in the East–West Shrine Game at Stanford Stadium in mid-January.[4][5]