Guido Albert Merkens Jr. (born August 14, 1955) is a former professional

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

player who played

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. Ther ...

, wide receiver, punter and defensive back for ten seasons for the

Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston from its founding in 1960 to 1996 before relocating to Memphis, and later Nashville, Tennessee becoming the Tennessee Titans. The Oilers began play in 1960 a ...

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

and

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team play ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). Merkens was a 1973 graduate of Edison High School in

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

. He then played both quarterback and defensive back at Sam Houston State University. His versatility became a hallmark of his professional career. In his first two seasons in the NFL, he was primarily a punt return specialist. During his tenure with the Saints, he served as the third-string quarterback, holder for field goals and special teams player; with occasional time as a wide receiver, punter or safety. His penchant for being the emergency backup for all of the aforementioned positions earned him the reputation of a " jack of all trades". Merkens' father, Guido Sr., served as founding pastor of Concordia

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

Church in San Antonio and was a vice-president of the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod. In 2007, the ''

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With i ...

'' reported that Merkens was working as the general manager of a

CarMax CarMax, Inc. is a used vehicle retailer based in the United States. It operates two business segments: CarMax Sales Operations and CarMax Auto Finance. The corporate entity behind the formation of CarMax was Circuit City Stores, Inc. The firs ...

dealership in the city.Dale Robertson
"Remembering the Luv Ya Blue Oilers (w/video)"
, ''

'', December 10, 2007.

References

1955 births Living people American football defensive backs American football punters American football quarterbacks American football return specialists American football wide receivers Houston Oilers players National Football League replacement players New Orleans Saints players Philadelphia Eagles players Sam Houston Bearkats football players Players of American football from San Antonio {{defensiveback-1950s-stub