Jerame Dean Tuman (born March 24, 1976) is a former

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 with ...

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like ...

. He was drafted by the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

in the fifth round of the

1999 NFL Draft The 1999 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 17–18, 1999, at the Theater at M ...

. He won

Super Bowl XL Super Bowl XL was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Seattle Seahawks and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Pittsburgh Steelers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion f ...

with the Steelers, defeating the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...

. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

. He also has played for the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play t ...

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 ...

Early years

Tuman played both

and

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

at Liberal High School. He was a Prep Football Report

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

and All-Midlands selection and rated the fifth-best tight end prospect in the nation by Blue Chip Illustrated. He also earned a state championship during his junior year. Tuman also

lettered Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "t ...

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

while competing in the discus,

triple jump The triple jump, sometimes referred to as the hop, step and jump or the hop, skip and jump, is a track and field event, similar to the long jump. As a group, the two events are referred to as the "horizontal jumps". The competitor runs down th ...

and sprint relays.

College career

Tuman played

for the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

, playing tight end. He joined the team in 1995, and graduated after the 1998 season, earning First-team All-Big Ten honors in 1996, 1997, and 1998. He was also named an All-American by several news outlets in 1997. Tuman was the starting tight end for the 1997 undefeated team named National Champions by the Associated Press, and scored the decisive touchdown in the

1998 Rose Bowl The 1998 Rose Bowl was a college football bowl game, part of the 1997–98 college bowl season, played on January 1 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. The 84th Rose Bowl Game, it featured top-ranked Michigan beating Washington State 21� ...

victory over

Washington State Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...

which secured their undefeated season. During his time at Michigan, Tuman was part of an offensive bread and butter play with quarterback

Brian Griese Brian David Griese ( ; born March 18, 1975) is an American football coach and former quarterback who is the quarterbacks coach for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Denver Broncos in the third r ...

, in which Griese rolled out on a

play-action A play-action pass (also known as a play fake or simply "play-action") is an American football play. The play action starts with what appears to be a running play, but turns out to be a pass play; in this way, it can be considered the opposite of ...

bootleg Bootleg or bootlegging most often refers to: * Bootleg recording, an audio or video recording released unofficially * Rum-running, the illegal business of transporting and trading in alcoholic beverages, hence: ** Moonshine, or illicitly made ...

to find an open Tuman. The play was run successfully throughout the 1997 season, including 4 times against Colorado and for a go-ahead score in the 1998 Rose Bowl.

Professional career

Pittsburgh Steelers

He was selected with the third pick of the fifth round of the

by the

. He spent 9 years with the Steelers, primarily as the second-string tight end. Most of his playing time was during two tight end sets and on

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

. On February 22, 2008, he was released by the Steelers.

Arizona Cardinals

On March 3, 2008 the

signed Tuman to a two-year contract.

Ken Whisenhunt Kenneth Moore Whisenhunt (born February 28, 1962) is an American football coach and former tight end who is currently an offensive analyst for Penn State. He played college football at Georgia Tech and was drafted in the twelfth round of the 198 ...

, the head coach of the Cardinals, had previously served as tight ends coach and offensive coordinator for the Steelers during Tuman's time with the team. Tuman was released by the Cardinals on December 24 after the team signed

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

Victor Hobson Victor Brian Hobson (born February 3, 1980) is a former American football linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) and an executive producer for Global Entertainment. He was drafted in the second round of the 2003 NFL Draft by the New Y ...

. Tuman had appeared in three games for the Cardinals including two starts, catching three passes for 41 yards. On January 13, the Cardinals re-signed Tuman during the playoffs after

Stephen Spach was placed on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...

with a torn ACL.Arizona Re-Signs TE Tuman
SI.com, January 13, 2009

Personal

Jerame is married to Molly Tuman, sister of Tuman's former college teammate at Michigan,

Scott Dreisbach Scott Thomas Dreisbach Jr. (born December 16, 1975) is a former American football quarterback. Originally from Mishawaka, Indiana, Dreisbach played college football as a quarterback for the University of Michigan from 1995 Michigan Wolverines fo ...

. They have four children: one son, Canyon, and three daughters, Avery, Makenna and Mia. He shares birthdays with

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...

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 ...

Peyton Manning Peyton Williams Manning (born March 24, 1976) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons. Nicknamed "the Sheriff", he spent 14 seasons with the Indianapolis Colts and four with th ...

and former NFL quarterback Aaron Brooks. In 2017, Tuman served as an assistant football coach at

North Allegheny Senior High School North Allegheny Senior High School (NASH) is a suburban high school in the North Allegheny School District and is located in Wexford, Pennsylvania, a northern suburb of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The current building was built in 1974. In 2013, e ...

Wexford, Pennsylvania Wexford is an unincorporated community in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. The area known as Wexford is split among multiple municipalities, including Franklin Park, McCandless Township, Pine Township, and Marshall Township. It i ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tuman, Jerame 1976 births American football tight ends Arizona Cardinals players Living people Michigan Wolverines football players People from Liberal, Kansas Pittsburgh Steelers players Players of American football from Kansas