Jermaine Fazande (born January 14, 1975) 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 ...

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 American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

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). He was originally drafted by the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

in the second 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 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 ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

. Fazande is currently a police officer with the Rice University Police Department in Houston, Texas.

College career

Fazande attended the University of Oklahoma from 1994 to 1998 as a fullback. As a

redshirt freshman Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

in 1994, Fazande did not see the field until 1995. He rushed for a career high 491 yards on 105 attempts and five touchdowns as a Junior in 1997. Injuries, including a fractured jaw suffered during a practice in August 1998, limited Fazande to just nine games his senior season, as he rushed 42 times for just 161 yards.

College statistics

Professional career

San Diego Chargers

Fazande was drafted by the San Diego Chargers with the 60th overall pick in the 2nd round of the 1999 NFL draft. The Chargers had acquired the draft pick in a trade with the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

in May 1998 for wide receiver Tony Martin. A fullback in college, the Chargers moved him to running back, hoping to copy some success they had with

Natrone Means Natrone Jermaine Means (born April 26, 1972) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for the San Diego Chargers, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Carolina Panthers from 1993 to 20 ...

. A backup as a rookie, he had his first big game in the final game of the season against the

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 ...

, carrying the ball 30 times and rushing for 183 yards and the only touchdown of the game, as San Diego won 12–6. He finished his rookie campaign by leading the Chargers in rushing, carrying the ball 91 times for 365 yards and two touchdowns. Following the season, the Chargers released veteran Natrone Means, allowing for Fazande to work for a larger role the following season. In 2000, Fazande was second on the Chargers in rushing with 368 yards on 119 carries, rushing for just two touchdowns. In 2001, the Chargers with new general manager

John Butler John Butler may refer to: Arts and entertainment *John "Picayune" Butler (died 1864), American performer *John Butler (artist) (1890–1976), American artist * John Butler (author) (born 1937), British author and YouTuber *John Butler (born 1954), ...

drafted hall of famer

LaDainian Tomlinson LaDainian Tarshane Tomlinson (born June 23, 1979) is a former American football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons. After a successful college career with the TCU Horned Frogs, the San Diego Chargers se ...

, allowing the team to release Fazande at final cuts on September 3, 2001.

New England Patriots

On May 1, 2003, the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

signed Fazande. Fazande, however, never made it out of training camp with the Patriots, and never played again in the NFL.

Professional statistics

Personal life

Following his NFL career, Fazande became a police officer with the Rice University Police Department in Houston, Texas.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fazande, Jermaine 1975 births Living people People from Marrero, Louisiana Players of American football from Louisiana American football running backs Oklahoma Sooners football players San Diego Chargers players