Jermie Calhoun (born October 12, 1988) 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 ...

. 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 ...

at the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two Territories became the state of Oklahom ...

and

Angelo State University Angelo State University is a public university in San Angelo, Texas. It was founded in 1928 as San Angelo College. It gained university status and awarded its first baccalaureate degrees in 1967 and graduate degrees in 1969, the same year it too ...

. Calhoun was once considered one of the best running back prospects of his high school class.

High school career

A native of

Ben Wheeler, Texas Ben Wheeler is an unincorporated community in Van Zandt County, Texas, United States. It lies twelve miles southeast of Canton, and has an estimated population of 400. History The area around Ben Wheeler was first settled in the 1840s by Kentuc ...

, Jermie Calhoun attended Van High School, a 3A school, where he played football and ran track. In

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

, he started his career playing

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to risk management, the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are ...

as a freshman. Playing running back during his sophomore year, Calhoun had his breakout performance against

Gladewater High School Gladewater High School is a public high school located in the city of Gladewater, Texas, United States and classified as a 3A school by the UIL. It is a part of the Gladewater Independent School District located in southeast Upshur County and ...

on September 24, 2005. Replacing an injured teammate, he rushed for a school-record 359 yards and four touchdowns in a 35-21 victory. He rushed for 1,601 yards and 20 touchdowns during his junior year. In one game against Crandall High School he had 220 yards on 10 carries in a half. As a senior, Calhoun carried the ball 242 times, racking up 1,910 yards and 30 touchdowns. Occasionally playing

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 ...

, he threw 104 passes, completing 57 for 803 yards and four touchdowns. Calhoun was named Texas class 3-A Offensive Player of the Year. In

track & field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

, Calhoun competed as a sprinter. At the 2008 Region 2-3A Meet, he qualified for the

100-meter dash The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contest ...

finals after clocking a PR of 11.21 seconds in the prelims. He also ran the fourth leg on the 4x100m relay squad, helping them earn a second-place finish at 42.86 seconds.

Recruiting

Considered a five-star recruit by ''

Rivals.com Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heckma ...

'', Calhoun was listed as the No. 2 running back prospect in the nation (behind

Darrell Scott James Darrell Scott, known as Darrell Scott (born August 6, 1959), is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. The son of musician Wayne Scott, he moved as a child to East Gary, Indiana (known today as Lake Station, Indiana). ...

). Calhoun received his first scholarship offer after his break out performance against Gladewater during his sophomore year. The offer was made by the

Kansas State University Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public instit ...

. However, he waited until the end of his junior year for a decision, collecting offers by

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

and

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

, among others. Growing up as a Longhorns fan, Calhoun waited for a Texas offer, but early concerns over his grades scared off the Longhorns recruiters. Calhoun eventually committed to the

on April 2, 2007.

College career

Calhoun was considered the best high school running back from Texas since

Adrian Peterson Adrian Lewis Peterson (born March 21, 1985) is an American football running back who is a free agent. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest running backs in football history. He played college football at Oklahoma, where he set the ...

, although earlier comparisons to Peterson were later relativized. He

redshirted 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 ...

during the 2008 season, and was third in depth chart at tailback behind

DeMarco Murray DeMarco Murray (born February 12, 1988) is an American football coach and former running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for seven seasons. A three-time Pro Bowl selection and one-time first-team All-Pro, he was the NFL Off ...

and

Chris Brown Christopher Maurice Brown (born May 5, 1989) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. According to '' Billboard'', Brown is one of the most successful R&B singers of his generation, having often been referred to by many contempo ...

in 2009. He saw limited action in 12 games, rushing 220 yards on 45 attempts. His best game came against Texas A&M, with 18 carries for 94 yards. Calhoun missed much of his sophomore season in 2010 due to a serious knee injury. Calhoun transferred from OU to Angelo State University (DII) in December 2011.

References

External links

Angelo State Rams bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Calhoun, Jermie 1988 births Living people American football running backs Oklahoma Sooners football players Angelo State Rams football players People from Van Zandt County, Texas Players of American football from Tyler, Texas