Merrill George Douglas (born March 15, 1936 in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

) 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 wi ...

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 ...

in 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 ...

for the Chicago Bears,

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divi ...

, 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 ...

. He played college football at the

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

Early years

Douglas attended Granite High School, before transferring to

Olympus High School Olympus High School is a public high school in the Granite School District in Holladay, Utah, a suburb of Salt Lake City. Description The school opened on September 1, 1953, with an original enrollment of 1028 students. In the fall of 1960, ...

. He received All-state honors at fullback twice. He accepted a football scholarship from the

. As a junior, he became a starter and had 83 carries for 504 yards (second on the team), with a 6.1-yard average and 7

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Amer ...

s. As a senior, he posted 97 carries for 646 yards (second in the league), with a 6.7-yard average and 10

s, while also leading the conference in scoring. He 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 ...

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

. In 1988, he was inducted into the

Utah Sports Hall of Fame The Utah Sports Hall of Fame is an athletics hall of fame in the U.S. state of Utah. The Utah Sports Hall of Fame Foundation, organized in 1967 as The Old Time Athletes Association, was founded "to celebrate and preserve Utah's storied sports heri ...

Professional career

Chicago Bears

Douglas was selected by the Chicago Bears in the sixth round (65th overall) of the

1958 NFL Draft The 1958 National Football League draft had its first four rounds held on December 2, 1957, and its final twenty-six rounds on January 28, 1958. Both sessions were held at the Warwick Hotel in Philadelphia. This was the 12th and final year in ...

. He was a backup fullback behind

Rick Casares Richard Jose Casares (July 4, 1931 – September 13, 2013) was an American professional football player who was a fullback in the National Football League (NFL) and American Football League (AFL) for twelve seasons during the 1950s and 1960s. ...

. He was released in

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba (Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 (K ...

Dallas Cowboys

On September 7,

, he was claimed off waivers by the

and played in six games. On April 22,

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wor ...

, he was traded to the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (A ...

in exchange for offensive tackle Ed Nutting.

Cleveland Browns

On September 10,

, he was waived by the

. He was one of the team's final two cuts as it trimmed its roster to 36, the regular season limit at the time.

Philadelphia Eagles

On September 18,

, he was signed as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

by the

. He was the third-string fullback.

New York Jets

On September 3,

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Co ...

, he was released by the New York Jets.

Personal life

Douglas was a side judge in the NFL for eleven seasons from 1981 through 1991, wearing uniform number 102. He worked for the Salt Lake County Sheriff's Department for 25 years.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Douglas, Merrill 1936 births Living people Sportspeople from Salt Lake City Players of American football from Salt Lake City American football running backs Utah Utes football players Chicago Bears players Dallas Cowboys players Philadelphia Eagles players National Football League officials