Randy Merkel is a retired American

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

who played professionally in the USL A-League and

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

. Merkel began his collegiate career in 1995 at the

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...

. He then transferred to the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...

where he played on the men's soccer team from 1996 to 1998. In February 1997, the Columbus Crew selected Merkel in the third round (thirty-third overall) of the

1999 MLS College Draft The 1999 Major League Soccer College Draft was held on February 6 and 7, 1999 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The first round of the draft took place on February 6 with the second and third rounds on February 7. The College Draft was followed by the ...

. The Crew released Merkel in the pre-season and he signed with the

Raleigh Express The Raleigh Express was a soccer club that competed in the United Soccer Leagues from 1993 to 2000. Based in Raleigh, North Carolina, the club started as the Raleigh Flyers in the USISL before moving to the A-League in 1997. In 1999, the club was r ...

of the USL A-League. In 2001, Merkel moved to the

Atlanta Silverbacks The Atlanta Silverbacks FC were an American professional soccer club based in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1998 as Atlanta Ruckus, the club played in many leagues over the years before folding after the 2015 season. The team played its home game ...

. In June 2001, the Miami Fusion of the

called up Merkel for one game. The Silverbacks released Merkel in February 2002.Atlanta Silverbacks Ink 2001 A-League Defender Of The Year Gilbert Jean-Baptiste And MLS Defender Alan Woods
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* Living people 1976 births American soccer players Atlanta Silverbacks players Maryland Terrapins men's soccer players Major League Soccer players Miami Fusion players Penn State Nittany Lions men's soccer players Raleigh (Capital) Express players A-League (1995–2004) players Soccer players from Illinois Sportspeople from DuPage County, Illinois Columbus Crew draft picks People from Carol Stream, Illinois Association football midfielders {{US-footy-midfielder-stub