Sean Ward Farrell (born May 25, 1960) 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 ...

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison ...

who played for the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

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 ...

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 ...

, and

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 ...

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). Farrell attended

Westhampton Beach High School Westhampton Beach High School is a public four-year high school for grades 9–12 in Westhampton Beach, New York, which is located at the southeastern end of Suffolk County on Long Island. Notable alumni * Rick Rasmussen, surfer; attended until ...

Westhampton Beach, New York Westhampton Beach is an incorporated village in the Town of Southampton, in Suffolk County, on the South Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 1,721. History The village of Westhampto ...

, where he was a football and track star. He then 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 ...

for

Penn State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a public state-related land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvania. Founded in 1855 as the Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania, Penn State became ...

, where he was named to a number of All-American teams in 1980 and 1981. Farrell was the first round draft pick of the

in the

1982 NFL Draft The 1982 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 27–28, 1982, at the New York She ...

; Buccaneers management had actually intended to select defensive end

Booker Reese Booker Reese (born September 20, 1959) is a former American football defensive end who played four seasons for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Los Angeles Rams from 1982 to 1985 in the National Football League (NFL). Although not picked until th ...

, and Farrell's name was turned in due to a communication error in the draft room. The team then traded the next year's first round pick in order to get Reese as well. Ironically, Farrell played at a high level for the Buccaneers, while Reese ultimately came to be considered one of the most disappointing draft picks in team history. Tampa Bay's team performance declined during Farrell's years with the team. After his first contract expired in 1985, he signed a one-year contract for the 1986 season based on the team's assurances that things would improve, but the team had another bad year and Farrell made news by publicly telling a group of Bucs fans, "I know what I want this Christmas . . . I want to get the hell out of Tampa Bay."

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

acquired him in return for three draft picks, and he was the Patriots' starting guard for three seasons before shoulder surgery kept him on the

injured reserve list 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 ...

for most of the 1990 season. Near the end of that season, the Patriots tried to reactivate him without using a protective designation for him; under the rules then applicable, this had the effect of putting him on waivers, and he was claimed by the

. He finished that year and played another in Denver, then one more for

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

before concluding his NFL career. After football, Farrell became a financial advisor with several investment companies including

Merrill Lynch Merrill (officially Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated), previously branded Merrill Lynch, is an American investment management and wealth management division of Bank of America. Along with BofA Securities, the investment bank ...

, and he is the chairperson of the

Gay Culverhouse Gay Culverhouse (February 5, 1947 – July 1, 2020) was president of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 1991 to 1994 while her father, Hugh Culverhouse, owned the team. Inspired by Tom McHale, a former Buccaneers player who suffered from chronic traum ...

Player Outreach Program to assist former NFL players facing disability issues after their careers.About Us

Player Outreach Program (accessed 2012-12-18).

References

External links

Sean Farrell bio
at

Penn State Nittany Lions football The Penn State Nittany Lions team represents the Pennsylvania State University in college football. The Nittany Lions compete in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision as a member of the Big Ten Conference, which they joined in 1993 afte ...

official website {{DEFAULTSORT:Farrell, Sean 1960 births Living people All-American college football players American football offensive guards Denver Broncos players New England Patriots players Penn State Nittany Lions football players People from Southampton (town), New York Players of American football from New York (state) Seattle Seahawks players Sportspeople from Suffolk County, New York Tampa Bay Buccaneers players