Je'Rod LePatrick Cherry (born May 30, 1973) is a former professional football player who currently is a radio talk show host for

WKNR WKNR (850 AM) – branded as ''850 ESPN Cleveland'' – is a commercial sports radio station licensed to Cleveland, Ohio, serving Greater Cleveland. Owned by Good Karma Brands, WKNR is the Cleveland affiliate for ESPN Radio and the AM flags ...

AM 850 in Cleveland, and sideline analyst/reporter for 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 ...

radio network There are two types of radio network currently in use around the world: the one-to-many (simplex communication) broadcast network commonly used for public information and mass media, mass-media entertainment, and the two-way radio (Duplex (telecomm ...

. He was previously an

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 ...

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

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 ...

(NFL) who played from 1996 to 2004, winning three Super Bowls with the New England Patriots.

Biography

Born in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

, Cherry graduated from Berkeley High School at

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and E ...

in 1991 and was a standout athlete in football and track. Cherry red-shirted his freshman year and played on the California Golden Bears football team from 1992 to 1995. In his senior season, Cherry had 91 tackles and an interception and returned 18 kickoffs for a 21.4 yard average. For his junior and senior years, Cherry was an All- Pac-10 honorable mention and Pac-10 All-Academic selection. With a 3.2

GPA Grading in education is the process of applying standardized measurements for varying levels of achievements in a course. Grades can be assigned as letters (usually A through F), as a range (for example, 1 to 6), as a percentage, or as a numbe ...

, Cherry received his

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

degree in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

from UC Berkeley in 1996 and a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Th ...

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...

from the University of California, Berkeley Graduate School of Education in 2000. He was drafted by the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

in the 1996 NFL Draft. In

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

, Cherry signed with the Oakland Raiders, then a month later he signed with the

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 ...

. After his stint with the Eagles, Cherry signed with the New England Patriots, where he earned

Super Bowl ring The Super Bowl ring is an award in the National Football League given to the team members of the winning team of the league's annual championship game, the Super Bowl. Since only one Vince Lombardi Trophy is awarded to the team (ownership) itsel ...

s in Super Bowls XXXVI, XXXVIII, and XXXIX as a

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

player before retiring in 2004. Cherry made an immediate impact for the Patriots on special teams in 2001 and 2002. In 2001, he tied for 3rd in ST tackles with 12 and led the Patriots with 6 ST tackles during their Super Bowl run in the postseason. In 2002, he again ranked 3rd in ST tackles with 12 during the regular season. During the 2003 regular season, he finished with 13 ST tackles and recorded 1 ST tackle in the Super Bowl against Carolina. In 2004, Cherry again recorded 13 ST tackles and had 2 ST tackles against Pittsburgh in the AFC Championship Game.

Post-NFL career

After his retirement, Cherry moved to

Macedonia, Ohio Macedonia is a city in Summit County, Ohio, United States. The population was 11,188 at the 2010 census. Macedonia is part of the Akron Metropolitan Statistical Area. History The city's name is said to derive from a small joke among divinity s ...

, and in 2009 became a talk show host and NFL analyst for

AM 850 in Cleveland. In 2013, following WKNR becoming a flagship station for the

, Cherry also became a game-day pregame host for the Browns radio network. In 2022, he became part of the main game broadcast team as sideline analyst and reporter. Cherry is a Christian and attends Bible studies with other players. Each year, Cherry goes to Heartland Community Church in

Medina, Ohio Medina ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Medina County, Ohio, United States. The population was 26,094 at the 2020 Census. It lies about 33 miles (53 km) south of Cleveland and 23 miles (37 km) west of Akron within the Clevelan ...

, where he discusses his work as a sports analyst and his

spiritual journey Used in a religious sense, enlightenment translates several Buddhist terms and concepts, most notably ''bodhi'', '' kensho,'' and ''satori''. Related terms from Asian religions are '' kaivalya'' and ''moksha'' (liberation) in Hinduism, '' Keva ...

with the

congregation A congregation is a large gathering of people, often for the purpose of worship. Congregation may also refer to: * Church (congregation), a Christian organization meeting in a particular place for worship *Congregation (Roman Curia), an administr ...

there. In 2008, Cherry raffled off his first Super Bowl ring with the proceeds going to charity. The event raised over $200,000. The ring is currently with a collector in

Ottawa, Ontario Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

Awards and honors

* Two-time All Pac-10 Academic Team - 1994, 1995 * Three-time Super Bowl winner - XXXVI, XXXVIII, XXXIX (as a member of the New England Patriots)

References

External links

New England Player Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cherry, Jerod 1973 births Living people Sportspeople from Berkeley, California American football safeties Berkeley High School (Berkeley, California) alumni California Golden Bears football players New England Patriots players New Orleans Saints players Oakland Raiders players Philadelphia Eagles players Sportspeople from Charlotte, North Carolina Players of American football from Berkeley, California Players of American football from Charlotte, North Carolina American sports radio personalities UC Berkeley Graduate School of Education alumni People from Macedonia, Ohio