Ron Merkerson (born August 30, 1975, in

Clarksville, Tennessee Clarksville is the county seat of Montgomery County, Tennessee, United States. It is the fifth-largest city in the state behind Nashville, Memphis, Tennessee, Memphis, Knoxville, and Chattanooga. The city had a population of 166,722 as of the 202 ...

) 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 ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, ...

. Merkerson attended

Ed W. Clark High School Ed W. Clark High School is a nine-month public high school in Las Vegas, Nevada, that is part of the Clark County School District. It opened in 1965. History The campus was designed by architects Zick & Sharp, and constructed by the Del E. Web ...

in Las Vegas before playing football at the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University o ...

. Merkerson was the Nevada Gatorade State Player of The Year, his senior year in high school. Merkerson was drafted by the

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 ...

with the 145th overall pick (fifth round) in the

1998 NFL Draft The 1998 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 18–19, 1998, at the Theater at M ...

. Merkerson was placed on

injured reserve 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 ...

his rookie year because of leg surgery. He was waived in September 1999, and signed late that year to the Seattle Seahawks. Merkerson signed with 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 2000. In 2001, Merkerson signed on to play in XFL and was 2nd in that league for tackles, including 3 sacks with the New York/New Jersey Hitmen. The linebacker played the 2002 season with the

Hamilton Tiger-Cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Tim Hortons Fie ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a c ...

. Ron Merkerson
TigCats.ca all-time roster

References

1975 births Living people Sportspeople from the Las Vegas Valley Sportspeople from Clarksville, Tennessee Colorado Buffaloes football players New England Patriots players New Orleans Saints players Hamilton Tiger-Cats players New York/New Jersey Hitmen players {{linebacker-1970s-stub