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Shawne Merriman
 
Player
 
Shawne Merriman's Email : Please login
 
Company Name : San Diego Chargers Football Co.
 
Company Website : www.chargers.com
 
Company Address : PO Box 609609
, San Diego, CA,
United States,
 
Shawne Merriman's Profile : Player
 
Shawne Merriman's Biography :

In just three seasons, Shawne Lights Out Merriman has become one of the NFL’s preeminent superstars. In 2007 he earned his third Pro Bowl invitation in as many professional seasons and he continued to strike fear in opponents as one of the game’s most feared defenders.

While Merriman takes pride in all facets of his game, getting to the quarterback is his specialty. Despite regularly facing multiple blockers, Merriman still managed to finish tied for sixth in the NFL with 12.5 sacks, and among linebackers, only Dallas’ DeMarcus Ware (14) had more.



Merriman has recorded at least 10 sacks in each of his three NFL seasons and he’s already among the most prolific pass rushers in Chargers history. With 39.5 career sacks, including an NFL-leading and team record-tying 17 in 2006, Merriman enters the 2008 season with the eighth-most sacks in team annals. He needs just four more to move into a tie with Leroy Jones for seventh all time.



It is said that sacks come in bunches and Merriman certainly likes to collect them that way. In 42 career games, the Maryland product has recorded two or more sacks 11 times and the Chargers have gone 10-1 when he does.



Merriman is a workout fanatic who spends countless hours in the gym. He has incorporated boxing into his exercise regimen and trains at the Boxing Club of La Jolla. Shawne’s uncle, Henry Sugar Poo Buchanan, boxes professionally and is one of the nation’s top up-and-coming super middleweight fighters with a professional record of 16-1 and 11 wins by knockout. As part of Merriman’s offseason cardiovascular training, it is not uncommon to find him running the hills of the famed Mulholland Drive in Los Angeles.



The question Merriman is most often asked is where the nickname Lights Out originated. He was given that moniker during his sophomore season in high school after knocking out four players in the first half of a game. Merriman was such a ferocious hitter in high school that his coaches didn’t even allow him to participate in contact drills with his teammates. On his right forearm is a tattoo of a light switch in the off position and the words Lights Out, and his Mercedes G500 has the Lights Out logo emblazoned on its headrests and floor mats.



Merriman still maintains close ties with his alma mater. He bought new uniforms, a whirlpool and other equipment for the Douglass football program after he signed with the Chargers. He also speaks regularly to Eagles’ Head Coach J.C. Pinkney, who was an assistant coach when Merriman played at the school. In 2006 during the Chargers’ bye week, Douglass High School retired Merriman’s No. 44 and he attended the ceremony.



Despite all of the notoriety that comes with being a first-round draft choice and a Pro Bowler, Merriman has not let go of his past and the tough upbringing that he endured as a child. Several times when money was tight for the family, Merriman found himself living in one of the many homeless shelters in Maryland and the District of Columbia. He knows how important those shelters can be and has contributed his own earnings to support homeless shelters in San Diego. His main devotion is toward the San Diego Salvation Army and the Alpha Project. Last summer, Merriman hosted a weekend of activities surrounding the Lights On Comedy Jam and in December he hosted the Lights On Bowl at the Poway Fun Bowl. The two events helped raise more than $200,000 for the Salvation Army and the Alpha Project. Both organizations paid tribute to Merriman in 2007 for his support of the homeless.



Merriman’s work in helping the homeless extends his native Maryland and around the country. He continues to host a coat collection drive at his collegiate alma mater, the University of Maryland. It benefits the Community for Creative Non-Violence Shelter in Washington D.C. Piggybacking off the success of his coat drive, last year Burlington Coat Factory asked Merriman to be a national spokesperson for their One Warm Coat Drive.



In recent years, Merriman has visited wounded U.S. soldiers at the Bethesda and Walter Reed Hospitals in Washington D.C., and in 2006 while serving a four-game suspension from the NFL, he volunteered for Habitat for Humanity, helping to rebuild homes in and around New Orleans that were still in disrepair following Hurricane Katrina, which struck in 2005.



More recently, Merriman had the privilege of helping a San Diego couple get back on its feet after they lost their Rancho Bernardo home in last October’s Witch Creek wildfire. Through Lights Out Development, a construction company of which Merriman is part-owner, he helped make sure that Josh and Kristy Mellow would be among the first residents to move into a new home. Lights Out Development completed the work in just 56 days and in January, Merriman joined the Mellows as they toured their new two-story home for the first time.



Losing his own home twice to fires during his childhood years in Maryland taught Merriman all that he needed to know about what it’s like to lose everything. He remembers the helplessness and leaned on that experience as added motivation to help the Mellows.



Aside from his work with Lights Out Development, Merriman is a part-owner of the Stingaree and Bar West nightclubs in San Diego, as well as the owner of the Lights Out clothing line. He also owns a Lights Out nightclub in Maryland and is planning to open a similar club in San Diego.



Merriman is now one of the NFL’s most recognizable celebrities. In February, he was invited to wave the green flag to signal the start of NASCAR’s Auto Club 500 at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. And in March, ESPN invited him to Bristol, Connecticut to serve as a guest host on the network’s NFL Live show, while also making guest appearances on several other ESPN television and radio shows.



Shawne’s hobbies include riding Jet Skis, bowling, baseball and basketball. In April 2006, the San Diego Padres invited him to throw out the ceremonial first pitch before a game at PETCO Park and in March ’06, ESPN asked him to be a celebrity judge during the McDonald’s High School All-America game’s slam dunk contest at San Diego State’s Cox Arena. Merriman played basketball in high school and one of his teammates was Eric Arrington, the younger brother of former Washington Redskins and New York Giants linebacker LaVar Arrington.

Transaction history: First-round pick (12) by San Diego, April 23, 2005 signed five-year contract, Aug. 2, 2005.

 
Shawne Merriman's Colleagues :
Name Title Email
Mike Scifres Player Please login
Charlie Whitehurst Player Please login
Billy Volek Player Please login
Nate Kaeding Player Please login
Mark Simmons Player - Practice Squad Please login

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