Ron Merkerson is a former American football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 linebacker

Linebacker

A linebacker is a position in American football that was invented by football coach Fielding H. Yost of the University of Michigan. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up approximately three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage, behind the defensive linemen...

. Merkerson attended Ed W. Clark High School

Ed W. Clark High School

Clark High School, opened in 1965, is a nine-month magnet high school that is part of the Clark County School District and is located in Las Vegas, Nevada.-Magnet programs at Clark High School:*Academy of Finance:...

 in Las Vegas before playing football at the University of Colorado

Colorado Buffaloes football

The Colorado Buffaloes football program represents the University of Colorado at Boulder in college football at the NCAA Division I FBS level. The team is currently a member of the Pacific-12 Conference, having previously been a charter member of the Big 12 Conference. Before joining the Big 12,...

. Merkerson was drafted by the New England Patriots

New England Patriots

The New England Patriots, commonly called the "Pats", are a professional football team based in the Greater Boston area, playing their home games in the town of Foxborough, Massachusetts at Gillette Stadium. The team is part of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National...

 with the 145th overall pick (5th round) in the 1998 NFL Draft

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...

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Merkerson never played a regular season game with the Patriots because he was placed on injured reserve

Injured reserve

The injured reserve list is a list of reserved players who are injured and unable to play for a period of time, used most prominently in the National Hockey League and National Football League . It is used because these leagues have a maximum number of players on the team roster, so placing a...

 in August 1998 because of leg surgery. He was waived in September 1999 and signed with the New Orleans Saints

New Orleans Saints

The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans, Louisiana. They are members of the South Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League ....

 in 2000, but was not able to make the final roster with the Sants either. In 2001, Merkerson signed on to play in the short-lived XFL

XFL

The XFL was a professional American football league that played for one season in 2001. The league was founded by Vince McMahon, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of WWE...

 and recorded 62 tackles, including 3 sacks with the New York/New Jersey Hitmen

New York/New Jersey Hitmen

The New York/New Jersey Hitmen were a short-lived American football team based in Giants Stadium of the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey....

. The linebacker played the 2002 season with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats

Hamilton Tiger-Cats

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a Canadian Football League team based in Hamilton, Ontario, founded in 1950 with the merger of the Hamilton Tigers and the Hamilton Wildcats. The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Ivor Wynne Stadium...

 of the Canadian Football League

Canadian Football League

The Canadian Football League or CFL is a professional sports league located in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football, a form of gridiron football closely related to American football....

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