Mike Merriweather

Merriweather was born in Albany, New York, and attended Vallejo High School in northern California,[1] where he played football, baseball, and basketball. He graduated from University of the Pacific in Stockton, where he played college football for the Tigers. Merriweather is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.[2]

Merriweather was selected in the third round (70th overall) of the 1982 NFL Draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers.[3] He was elected to the Pro Bowl in three consecutive seasons: 1984, 1985, and 1986.[4] In 1984, Merriweather was fifth in the NFL with fifteen sacks (Mark Gastineau led the league with 22), and was named first-team all-NFL that year.[5] He was named the Steelers' Most Valuable Player in 1987.[6]

After a salary dispute which saw him sit out the entire 1988 season, Merriweather was traded to the Minnesota Vikings for a first-round pick.[7] In his first season with Minnesota in 1989, he became the first in NFL history to score the winning points in an overtime game with a safety[8] when he blocked a punt out of the end zone in a game against the Los Angeles Rams for a final score of 23–21. Vikings' placekicker Rich Karlis had scored a then-record seven field goals, accounting for all 21 points that sent the game into overtime.[9]

Merriweather's last year at Minnesota was 1992, and he played his final season in 1993 for the New York Jets and Green Bay Packers.[10][11]

In 1993, Merriweather was inducted into the Pacific Athletics Hall of Fame.[12] He was inducted into the Vallejo Sports Hall of Fame in 2004,[13] and was inducted into the Sac-Joaquin Section Hall of Fame in 2012.[14]

After leaving the NFL, Merriweather worked as an insurance broker in Sacramento, California.[15] In 2013, he became the athletic director at Vacaville Christian High School.[16] He and his wife Sandra live in Stockton, California.

• Career Stats at Pro Football Reference.
• Article on his induction to the Vallejo Sports Hall of fame.