Shawne DeAndre Merriman (born May 25, 1984 in Washington, D.C.) is an American football outside linebacker for the San Diego Chargers of the NFL.

NFL career
2005 NFL Draft

Shawne Merriman was drafted in the 1st round (12th overall) in the 2005 NFL Draft out of the University of Maryland by the San Diego Chargers. He was selected using a pick acquired from the New York Giants as part of the Rivers-Manning trade during the 2004 NFL Draft.

The New York Giants traded Philip Rivers (selected 4th overall in the 2004 Draft), and their 1st round selection for the following year (amongst others) for the rights to sign Eli Manning, who had been selected by the San Diego Chargers with the 1st overall pick that year. Manning had made it clear he was not interested in playing for the Chargers, in a similar fashion to John Elway in 1983 when selected by the Baltimore Colts.

The Giants draft pick ended up being 12th Overall in 2005. The Chargers used that additional first-round selection the next year to take Merriman.

On August 1, after a long holdout period, Merriman signed a 5-year, $11.5 million contract that included $9 million in guarantees and $4 million in incentives.
2005 season

Merriman started off his 2005 rookie year on the inactive list and completed a 10 day hold out from training camp. He did not break the starting lineup until week 7, but recorded 6 sacks in his first 4 starts. He was voted into the Pro Bowl as an OLB after playing the position for the San Diego Chargers in their 3-4 defensive scheme which is the same position he played at the University of Maryland. Merriman's best game of the year came in week 15 when the Chargers handed the Indianapolis Colts their first loss of the season. Merriman recorded 2 sacks and 2 tackles for a loss, one of which stopped Peyton Manning for a 6 yard loss on 4th and goal. It was during this game that Shawne Merriman garnered much national media coverage and in the following week made the Pro Bowl.

On January 4, 2006, Merriman was awarded with the The Associated Press Defensive Rookie of the Year award. He received 28 1/2 votes of a panel of 50 NFL sportswriters and broadcasters. He beat Seattle Seahawks linebacker Lofa Tatupu, who received 16 1/2 votes, Cincinnati linebacker Odell Thurman, with 4, and Dallas linebacker DeMarcus Ware, with one. On February 12, 2006, Merriman participated in the 2006 NFL Pro Bowl in Honolulu, Hawaii. Although in a losing effort, Merriman made 3 tackles and forced one fumble. "I enjoyed myself the whole entire week", said Merriman. "I topped it off today by playing the entire game with all the guys I grew up watching. It's going to be my first of many if I just keep working hard."
2006 Season

On October 22, 2006, reports were made public by CNN that Merriman would face a 4-game suspension for violating the NFL's steroid policy. ESPN's Chris Mortensen cited a source that claimed the suspension was "definitely for steroid use and not a 'supplement-type' suspension." Mortenson's report later came under scrutiny from Merriman's attorney, David Cornwell, who called the report "irresponsible and erroneous." Under NFL league policy, no player's suspension proceedings are to be announced before the suspension takes place. Subsequently Cornwell stated that he believes the substance his client tested positive for was the anabolic steroid nandrolone, and that Merriman claims it must have been in a tainted nutritional supplement he took regularly.

The incident led to the passage of a rule that forbids a player who tests positive for steroids from being selected to the Pro Bowl or winning any performance awards in the year in which they tested positive. The rule is commonly referred as the "Merriman Rule". However, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has tried to distance the policy from being associated with the player, stating that Merriman tested clean on 19 of 20 random tests for performance-enhancing drugs since entering the league.

At the start of his 2006 season after the 4 game suspension, Merriman again began his season with success, recording 3 sacks and an interception in his first 2 games. Merriman went on to record 8.5 sacks and make ESPN's midseason All-pro team, prior to dropping an appeal against an NFL enforced 4 week suspension due to testing positive for steroids. In the 2006 regular season, Merriman led the league in sacks with 17 while playing only 12 games. He also added 4 forced fumbles to his career (2 against both the Buffalo Bills and the Denver Broncos). Merriman finished third in the balloting for 2006 Associated Press Defensive Player of the Year, behind Jason Taylor and Champ Bailey, after having tested positive for using steroids which is against the league's drug abuse policy. Taylor commented that Merriman should not have been considered for the award because of his suspension. Merriman reportedly responded by sending Taylor a "Lights Out" t-shirt and a box of popcorn with a note saying enjoy watching him in the playoffs. Merriman, nicknamed "Lights Out", performed a dance to celebrate each of his 17 sacks in 2006-2009 After the Chargers were eliminated in the playoffs by the New England Patriots that season, members of the Patriots began performing Merriman's "Lights Out" dance on the field in celebration. Merriman's Chargers teammate LaDainian Tomlinson, referred to the act as showing no class and being disrespectful.

2007 season

In 2007, he announced that he would no longer perform this celebration. In week 4, however, Merriman performed the dance after sacking Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Damon Huard. After the Charger's slow 1-3 start to the season, Merriman exclaimed that he decided to do the sack dance again due to the urge of his fellow teammates and to help revive the spirits of the Charger fans.

Merriman finished the season with 68 total tackles, with 54 solo and 14 assisted tackles, performing to his usual caliber by tallying 12.5 sacks. His prowess was shown during the season when it was said that his 9.5 sacks through to week 13 was seen as a decline in performance, a quote to which Merriman took a great compliment. After the Chargers finished the season with a loss to the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship game, Merriman was named to the Pro Bowl for a third consecutive year and was named Second-Team All-Pro by the Associated Press.

2008 season

Torn knee ligaments

During the 2008 training camp, Merriman had difficulty with his injured knee and sat out of practice for over two weeks. Initial reports were that his recovery would take a few weeks, but as of August 23, Merriman reports that he has a tear in both his posterior cruciate ligament and lateral collateral ligament. He was told by doctors that he could sustain a possible career-threatening injury should he choose to play without having surgery. Merriman withheld his decision whether or not to play while seeking several different professional opinions, including that of well-known surgeon James Andrews of Birmingham, Alabama. It has also been reported by ESPN's Mike Tirico in the Chargers' Monday Night Football game that Merriman went to Miami, Florida to get a final opinion on his knee. On August 27, Merriman later told Fox Sports that he would go against the advice of the doctors and will try to play through the injury, stating that he simply wants to play and that the career-ending possibilities were "misquoted".

On September 9, it was announced that Merriman would indeed go through with the reconstructive knee surgery to repair his torn knee ligaments and would be placed on the Injured Reserve, missing the rest of the 2008 NFL Season.

Merriman currently has a total of 39.5 sacks in 3 seasons thus far and made the Pro Bowl in all 3 seasons that he'd played, respectively. His 39.5 sacks are the most for any player from 2005 to 2007, edging out Jason Taylor by just one full sack. He has also been named First-Team All-Pro in his first 2 seasons, while earning a Second-Team All-Pro selection in his 3rd season.