Shawne Merriman got his first taste of entrepreneurship as a student-athlete at the University of Maryland.
He had achieved a bit of fame with the nickname “Lights Out” and decided to see how far that attention could take him.
“When I was in high school, I knocked out four guys in one game,” says Merriman, who spent seven years in the NFL as a linebacker with the San Diego Chargers and Buffalo Bills. “After that, people just started calling me Lights Out.”
Merriman finished his career with 45½ sacks and three trips to the Pro Bowl. But before he joined the NFL, he was a budding entrepreneur with a brand and an idea.
“I was selling T-shirts to my college teammates on campus,” Merriman says. “People were starting to call me and ask what I was wearing and how they could get one of the shirts.”
An entrepreneur was born.
“My biggest challenge was to understand the business,” Merriman says. “Because anybody who is trying to start a brand or even a hat and T-shirt company with their own name, you have to realize what you are getting into or you will waste a lot of money.”
A great opportunity
It was during his rookie year with the Chargers that Merriman began to see the opportunity that was in front of him with his Lights Out Brand.
“I saw that I could take it and turn it into something that people could identify with,” Merriman says. “It was a brand on its own and was bigger than Shawne Merriman. That’s when I went out and bought the name from another company in 2005.”
The next year, Merriman signed a regional deal with Wal-Mart to sell Lights Out-branded hats and T-shirts. He soon branched out to include other branded products such as water bottles, bracelets, travel mugs, watches and yes, even footballs.
“At the time, I didn’t understand how much or how far a partnership could take me because I just thought I didn’t want anybody else owning part of the Lights Out Brand,” Merriman says. “But I’m open to it now.”
It takes time, commitment and discipline to understand how things work in the business world, but Merriman says those are all traits that were also necessary to have a successful football career.
“Every person who starts their business isn’t always successful the first time or the second time or whatever it may be,” Merriman says. “Playing in the NFL, everything does not always go perfect every time. But you find a way through persistence and relentlessness to be successful and you make it back to the top and get things going.”
One of Merriman’s entrepreneurial mentors is Donald Trump.
“The Trump family really took me in and spent time with me, they even spent some time with me when Donald wasn’t in the building,” Merriman says. “I was still allowed to go and meet and sit with his staff in his licensing department and spend time learning.
“If I’m around it and I hear it enough, I ask questions and I apply it to whatever I need to apply it to. I’ve been able to be around a lot of successful people. They didn’t really have to do much but to have me around because I’ve always been a person that, if I was around enough, I was going to find out the right information that I needed and apply it where I needed it.”
Don’t get boxed in
With the success of Lights Out and a new career as an NFL TV analyst, Merriman has been afforded the opportunity to give back to those in need. A percentage of revenue generated from the sale of Lights Out products goes to the Lights On Foundation.
He’s got a lot going on in his life, but notes that with age, comes a better sense of setting priorities.
“You have to know not to spread yourself too thin because if you do, you’re just giving a little bit of yourself to everything,” Merriman says. “You’re only going to get out of something what you put into it. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve learned how to direct my time and energy into the right places.”
As for his fellow athletes turned entrepreneurs, Merriman says you need to have the courage to step out and broaden your reach beyond what others think you are capable of doing.
“People will just try to keep you in,” Merriman says. “If you’re an athlete, you’re only supposed to do athletic things. I constantly am trying to break out of that box. It’s tough, but you have to keep trying to get your vision across so people can see the direction you’re trying to head.” ●
