 Mercilus with theHouston Texans in 2012 | |||||||||||||
| No. 59, 50 | |||||||||||||
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| Position | Linebacker | ||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||
| Born | (1990-07-21)July 21, 1990 (age 35) Akron, Ohio, U.S. | ||||||||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | ||||||||||||
| Listed weight | 258 lb (117 kg) | ||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||
| High school | Garfield (Akron, Ohio) | ||||||||||||
| College | Illinois (2008–2011) | ||||||||||||
| NFL draft | 2012: 1st round, 26th overall pick | ||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||
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Whitney Mercilus (MER-sih-lus;[1] born July 21, 1990) is an American former professionalfootballlinebacker who played in theNational Football League (NFL) for 10 seasons, primarily with theHouston Texans. He playedcollege football for theIllinois Fighting Illini, where he won theTed Hendricks Award and theBill Willis Trophy, and was selected by the Texans in the first round of the2012 NFL draft. Mercilus spent the entirety of his first nine seasons with Houston, earning a second-teamAll-Pro selection in 2016. After being released by the Texans early into the 2021 season, he last played for theGreen Bay Packers.
Mercilus is ofHaitian descent,[2] and was born inAkron, Ohio. He attendedGarfield High School in Akron, where he playedhigh school football for the Garfield High School Rams. He was considered a three-star defensive end prospect by theRivals.com recruiting service.[3]
Mercilus attended theUniversity of Illinois, where he played for head coachRon Zook'sIllinois Fighting Illini football team from 2009 to 2011. He broke out during his junior season in 2011, leading the country inquarterback sacks (16) and forced fumbles (9) while primarily playing at the defensive end position.[4] At the conclusion of the 2011 season, Mercilus was a first-team All-Big Ten selection by both the coaches and media.[5] He won the 2011 Ted Hendricks Award, 2011 Bill Willis Award, and 2011 CFPA Defensive Performer of the Year, in addition to being recognized as a unanimous first-team All-American.[6]
On January 3, 2012, Mercilus announced his decision to forgo his remaining eligibility and enter the2012 NFL draft.[7] He attended theNFL Scouting Combine and completed all of the combine drills. Mercilus finished with the fourth fastest time among all defensive ends in the 40-yard dash.[8] On March 6, 2012, Mercilus attended Illinois' pro day, but opted to stand on the majority of his combine numbers. He performed positional drills and improved his time in the short shuttle (4.47s) and three-cone drill (7.03s). Whitney attendedDetroit Lions,Cleveland Browns,Buffalo Bills,Jacksonville Jaguars, andDallas Cowboys.[9][10] At the conclusion of the pre-draft process, Mercilus was projected to be a first round pick by NFL draft experts and scouts. He was ranked as the third best defensive end prospect in the draft by DraftScout.com and was ranked the third best outside linebacker by NFL analystMike Mayock.[11]
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft3+5⁄8 in (1.92 m) | 261 lb (118 kg) | 33+7⁄8 in (0.86 m) | 9+1⁄4 in (0.23 m) | 4.68 s | 1.58 s | 2.69 s | 4.47 s | 7.03 s | 32 in (0.81 m) | 9 ft 10 in (3.00 m) | 27 reps | |
| All values fromNFL Combine/Pro Day[12][13][14] | ||||||||||||
TheHouston Texans selected Mercilus in the first round (26th overall) of the2012 NFL draft.[15] Mercilus was the fifth defensive end drafted in 2012.[16][17] He was the highest selected Illinois defensive lineman sinceSimeon Rice was selected third overall by theArizona Cardinals in1996. Immediately after the draft, Texans' defensive coordinatorWade Phillips stated that Mercilus would be moved to outside linebacker.[18][19]
| External videos | |
|---|---|
 Texans draft Whitney Mercilus 26th overall |
On June 13, 2012, the Texans signed Mercilus to a four-year,$7.63 million contract that includes $6.20 million guaranteed and asigning bonus of $3.99 million.[20][21]
Throughout training camp, Mercilus competed to be a starting outside linebacker againstConnor Barwin andBrooks Reed after the role was left vacant by the departure ofMario Williams.[22] Head coachGary Kubiak named Mercilus a backup outside linebacker to start the regular season, behind Connor Barwin and Brooks Reed.[23]
Mercilus made his NFL debut in the season-opening 30–10 victory over theMiami Dolphins. Through the first six games of the season, he mostly saw work on special teams. During Week 7, Mercilus recorded three combined tackles, broke up a pass, and made his first NFL sack during a 43–13 win against theBaltimore Ravens. Mercilus recorded his first sack for a four-yard loss on Ravens quarterbackJoe Flacco and forced a fumble that was recovered by Ravens centerMatt Birk during the first quarter.[24] In Week 12, he collected a season-high four solo tackles during a 34–31 victory at theDetroit Lions. On December 2, 2012, Mercilus earned his first career start after Brooks Reed suffered a groin injury.[25] Mercilus finished the Texans' 24–10 victory at theTennessee Titans with two solo tackles and made a season-high two sacks on Titans' quarterbackJake Locker.[26]
Mercilus finished his rookie year with 25 combined tackles (20 solo), six sacks, and a pass deflection in 16 games and four starts.[27]
The Texans finished atop theAFC South with a 12–4 record and earned a playoff berth. On January 5, 2013, Mercilus appeared in his first NFL playoff game as the Texans defeated theCincinnati Bengals 19–13 in the AFC Wildcard Game. The following week, the Texans were eliminated from the playoffs after a 41–28 road loss against theNew England Patriots in the AFC Divisional Round.[26]
Mercilus entered training camp slated as a starting outside linebacker afterConnor Barwin departed in free agency. Head coach Gary Kubiak named Mercilus andBrooks Reed the starting outside linebackers to begin the regular season. They started alongside inside linebackersBrian Cushing andJoe Mays.[28]
Mercilus started in the season-opener at theSan Diego Chargers and recorded five solo tackles and one sack during a 31–28 victory. In Week 4, he collected six combined tackles and recorded a season-high 2.5 sacks as the Texans lost to theSeattle Seahawks 23–20. During Week 12, Mercilus collected a season-high six solo tackles during a 13–6 loss to theJacksonville Jaguars.[29] On December 6, 2013, the Houston Texans fired head coachGary Kubiak after they fell to a 2–11 record. Defensive coordinatorWade Phillips was named the interim head coach for the rest of the season.[30]
Mercilus finished his second professional season with 47 combined tackles (33 solo) and seven sacks in 16 games and starts.[27]
On January 3, 2014, the Texans hiredPenn State head coachBill O'Brien.[31] Defensive coordinatorRomeo Crennel retained Mercilus as a starting outside linebacker. Mercilus started alongsideJadeveon Clowney and inside linebackers Brian Cushing andJeff Tarpinian.[32] During Week 9, Mercilus collected a season-high nine combined tackles and made two sacks during a 31–21 loss to thePhiladelphia Eagles. He was inactive for the Texans' Week 15 loss at theTennessee Titans due to a back injury.[33][34]
Mercilus finished the 2014 season with 50 combined tackles (31 solo) and five sacks in 15 games and 13 starts.[27]
On May 4, 2015, the Texans signed Mercilus to a four-year, $26 million contract extension with $10.68 million guaranteed and a signing bonus of $5.25 million.[35] He entered training camp slated as a starting outside linebacker, but saw some minor competition fromJohn Simon after he impressed coaches while filling in for Jadeveon Clowney during camp.[36] Head coach Bill O'Brien retained Mercilus and Clowney as the starting outside linebackers to begin the regular season in 2015.[37]
During Week 8, Mercilus collected a season-high seven combined tackles and recorded 3.5 sacks as the Texans defeated theTennessee Titans by a score of 20–6. In the regular-season finale, he recorded five combined tackles and tied his season-high of 3.5 sacks during a 30–6 victory over theJacksonville Jaguars.[38] Mercilus finished the 2015 season with 52 combined tackles (32 solo), a career-high 12 sacks, and two pass deflections in 16 games and 10 starts.[27]
The Texans finished atop the AFC South with a 9–7 record and earned a wildcard berth. On January 9, 2016, Mercilus started his first NFL playoff game and recorded eight combined tackles and sacked Chiefs quarterbackAlex Smith thrice during a 30–0 loss to theKansas City Chiefs in the AFC Wildcard Game.
Mercilus entered training camp slated as a starting outside linebacker. Head coach Bill O'Brien named Mercilus and Jadeveon Clowney the starting outside linebackers to begin the season, alongside Brian Cushing andBenardrick McKinney.[39]
Mercilus started in the season-opening 23–14 victory over theChicago Bears and recorded four combined tackles and made a season-high two sacks. Three weeks later, he collected a season-high seven combined tackles during a 27–20 victory against theTennessee Titans.[40] Mercilus was inactive for the Texans' Week 15 21–20 victory against theJacksonville Jaguars after aggravating a back injury.[41]
Mercilus finished the 2016 season with 53 combined tackles (36 solo), 7.5 sacks, and a pass deflection in 15 games and starts.[27][42] Mercilus was awarded Second-Team All-Pro 2016 in recognition of his successful 2016 season.
The Texans finished atop the AFC South with a 9–7 record. On January 7, 2017, Mercilus recorded seven combined tackles and sacked Raiders quarterbackConnor Cook twice as the Texans defeated theOakland Raiders 27–14 in the AFC Wildcard Game. The following week, he made four combined tackles and a sack in a 34–16 road loss against theNew England Patriots in the AFC Divisional Round.[40]
Defensive coordinatorRomeo Crennel retained Mercilus and Jadeveon Clowney as the starting outside linebackers in 2017. They started alongside Benardrick McKinney and Brian Cushing.[43] In Week 3 against theNew England Patriots, Mercilus recorded a season high 5 tackles and his first sack of the season onTom Brady during the 36–33 loss.[44]During Week 5, Mercilus suffered a torn pectoral during a 42–34 loss to theKansas City Chiefs onSunday Night Football.[45] Three days later, the Texans officially placed him on injured reserve for the rest of the season.[46]
Mercilus finished the season with 10 combined tackles (nine solo), a sack, and a forced fumble in five games and starts.[27]
Mercilus made his return from injury in week 1 of the season against theNew England Patriots. In the game, Mercilus recorded 2 tackles during the 27–20 loss.[47]In week 7 against theJacksonville Jaguars, Mercilus forced his first fumble of the season onBlake Bortles which was recovered by teammateJadeveon Clowney. Later in the game, Mercilus recorded his first sack of the season onCody Kessler during the 20–7 win.[48]In week 12 against theTennessee Titans, Mercilus recorded a season high 5 tackles and sackedMarcus Mariota 1.5 times during the 34–17 win.[49]
After missing the majority of the previous season due to injury, Mercilus finished the 2018 season with 39 tackles, four sacks, and two forced fumbles in all 16 games played.[50]In the wild-card round of the playoffs against theIndianapolis Colts, Mercilus recorded one tackle in the 21–7 loss.[51]
In the season-opener against theNew Orleans Saints, Mercilus sacked and interceptedDrew Brees in the narrow 30–28 road loss.[52] During Week 2 against theJacksonville Jaguars, Mercilus sackedGardner Minshew twice and recorded two forced fumbles as the Texans narrowly won 13–12, earning him AFC Defensive Player of the Week.[53][54] During Week 3 against theLos Angeles Chargers, Mercilus forcedPhilip Rivers to fumble the football once as the Texans won on the road by a score of 27–20.[55] During Week 7 against theIndianapolis Colts, he recovered a fumble by quarterbackJacoby Brissett in the 30–23 road loss.[56] During Week 15 against theTennessee Titans, Mercilus intercepted a pass thrown byRyan Tannehill off a deflection byJustin Reid and returned it for 86 yards during a 24–21 victory.[57] In the next game against theTampa Bay Buccaneers, he sackedJameis Winston twice during the 23–20 road victory.[58]
On December 28, 2019, the Texans signed Mercilus to a four-year, $53.5 million contract extension with $28.5 million guaranteed.[59] In the AFC wild card game against theBuffalo Bills, he recorded a strip sack on quarterbackJosh Allen which was recovered by teammateJacob Martin during the 22–19 overtime win.[60]
In Week 4 against theMinnesota Vikings, Mercilus recorded his first two sacks of the season onKirk Cousins during the 31–23 loss.[61] In Week 5 against theJacksonville Jaguars, Mercilus recorded a sack and recovered a lost fumble during the 30–14 win.[62] He was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list by the team on November 5,[63] and activated five days later.[64] He was placed back on the COVID-19 list on December 25, 2020,[65] and activated on January 13, 2021.[66]
On October 19, 2021, Mercilus was released by the Texans after 10 seasons.[67]
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On October 21, 2021, Mercilus signed with theGreen Bay Packers.[68] On November 14, he suffered a torn bicep during a Week 10 game against the Seattle Seahawks;[69] the Packers placed him on injured reserve two days later.[70] In 80 snaps over four regular season games with the Packers, Mercilus recorded 10 quarterback pressures, five tackles (three solo), and one sack.[71] While initially expected to be lost for the year, Mercilus returned to practice following the regular season finale, and was officially activated from injured reserve on the eve of the team's divisional playoff game.[72]
Mercilus announced his retirement from the NFL on April 6, 2022.[73]
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Bold | Career high |
| Year | Team | Games | Tackles | Interceptions | Fumbles | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Cmb | Solo | Ast | Sck | Int | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | PD | FF | FR | Yds | TD | ||
| 2012 | HOU | 16 | 4 | 25 | 20 | 5 | 6.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2013 | HOU | 16 | 16 | 47 | 33 | 14 | 7.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2014 | HOU | 15 | 13 | 50 | 31 | 19 | 5.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2015 | HOU | 16 | 10 | 52 | 32 | 20 | 12.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 0 |
| 2016 | HOU | 15 | 15 | 53 | 36 | 17 | 7.5 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 0 |
| 2017 | HOU | 5 | 5 | 10 | 9 | 1 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2018 | HOU | 16 | 9 | 39 | 22 | 17 | 4.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2019 | HOU | 16 | 16 | 48 | 33 | 15 | 7.5 | 2 | 88 | 44.0 | 86 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 2020 | HOU | 13 | 12 | 21 | 12 | 9 | 4.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | HOU | 6 | 2 | 12 | 6 | 6 | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| GB | 4 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Career | 138 | 102 | 362 | 237 | 125 | 58.0 | 2 | 88 | 44.0 | 86 | 0 | 7 | 13 | 9 | 14 | 0 | |
| Year | Team | Games | Tackles | Interceptions | Fumbles | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Cmb | Solo | Ast | Sck | Int | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | PD | FF | FR | Yds | TD | ||
| 2012 | HOU | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2015 | HOU | 1 | 1 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2016 | HOU | 2 | 2 | 11 | 7 | 4 | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2018 | HOU | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2019 | HOU | 2 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | GB | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Career | 9 | 5 | 27 | 16 | 11 | 7.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Mercilus is aChristian.[74] Mercilus is the founder of the WithMerci Foundation, an organization that "advocates services and support for families of children with disabilities and special needs".[75]
Media related toWhitney Mercilus at Wikimedia Commons