Robert Lewis Perryman Jr. (October 16, 1964 – February 23, 2023) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wit ...

player. He played college football as a fullback for the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

from 1983 to 1986. He played professional football, principally as a fullback, in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ma ...

(NFL) for six seasons for the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

(

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airpor ...

–

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

) and the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquar ...

(

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the ...

–

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment building in Amsterdam after two of its engines ...

). He gained 1,247 rushing yards at Michigan and 1,338 rushing yards in the NFL.

Early years

Perryman was born in

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the South ...

, in 1964. He played

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, partl ...

at Bourne High School in

Bourne, Massachusetts Bourne ( ) is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 20,452 at the 2020 census. For geographic and demographic information on specific parts of the town of Bourne, please see the articles on Bourne (CDP), ...

University of Michigan

Perryman enrolled at the

in 1982 and played college football at the fullback position for head coach Bo Schembechler's

Michigan Wolverines football The Michigan Wolverines football team represents the University of Michigan in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. Michigan has the most all-time wins in college football history. The team is known for it ...

teams from 1983 to 1986. He scored three touchdowns in the 1984 season opener against the #1 ranked

Miami Hurricanes The Miami Hurricanes (known informally as The U, UM, or The 'Canes) are the intercollegiate sports teams that represent the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. The Hurricanes compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic A ...

. He also rushed for 107 yards on 14 carries and scored two touchdowns against Hawaii in the final game of the 1986 season. In four years at Michigan, Perryman totaled 1,247 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns on 274 carries. He also caught 20 passes for 199 yards and one receiving touchdown.

Professional football

Perryman was selected by the

in the third round (79th overall pick) of the

1987 NFL Draft The 1987 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 28–29, 1987, at the Marriot M ...

. He played four years for the Patriots from 1987 to 1990, appearing in 49 games, including 38 games as a starter. He gained 1,294 rushing yards and scored nine touchdowns on 369 carries (3.5 yards per carry) for the Patriots. He also caught 64 passes for 430 yards while playing for the Patriots. Perryman, along with Patriots teammates

Zeke Mowatt Ezekiel Mowatt (born March 5, 1961) is a former American football tight end in the National Football League who played for the New York Giants and the New England Patriots. He played college football at Florida State University, catching a tot ...

and

Michael Timpson Michael Dwain Timpson (born June 6, 1967) is a former American football player and sprinter. Early life Timpson was a track star and multi-sport athlete at Hialeah-Miami Lakes High School in Hialeah, Florida from 1981 to 1985. He won seven tr ...

, were fined by the NFL for alleged sexual harassment stemming from a

locker room A locker is a small, usually narrow storage compartment. They are commonly found in dedicated cabinets, very often in large numbers, in various public places such as locker rooms, workplaces, elementary schools,middle and high schools, transp ...

interview involving ''

Boston Herald The ''Boston Herald'' is an American daily newspaper whose primary market is Boston, Massachusetts, and its surrounding area. It was founded in 1846 and is one of the oldest daily newspapers in the United States. It has been awarded eight Puli ...

'' reporter

Lisa Olson Lisa Olson is an American sports journalist. Her work has been featured in the anthology, "The Best American Sports Writing". She was previously a sports columnist for the ''New York Daily News'', and the first female sports columnist for the '' ...

in September 1990. After being released by the Patriots, Perryman signed with the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divis ...

during the 1990 season but did not appear in any games. Perryman concluded his NFL career with the

during the 1991 and 1992 NFL seasons. He appeared in 19 games for the Broncos (eight as a starter) and gained 44 yards on 24 carries.

Later years

After retiring from football, Perryman lived in

North Andover, Massachusetts North Andover is an affluent town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. At the 2020 census the population was 30,915. History Native Americans inhabited what is now northeastern Massachusetts for thousands of years prior to European c ...

, with his wife and three children, Krista, Robert and Jason. He became an assistant coach for the

Boston Militia The Boston Militia were a women's full-contact football team in the Women's Football Alliance of which they were two-time champions (2011, 2014). Previously, the Militia played in the Independent Women's Football League from 2008 until 2010, winnin ...

in the

Independent Women's Football League The Independent Women's Football League (IWFL) was the first Women's American football league established by women players for women players. The league was founded in 2000, began play in 2001, and played its last season in 2018. Members of the ...

. Perryman died on February 23, 2023, at the age of 58.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perryman, Bob 1964 births 2023 deaths Players of American football from Raleigh, North Carolina American football running backs Michigan Wolverines football players New England Patriots players Denver Broncos players Dallas Cowboys players