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

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

as a fullback for the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

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 gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(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. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

(

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

–

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

) and the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

(

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

–

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

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

Early life

Perryman was born in

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most populous city in the state (after Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte) ...

, in 1964. He played

high school football High school football, also known as prep football, is gridiron football played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular high school sports, interscholastic sports in both c ...

Bourne High School Bourne High School is a public high school located in Bourne, Massachusetts. History Bourne High School is located about 1 mile west of the famous Bourne Bridge and "Cape Cod" topiary at the Bourne Bridge rotary that welcomes people crossing t ...

Bourne, Massachusetts Bourne ( ) is a New England town, 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 ...

University of Michigan

Perryman enrolled at the

in 1982 and played college football at the fullback position for head coach

Bo Schembechler Glenn Edward "Bo" Schembechler Jr. ( ; April 1, 1929 – November 17, 2006) was an American college football player, coach, and athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Miami University from 1963 to 1968 and at the Univers ...

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 List of NCAA football teams by wins, most all-time wins in college football ...

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 NCAA Division I, Division I of the National Coll ...

. 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 Ma ...

. 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 an American former professional football player who was a tight end in the National Football League (NFL) for the New York Giants and the New England Patriots. He played college football at Florida State, c ...

and

Michael Timpson Michael Dwain Timpson (born June 6, 1967) is an American former professional 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. ...

, were fined by the NFL for alleged

sexual harassment Sexual harassment is a type of harassment based on the sex or gender of a victim. It can involve offensive sexist or sexual behavior, verbal or physical actions, up to bribery, coercion, and assault. Harassment may be explicit or implicit, wit ...

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 Changing room, locker rooms, workplaces, schools, transport hubs and the like ...

interview involving ''

Boston Herald The ''Boston Herald'' is an American conservative 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 awarde ...

'' 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 ''S ...

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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

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.

NFL career statistics

Later years

After retiring from football, Perryman lived in

North Andover, Massachusetts North Andover is a 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 colonizati ...

, 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, winn ...

in the Independent Women's Football League. 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