Jerame Dean Tuman (born March 24, 1976) is an American former 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 who was a

tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...

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), primarily for the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

. 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 ...

for the

Michigan Wolverines The Michigan Wolverines comprise 29 varsity sports teams at the University of Michigan. These teams compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division I, Division I and in the Big Ten Conference in all sports except wo ...

, earning first-team

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

honors in 1997. Tuman was selected by the Steelers in the fifth round of the

1999 NFL draft The 1999 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 17–18, 1999, at the Theater at M ...

. He won

Super Bowl XL Super Bowl XL was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion 2005 Seattle Seahawks season, Seattle Seahawks and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion 2005 Pittsburgh Steelers season, Pittsburgh S ...

with the Steelers over the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The club entered the NFL a ...

. He also has played in the NFL for the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The ...

Early life

Tuman played both

and

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

at Liberal High School. He was a Prep Football Report

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

and All-Midlands selection and rated the fifth-best tight end prospect in the nation by Blue Chip Illustrated. He also earned a state championship during his junior year. Tuman also lettered in track while competing in the discus,

triple jump The triple jump, sometimes referred to as the hop, step and jump or the hop, skip and jump, is a track and field event, similar to long jump. As a group, the two events are referred to as the "horizontal jumps". The competitor runs down the tr ...

and sprint relays.

College career

Tuman played

at 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 ...

, playing tight end. He joined the

Wolverines The wolverine ( , ; ''Gulo gulo''), also called the carcajou or quickhatch (from East Cree, ''kwiihkwahaacheew''), is the largest land-dwelling member of the family Mustelidae. It is a muscular carnivore and a solitary animal. The wolverine ...

in 1995, and graduated after the 1998 season, earning first-team All-Big Ten honors in 1996, 1997, and 1998. He was also named an

by several news outlets in 1997. Tuman was the starting tight end for the 1997 undefeated team named national champions by the Associated Press, and scored the decisive touchdown in the

1998 Rose Bowl The 1998 Rose Bowl was a college football bowl game, part of the 1997–98 college bowl season, played on January 1 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. The 84th Rose Bowl Game, it featured top-ranked Michigan beating Washington State 21� ...

victory over

Washington State Washington, officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is often referred to as Washington State to distinguish it from the national capital, both named after George Washington ...

which secured their undefeated season. During his time at Michigan, Tuman was part of an offensive bread and butter play with quarterback

Brian Griese Brian David Griese ( ; born March 18, 1975) is an American professional football coach and former player who was the quarterbacks coach for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). A former quarterback in the NFL, he play ...

, in which Griese rolled out on a play-action bootleg to find an open Tuman. The play was run successfully throughout the 1997 season, including 4 times against Colorado and for a go-ahead score in the 1998 Rose Bowl.

Professional career

Pittsburgh Steelers

He was selected with the third pick of the fifth round of the

by the

. He spent 9 years with the Steelers, primarily as the second-string tight end. Most of his playing time was during two tight end sets and on

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their position. Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

. On February 22, 2008, he was released by the Steelers.

Arizona Cardinals

On March 3, 2008, the

signed Tuman to a two-year contract.

Ken Whisenhunt Kenneth Moore Whisenhunt (born February 28, 1962) is an American football coach and former tight end. He played college football at Georgia Tech and was selected in the twelfth round of the 1985 NFL draft by the Atlanta Falcons, with whom he pla ...

, the head coach of the Cardinals, had previously served as tight ends coach and offensive coordinator for the Steelers during Tuman's time with the team. Tuman was released by the Cardinals on December 24 after the team signed

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

Victor Hobson Victor Brian Hobson (born February 3, 1980) is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Michigan Wolverines. Hobson was selected in the second ...

. Tuman had appeared in three games for the Cardinals including two starts, catching three passes for 41 yards. On January 13, the Cardinals re-signed Tuman during the playoffs after

Stephen Spach Stephen Joseph Spach (born July 18, 1982) is an American former professional football tight end who played in the National Football League (NFL). He was signed by the Philadelphia Eagles of the NFL as an undrafted free agent in 2005. He played co ...

was placed on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in ...

with a torn ACL.Arizona Re-Signs TE Tuman
SI.com, January 13, 2009

Personal

Jerame is married to Molly Tuman, sister of Tuman's former college teammate at Michigan,

Scott Dreisbach Scott Thomas Dreisbach Jr. (born December 16, 1975) is a former American football quarterback. Originally from Mishawaka, Indiana, Dreisbach played college football as a quarterback for the University of Michigan from 1995 to 1998. He began the ...

. They have four children: one son, Canyon, and three daughters, Avery, Makenna and Mia. Tuman was allegedly one of the Pittsburgh players

impersonated An impersonator is someone who imitates or copies the behavior or actions of another. There are many reasons for impersonating someone: *Living history: After close study of some historical figure, a performer may dress and speak "as" that ...

by a con man, Brian Jackson in 2005, along with Brian St. Pierre and

Ben Roethlisberger Benjamin Todd Roethlisberger Sr. ( ; born March 2, 1982), nicknamed "Big Ben", is an American former professional American football, football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons with the Pittsburgh Ste ...

. In 2017, Tuman served as an assistant football coach at

North Allegheny Senior High School North Allegheny Senior High School (NASH) is a suburban high school in the North Allegheny School District and is located in Wexford, Pennsylvania, a northern suburb of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The current building was built in 1974. In 2013, ...

Wexford, Pennsylvania Wexford is an unincorporated community in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is a suburb in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area split across the incorporated places of Franklin Park, McCandless, Pine Township and Marshall Township ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tuman, Jerame 1976 births American football tight ends Arizona Cardinals players Living people Michigan Wolverines football players People from Liberal, Kansas Pittsburgh Steelers players Players of American football from Kansas