Merl F. Code (born September 8, 1948) is a lawyer and former

Grey Cup The Grey Cup () is both the championship game of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the trophy awarded to the victorious team playing in the namesake championship of professional Canadian football. The game is contested between the winners ...

champion

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

player. The son of Allen Louis Code and Sedalia Blassingame Code, 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 ...

North Carolina A&T State University North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (also known as North Carolina A&T State University, North Carolina A&T, N.C. A&T, or simply A&T) is a public university, public, Historically black colleges and universities, historicall ...

, where he earned his Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics (cum laude). Turning professional in 1970, Code played in the

CFL The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division and five in the West Division. The CFL is the highest pr ...

with the Montreal Alouettes, where he won a

championship in his rookie season. After playing 30 regular season games for the Als over 4 seasons, he jumped to the new

World Football League The World Football League (WFL) was an American football league that played one full season in 1974 in sports, 1974 and most of its second in 1975 in sports, 1975. Although the league's proclaimed ambition was to bring American football onto a w ...

, playing 2 seasons with the

Memphis Southmen The Memphis Southmen, also known as the Memphis Grizzlies, were an American football team based in Memphis, Tennessee. They played in the World Football League (WFL), which operated in 1974 in sports, 1974 and 1975 in sports, 1975. They played t ...

. He finished his football career back in the CFL with the

Ottawa Rough Riders The Ottawa Rough Riders were a Canadian Football League team based in Ottawa, Ontario, founded on September 19, 1876. Formerly one of the oldest and longest-lived professional sports teams in North America, the Rough Riders won the Grey Cup cham ...

, playing 5 games and intercepting 2 passes for 21 yards. After his football days were over, Code returned to school at the University of South Carolina's School of Law, earning his Juris Doctor degree in 1979. He was an Earl Warren Legal Scholar, and became the first African American to serve as president of the Student Bar Association at USC. Now a municipal judge, his accomplishments are many: the first African American to serve as a Municipal Court Judge in

Greenville, South Carolina Greenville ( ; ) is a city in Greenville County, South Carolina, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 70,720 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, sixth-most pop ...

in 1981; the first African American to serve as Chairman of the Greenville Chamber of Commerce in 1999, the

Order of the Palmetto The Order of the Palmetto is the highest civilian honor awarded by the governor of South Carolina. It is awarded to South Carolinians who demonstrate extraordinary lifetime achievement, service and contributions of national or statewide significan ...

, in 1996, South Carolina's highest civilian award; the Compleat Lawyer Award by the South Carolina Bar Association in 1997; North Carolina A&T University Hall of Fame in 1981; and he was inducted into the South Carolina Black Hall of Fame in 1999. In 2001, the

South Carolina Department of Education The South Carolina Department of Education is the state education agency of South Carolina. It is headquartered at 428 Wholesale Lane, West Columbia, SC. The agency is overseen by an elected South Carolina Superintendent of Education, Superint ...

honored Code in its African-American History Month calendar alongside

Sanco Rembert Sanco King Rembert (November 11, 1922–August 14, 2015) was an American Anglican bishop notable for being the first African-American bishop of the Reformed Episcopal Church. Consecrated in 1966 to assist in the REC's Missionary Jurisdiction of t ...

Tom Feelings Tom Feelings (May 19, 1933 – August 25, 2003) was an artist, cartoonist, children's book illustrator, author, teacher, and activist. He focused on the African-American experience in his work. His most famous book is ''The Middle Passage: White S ...

Mamie Johnson Mamie "Peanut" Johnson (September 27, 1935 – December 18, 2017) was an American professional baseball player who was one of three women, and the first female pitcher, to play in the Negro leagues. Early life Johnson was born Mamie Belton in ...

Bill Pinkney Willie "Bill" Pinkney (August 15, 1925 – July 4, 2007) was an American performer and singer. Pinkney was the last surviving original member of The Drifters, who achieved international fame with numerous hit records. He was chiefly responsib ...

, and other notable black South Carolinians. He is also the owner and CEO of Precision Tool Manufacturer, the owner and chair of Code Insurance Associates, and president of Code & Associates, a sports management agency. Code practices law with Ogletree Deakins. He and his wife Denise have two children. In October, 2018, Code represented his son, Merl Code Jr., who was on trial after his arrest in the 2017-2018 NCAA basketball recruiting scandal.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Code, Merl 1948 births Living people Memphis Southmen players Montreal Alouettes players Ottawa Rough Riders players People from Seneca, South Carolina Players of American football from South Carolina North Carolina A&T Aggies football players 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen