Merritt James Norvell Jr. (February 12, 1941 – October 19, 2020) was an American college athletics administrator. He served as the

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches a ...

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

from 1995 to 1998. Norvell attended Jacksonville High School in

Jacksonville, Illinois Jacksonville is a city and the county seat of Morgan County, Illinois, United States. The population was 17,616 at the 2020 census, down from 19,446 in 2010. It is home to Illinois College, Illinois School for the Deaf, and the Illinois Sc ...

, where he starred in four sports. He moved on to the

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

, where 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

Wisconsin Badgers The Wisconsin Badgers are the College athletics in the United States, athletic teams representing the University of Wisconsin–Madison. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I ...

as a halfback and was a member of the

1962 Wisconsin Badgers football team The 1962 Wisconsin Badgers football team represented the University of Wisconsin as member of the Big Ten Conference during the 1962 NCAA University Division football season. Led by seventh-year head coach Milt Bruhn, the Badgers compiled an ove ...

that played in the

1963 Rose Bowl The 1963 Rose Bowl was the 49th Rose Bowl Game, edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Rose Bowl (stadium), Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California on Tuesday, January 1, at the end of the 1962 NCAA University Division football season, ...

. Norvell died on October 19, 2020, in

Lansing, Michigan Lansing () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Michigan. The most populous city in Ingham County, Michigan, Ingham County, parts of the city extend into Eaton County, Michigan, Eaton County and nort ...

. Norvell's son, Jay Norvell, is a football coach and former player.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Norvell, Merritt 1941 births 2020 deaths American football halfbacks Michigan State Spartans athletic directors Wisconsin Badgers football players Sportspeople from Jacksonville, Illinois Players of American football from Illinois African-American college athletic directors in the United States