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| Position: | Guard | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born: | May 25, 1960 Southampton, New York, U.S. | ||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | ||||||||
| Weight: | 260 lb (118 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school: | Westhampton Beach (Westhampton Beach, New York) | ||||||||
| College: | Penn State | ||||||||
| NFL draft: | 1982 / round: 1 / pick: 17 | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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Sean Ward Farrell (born May 25, 1960) is an American former professional football player who was a guard for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, New England Patriots, Denver Broncos, and Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). Farrell attended Westhampton Beach High School in Westhampton Beach, New York, where he was a football and track star.[1] He then played college football for the Penn State Nittany Lions, earning All-American honors in 1980 and 1981.[2]
Farrell was the first-round draft pick of Tampa Bay in the 1982 NFL draft; Buccaneers management had actually intended to select defensive end Booker Reese, and Farrell's name was turned in due to a communication error in the draft room. The team then traded the next year's first round pick in order to get Reese as well. Ironically, Farrell played at a high level for the Buccaneers, while Reese ultimately came to be considered one of the most disappointing draft picks in team history.[3][4]
Tampa Bay's team performance declined during Farrell's years with the team. After his first contract expired in 1985, he signed a one-year contract for the 1986 season based on the team's assurances that things would improve, but the team had another bad year and Farrell made news by publicly telling a group of Bucs fans, "I know what I want this Christmas . . . I want to get the hell out of Tampa Bay."[5]
New England acquired him in return for three draft picks, and he was the Patriots' starting guard for three seasons before shoulder surgery kept him on the injured reserve list for most of the 1990 season. Near the end of that season, the Patriots tried to reactivate him without using a protective designation for him; under the rules then applicable, this had the effect of putting him on waivers, and he was claimed by the Denver Broncos.[6] He finished that year and played another in Denver, then one more for Seattle before concluding his NFL career.
After football, Farrell became a financial advisor with several investment companies including Merrill Lynch, and he is the chairperson of the Gay Culverhouse Player Outreach Program to assist former NFL players facing disability issues after their careers.[7][8]
- ^ "Wall of Fame" Archived January 24, 2018, at the Wayback Machine, Westhampton Beach School District (accessed December 18, 2012.
- ^ Sean Farrell bio Archived March 25, 2017, at the Wayback Machine at Penn State Nittany Lions football official website (accessed December 18, 2012).
- ^ Gary Shelton, "Opportunity Lost: Ex-Buc Booker Reese had everything going for him until drub abuse led to a prison cell." St. Petersburg Times, July 27, 2003.
- ^ Pat Yasinskas, "Draft room tale: Bucs' big bungle", ESPN.com, April 21, 2010.
- ^ Jerry Greene, "Farrell's Revelation: I Want Out Of Tampa Bay", Orlando Sentinel, December 3, 1986.
- ^ "Patriots Lose Farrell to Broncos: Denver Claim of Veteran Foils New England Waiver Gamble", The Boston Globe, December 1, 1990. via HighBeam Research.
- ^ Alan Schwarz, "Before Dementia Assistance, Help With N.F.L. Application", The New York Times, January 21, 2010.
- ^ About Us, Gay Culverhouse Player Outreach Program (accessed December 18, 2012).