After spending the summer delivering beer for Southern Beverage Company of Ridgeland, Mississippi, Jamie Sheriff made his NFL debut on Sunday.
An outside linebacker, Sheriff was on the field for 17 defensive snaps and 11 special-teams plays for the Carolina Panthers’ season-opening game.
But the Panthers lost to the New Orleans Saints 47-10 and made a flurry of transactions on Tuesday. Former Auburn All-American Derrick Brown was placed on injured reserve after suffering a meniscus injury that ended his 2024 season, and Sheriff was placed on waivers. Their places on the active roster were taken by running back Mike Boone and cornerback Lonnie Johnson, who were signed off Carolina’s practice squad. The practice-squad spots were filled by defensive back Azizi Hearn and defensive end DeShawn Williams.
A walk-on at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, Sheriff came to South Alabama in 2020. An injury kept him sidelined in 2021 before Sheriff returned for two seasons with the Jaguars.
Sheriff attended the Seattle Seahawks’ rookie minicamp as a tryout player in May, but he didn’t join the NFL team until Aug. 6 after training camp had started.
Despite his late start, Sheriff was on the field for 118 defensive snaps and 28 special-teams plays in Seattle’s three preseason games in August. Sheriff posted seven tackles on defense, another tackle on special teams, three sacks and five quarterback hits in the preseason.
That didn’t convince the Seahawks to keep Sheriff on their active roster. But when Seattle waived him on Aug. 27 as it reduced its preseason roster to the regular-season limit, Sheriff didn’t make it past the first team in the waiver-claim priority order as Carolina tabbed him for its active roster on Aug. 28.
Two other players with Alabama football roots also lost their NFL spots on Tuesday as the Green Bay Packers released running back La’Mical Perine (Theodore) and wide receiver Jalen Wayne (Spanish Fort, South Alabama) from their practice squad.
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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.
