One is a full-time, in-house designer, and one person that’s running operations. Lights Out Brand T-shirt How involved are you with the company? What are some of the advantages to managing a smaller team and what are some of the challenges that come along with that? Then we sold them and they blew up, I mean it literally blew up. So they helped me put together the graphics for ‘Lights Out’ and we put them on T-shirts when I was playing for the (at the time) San Diego Chargers. What if I started to put (‘Lights Out’) on T-shirts? So, three of my friends who were all living with me at the time, were all really good at (Adobe) Illustrator and PhotoShop and things like that. The only thing I knew a little bit about, but not much, was T-shirts. I didn’t know anything about the apparel industry at all I just knew that I wanted to get the name out there because it was bigger than it being just about Shawne Merriman. Really big company, but I felt that I should own my name and own the rights, so I bought it and everything from this company. So what I did in 2007 was, I went to buy the names and rights (to ‘Lights Out’) from a company called Loomworks and P.J. I thought that ‘Lights Out’ was more powerful and impactful than anything I could do within those 60 minutes in a football game. So, having a name like that was big, but I always felt like something like that was much bigger than just what I did on a football field. Back when I was in high school, things like YouTube and social media weren’t really big yet, so all of this stuff was really a myth, like ‘Oh my gosh, did he really knock out four guys in one game?’ Yes, that’s true. I carried it through high school, then I carried in college, then I carried it through the pros where it kind of put me in the national spotlight. You know, I’ve carried this name since I was 16-years-old. Was that an easy choice for your apparel brand name? Did you consider any other names? You have carried the “Lights Out” nickname since high school. That’s what made me the football player that I was, and that’s what is working for me now in business. When you start out as an entrepreneur, nothing is 100 percent (guaranteed). That’s no different than building a company or building a brand. It taught me discipline, work ethic and how to overcome adversity and obstacles.įinding ways to win - that’s no different than business. You know, football especially (and sports in general, but definitely football) did a couple things for me. How has football helped you become an entrepreneur? What lessons did the sport teach you that you’ve carried over to the business world? Check out our exclusive interview with Merriman below. StartupNation had the opportunity to talk to the former NFL star about life after football, entrepreneurship, how athletics prepared him for the world of business and more. In 2018 alone, he played a role in a film, worked as a TV sports analyst, and even participated in a bare knuckle boxing match. Merriman has kept busy since retiring from professional football in March of 2013. What you may not know, however, is that Merriman is now an entrepreneur, media personality and founder and CEO of an apparel brand, aptly named Lights Out. It’s one of those things.If you’re a fan of NFL football like myself, then Shawne Merriman needs no introduction: a former three-time All-Pro and three-time Pro Bowl linebacker for the (then) San Diego Chargers. “It’s like a little kid, you hold out your hand and you hold their head and they swing, you know, and they can’t do anything. Merriman was asked what kind of fight it would be. Reilly in an advertisement for the movie “Step Brothers” with the message, “see u sunday.” Merriman sent Ochocino a twitpic of the two players’ faces superimposed over those of actors Ferrell and John C. I’m not sure how to get the fight on without him suing me.” I think he might be one of the only people I don’t really get along with. “I will beat Shawne’s head in, right now,” he said. Ochocinco went off when asked if their Twitter exchange was in fun. Merriman wasn’t even in the stadium he was serving a four-game suspension for testing positive for steroids. They apparently have a history going back to 2006 when Ochocinco, then known as Chad Johnson, mockingly did Merriman’s spasmodic “Lights Out” sack dance after scoring against San Diego in a game at Cincinnati. The two stars ran some smack against each other during a Twitter exchange earlier this year. The Chargers (10-3) play host to the Bengals (9-4) Sunday in San Diego in a meeting of division leaders, with the winner securing a playoff spot. Ochocinco, the unpredictable Bengals wide receiver, went off on the Chargers’ outside linebacker during a conference call with San Diego reporters yesterday. Merriman says that if anything happens Sunday between the two stars, it will be just like his nickname: Lights Out. SAN DIEGO - Chad Ochocinco wants to fight Shawne Merriman.
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