View source for Jerame Tuman

{{Short description|American football player (born 1976)}}
{{Use American English|date=December 2023}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2019}}
{{Infobox NFL biography
| name        = Jerame Tuman
| image       = Jerame Tuman.jpg
| caption     = Tuman with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2005
| image_size  =
| number      = 84
| position    = [[Tight end]]
| birth_date  = {{birth date and age|1976|3|24}}
| birth_place = [[Liberal, Kansas]], U.S.
| height_ft   = 6
| height_in   = 4
| weight_lbs  = 253
| high_school = [[Liberal High School (Kansas)|Liberal]]
| college     = [[Michigan Wolverines football|Michigan]]
| draftyear   = 1999
| draftround  = 5
| draftpick   = 136
| pastteams   =
* [[Pittsburgh Steelers]] ({{NFL Year|1999}}–{{NFL Year|2007}})
* [[Arizona Cardinals]]   ({{NFL Year|2008}})
| highlights  =
* [[Super Bowl champion]] ([[Super Bowl XL|XL]])
* [[College football national championships in NCAA Division I FBS|National champion]] ([[1997 Michigan Wolverines football team|1997]])
* First-team [[College Football All-America Team|All-American]] ([[1997 College Football All-America Team|1997]])
* 3× First-team [[List of All-Big Ten Conference football teams|All-Big Ten]] ([[1996 All-Big Ten Conference football team|1996]], [[1997 All-Big Ten Conference football team|1997]], [[1998 All-Big Ten Conference football team|1998]])
| statlabel1  = [[Reception (American football)|Receptions]]
| statvalue1  = 46
| statlabel2  = [[Receiving yards]]
| statvalue2  = 541
| statlabel3  = [[Touchdown|Receiving touchdowns]]
| statvalue3  = 7
| pfr         = TumaJe00 
}}

'''Jerame Dean Tuman''' (born March 24, 1976) is an American former professional [[American football|football]] player who was a [[tight end]] in the [[National Football League]] (NFL), primarily for the [[Pittsburgh Steelers]]. He played [[college football]] for the [[Michigan Wolverines football|Michigan Wolverines]], earning first-team [[College Football All-America Team|All-American]] honors in 1997. Tuman was selected by the Steelers in the fifth round of the [[1999 NFL draft]]. He won [[Super Bowl XL]] with the Steelers over the [[Seattle Seahawks]]. He also has played in the NFL for the [[Arizona Cardinals]].

==Early life==
Tuman played both [[tight end]] and [[defensive end]] at [[Liberal High School (Kansas)|Liberal High School]]. He was a Prep Football Report [[All-America]] and All-Midlands selection and rated the fifth-best tight end prospect in the nation by Blue Chip Illustrated. He also earned a state championship during his junior year. Tuman also [[Varsity letter|lettered]] in [[Track and field|track]] while competing in the [[discus]], [[triple jump]] and [[Relay race|sprint relays]].

==College career==
Tuman played [[college football]] at the [[University of Michigan]], playing tight end. He joined the [[Michigan Wolverines football|Wolverines]] in 1995, and graduated after the 1998 season, earning first-team [[List of All-Big Ten Conference football teams|All-Big Ten]] honors in 1996, 1997, and 1998.  He was also named an [[College Football All-America Team|All-American]] by several news outlets in 1997.

Tuman was the starting tight end for the 1997 undefeated team named national champions by the Associated Press, and scored the decisive touchdown in the [[1998 Rose Bowl]] victory over [[Washington State Cougars football|Washington State]] which secured their undefeated season.

During his time at Michigan, Tuman was part of an offensive [[:wikt:bread and butter|bread and butter]] play with quarterback [[Brian Griese]], in which Griese rolled out on a [[play-action]] [[Bootleg play|bootleg]] to find an open Tuman.  The play was run successfully throughout the 1997 season, including 4 times against Colorado and for a go-ahead score in the 1998 Rose Bowl.<ref>[http://www.pub.umich.edu/daily/1997/sep/09-15-97/sports/sports10.html Griese fools Colorado 4 times on play-action passes to Tuman] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070824083909/http://www.pub.umich.edu/daily/1997/sep/09-15-97/sports/sports10.html |date=August 24, 2007 }} The Michigan Daily Online</ref>

==Professional career==

===Pittsburgh Steelers===
He was selected with the third pick of the fifth round of the [[1999 NFL draft]] by the [[Pittsburgh Steelers]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=1999 NFL Draft Listing |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/1999/draft.htm |access-date=2023-03-29 |website=Pro-Football-Reference.com |language=en}}</ref> He spent 9 years with the Steelers, primarily as the second-string tight end. Most of his playing time was during two tight end sets and on [[special teams]]. On February 22, 2008, he was released by the Steelers.

===Arizona Cardinals===
On March 3, 2008, the [[Arizona Cardinals]] signed Tuman to a two-year contract. [[Ken Whisenhunt]], the head coach of the Cardinals, had previously served as tight ends coach and offensive coordinator for the Steelers during Tuman's time with the team.

Tuman was released by the Cardinals on December 24 after the team signed [[linebacker]] [[Victor Hobson]]. Tuman had appeared in three games for the Cardinals including two starts, catching three passes for 41 yards. On January 13, the Cardinals re-signed Tuman during the playoffs after [[tight end]] [[Stephen Spach]] was placed on [[injured reserve]] with a torn [[cruciate ligament|ACL]].<ref>[http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/football/nfl/wires/01/13/2020.ap.fbn.cardinals.moves.0178/index.html Arizona Re-Signs TE Tuman]{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} SI.com, January 13, 2009</ref>

==Personal==
Jerame is married to Molly Tuman, sister of Tuman's former college teammate at Michigan, [[Scott Dreisbach]]. They have four children: one son, Canyon, and three daughters, Avery, Makenna and Mia.

Tuman was allegedly one of the Pittsburgh players [[impersonation|impersonated]] by a con man, Brian Jackson in 2005, along with [[Brian St. Pierre]] and [[Ben Roethlisberger]].<ref name="espn.com">{{cite web|url=https://www.espn.com/espnmag/story?id=3628837 |title=A Steelers impersonator wreaks havoc on one woman's life - ESPN The Magazine |publisher=[[ESPN]] |date=April 4, 2011 |access-date=September 6, 2012}}</ref>

In 2017, Tuman served as an assistant football coach at [[North Allegheny Senior High School]] in [[Wexford, Pennsylvania]].

==See also==
*[[Lists of Michigan Wolverines football receiving leaders]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{1997 Michigan Wolverines football navbox}}
{{Steelers1999DraftPicks}}
{{Super Bowl XL}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tuman, Jerame}}
[[Category:1976 births]]
[[Category:American football tight ends]]
[[Category:Arizona Cardinals players]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Michigan Wolverines football players]]
[[Category:People from Liberal, Kansas]]
[[Category:Pittsburgh Steelers players]]
[[Category:Players of American football from Kansas]]