MERRILL WANTS TITLE TO CAP OFF CAREER
Seals captain has done it all with one major exception
An older brother, one would think, might hold back heaping praise on his little brother. But Patrick Merrill, general manager and coach of the San Diego Seals lacrosse team, doesn’t hold back when detailing what he thinks of younger brother Brodie.
“He’s like on the Mount Rushmore of players to ever play the game,” said Patrick.
Brodie, the Seals’ captain, packs the résumé to back up Patrick’s assessment.
Two-time All-American at Georgetown; 2005 NCAA Defensive Player of the Year; 2006 National Lacrosse League rookie of the year; nine-time NLL All-Pro; twotime gold medalist at the World Box Lacrosse Championships with Canada; and as proof that he excels outdoors as well, two-time gold medalist at the World Lacrosse Championships with Canada.
In 2007, Inside Lacrosse magazine dubbed Brodie
the best player in the world.
Said Patrick, “He is one of the best ever to play the game.”
But at 40, there’s one thing Brodie hasn’t accomplished. Now in his 15th NLL season, he has never hoisted the league’s championship trophy. That quest continues tonight when the Seals face the Colorado Mammoth in Game 1 of the bestof-three West Conference finals at Pechanga Arena.
“Yeah, it’s been elusive to him,” said Patrick. “He hasn’t gotten the ring. If it does eat at him, I think it’s in the best possible way.”
Said Brodie, “I’d by lying to you if I said (winning a title) wasn’t a driving factor for why I’m still playing.”
Patrick and Brodie grew
FROM up in Orangeville, Ontario, about 50 miles northeast of Toronto. In the winter, the brothers bundled up and played hockey. Come summer, they’d shift to box lacrosse.
In the town of about 30,000, box lacrosse, not hockey, was the most popular sport.
“Lacrosse,” said Patrick, “is part of the fabric of who we are.”
Patrick is nearly three years older than Brodie and little brother looked up to him.
“Patrick (who played 15 years in the NLL) was always the captain of every hockey and lacrosse team he was a part of,” said Brodie. “Like any sibling, you have those competitive moments. But as long as I can remember I’ve always been his biggest fan. We’ve been extremely tight.”
Hockey was Brodie’s first love. Had he been able to play hockey and lacrosse at Georgetown, he would have.
“Ultimately, I decided to go all in with lacrosse,” he said. “I’m thankful that I did.”
In box lacrosse, long sticks, which aid defenders, are not used. When Brodie shifted to field lacrosse, many feel he revolutionized the long stick middie position because he brought his stick handling and offensive skills to the position.
At 6 feet 4 and 215 pounds, he’s big, physical and athletic. In addition to starring professionally at the indoor game, he has played professionally outdoors for more than a decade. He’ll play this summer for Cannons LC, based outside Boston.
In the Major Lacrosse League (now the Premier Lacrosse League) Merrill was named the defensive player of the year six years in a row.
“The thing that separates him is he doesn’t do (just) one thing great,” said Patrick. “There’s nothing in the game he can’t do. He’s got elite level stick skills, he’s ridiculously athletic, he can play defense, he can score, he can fight, he’s tough and he’s got amazing leadership qualities.”
At 40, he’s still one of the indoor game’s best defenders. Merrill led the Seals by scooping up 134 ground balls in the regular season. His 2,860 ground balls are an NLL record.
Backup Seals goalie Chris Origlieri, at 19 the youngest player in the league, can’t fathom Merrill being so good at 40.
“I mean, it’s unreal,” said Origlieri. “He’s so detail-oriented he knows the other team’s personnel like the back of his hand. He knows where they’re going to be. It’s almost like a sixth sense on the floor. It’s wild.”
Seals players admit one of their motivations is to help Merrill win his first NLL title.
“He’s just a special person,” said leading scorer Wesley Berg. “We want to win in general, but we want to win one for him. He’s our captain and he needs one.”
Here’s how much a championship would mean to Brodie: it might lead him to hang up his stick.
“I think any athlete would tell you that they’d love to win their last game and go out on top,” he said. “That would be pretty cool.”