Jeff Sylvester Herrod (born July 29, 1966) is a former American football linebacker who played in the National Football League for the Indianapolis Colts and Philadelphia Eagles. He was drafted by the Indianapolis Colts in the ninth round of the 1988 NFL Draft. He played college football for Ole Miss. Early life Herrod grew up in a housing project in Birmingham, Alabama. He had to walk two miles to play in a youth football league that didn't charge a fee, and initially had to make do with hand-me-down shoulder pads that he found in a dumpster behind a community center. College career Herrod initially planned to enlist in the United States Marine Corps after graduating from Banks High School, but decided instead to play at Ole Miss under head coach Billy Brewer, the only Division I program to offer him a scholarship. In four years in Oxford, Herrod became one of the greatest defensive players in Southeastern Conference history. A four-year starter, Herrod set school records for tackles in a single game (28) and in a season (128). He was a first-team All-SEC selection in 1986, and was named a second-team All-American by The Associated Press in 1986 and 1987. His 528 tackles are still the most in Ole Miss history, and is second on the SEC's all-time tackles list behind only Tennessee's Andy Spiva. He was named to the Ole Miss Team of the Century in 1993, and was selected as an SEC Football Legend in 2013. He was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in 2017 and will be inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame in July 2023. NFL career Herrod still planned on joining the Marines after college. However, Indianapolis Colts linebackers coach Rick Venturi happened to see footage from the 1987 Blue–Gray Football Classic and was intrigued by Herrod, who was the game's defensive MVP. Venturi had already planned to take a scouting trip to check out Mississippi Valley State's Vincent Brown, but decided to take a detour to Oxford in order to see Herrod, who hadn't been invited to the NFL Scouting Combine despite his sterling numbers at Ole Miss. Years later, Venturi recalled that while Herrod was small for a linebacker at and only ran a 4.8 in the 40-yard dash, he was so impressed with Herrod's heart that he wrote in his scouting report, "If we have a chance