Please answer the following question: Jeffrey Colin Merrow (born July 12 1953 in Akron Ohio) was a defensive lineman who played nine seasons in the NFL for the Atlanta Falcons. Merrow played collegiately for the West Virginia Mountaineers. Merrow's son Thor is a current fullback and defensive lineman for the University of North Alabama. Given a list of categories: company, educational institution, artist, athlete, office holder, mean of transportation, building, natural place, village, animal, plant, album, film or written work, what category does the paragraph belong to?
A:
Athlete