35 Moments: Merrill’s Become First Brothers to Be Selected 1st Overall

8-29-2005: Merrill’s Become First Brothers to Be Selected 1st Overall 

Many talented players have come through the NLL Entry Draft and many familiar names can be found across team rosters. The NLL has had great success through brother combinations and have now started to see generational talent come into the league. While many brother pairs have been selected in the first round of a draft or drafts (Thompson, Powell, Noble, Greer, Gajic, Evans, Currier, Millon, Resetarits, Staats, Veltman) only one family has had siblings go number one overall. 

In 2002, defenseman Patrick Merrill was selected first overall to the Toronto Rock and in 2005, brother Brodie, also a defenseman, was selected first overall by the Portland Lumberjax in their first draft after being announced as an expansion team. Together, the brothers have combined for over 430 games played, 540 points, 1,000 penalty minutes, and 3,300 loose ball recoveries