He played college football for the Miami Hurricanes, and was selected by the New England Patriots in the first round of the 2007 NFL draft.

Meriweather was named to the All-America team as voted by the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) and was also selected first-team All-ACC in 2005.

In 2006 Meriweather was a member of the 50th Anniversary Playboy Preseason All-America Team and was also on the Thorpe Award watch list for the second straight year.

The group created controversy with their sexually explicit rap lyrics which were criticized as being misogynistic and profane.

[3] On July 21, 2006, Meriweather was involved in a shooting incident when teammate Willie Cooper was shot in the buttocks.

[4] During the Miami-FIU brawl on October 14, 2006, Meriweather was seen stomping multiple times on several Florida International players on the ground.

He played in Super Bowl XLII as a fourth safety in the Patriots' defense behind Rodney Harrison, James Sanders, and Eugene Wilson.

During his second season in 2008, Meriweather recorded his first career interception in Week 2 off New York Jets quarterback Brett Favre.

In Week 14, Meriweather recorded his first career sack to stifle a late-game Seattle Seahawks drive and secure a Patriots victory.

[10] He started all 16 games and finished the 2009 season with 83 tackles and five interceptions, and was named to his first Pro Bowl as a replacement to the injured Jairus Byrd.

In Week 6, Meriweather was penalized for a helmet-to-helmet hit on Baltimore Ravens tight end Todd Heap.

The week after he was fined $25,000 for an unnecessary roughness penalty due to a late hit after the end of a play against the Detroit Lions.

[18] Former Bears wide receiver, Tom Waddle, negatively criticized Meriweather's tackling technique stating that it doesn't show any regard for the safety of other players.

It was confirmed the next day that Meriweather suffered a right ACL tear and would miss the remainder of the 2012 season on injured reserve.

[27] In the Week 7 game against the Chicago Bears, Meriweather was penalized for two illegal hits on receivers, Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffery.

[31] During his late October 2013 suspension, Meriweather made comments to the press about how he would need to change his style of play.

[41] [42] On April 25, 2012, Meriweather was arrested in Arlington County, Virginia, on suspicion of driving while intoxicated, according to a press account.

He was initially stopped for speeding on westbound I-66, according to Arlington County police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck, who also said that officers detected an odor of alcohol on his breath and performed a field sobriety test, which Meriweather failed.

Sternbeck further stated that Meriweather refused a breathalyzer test, was arrested and spent the night in the Arlington County jail.