Ricky Powers
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| Position: | Running back | ||
| Personal information | |||
| Date of birth: | November 30, 1970 | ||
| Place of birth: | Akron, Ohio | ||
| Height: | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | ||
| Weight: | 205 lb (93 kg) | ||
| Career information | |||
| High school: | Akron (OH) Buchtel | ||
| College: | Michigan | ||
| Undrafted: | 1995 | ||
| Career history | |||
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| Career highlights and awards | |||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||
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| Player stats at NFL.com |
Richard "Ricky" Powers (born November 30, 1970) is a former running back in the National Football League (NFL) for the Cleveland Browns and a former University of Michigan Wolverines football co-captain. In the NFL, he had a brief career with the Browns during their final season before they relocated to become the Baltimore Ravens after starring for the Wolverines. His career ended due to being lost in the shuffle when the Browns moved to Baltimore and changed coaching staffs. In college, he set the Michigan football freshman rushing record that stood fourteen seasons and as a sophomore was the leading rusher for the team during Desmond Howard's Heisman Trophy-winning season. At Michigan, he was a member of three consecutive Big Ten Conference football champions. In high school, he was the Parade All-American star running back of the two-time Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) football championship team at Buchtel High School, where he has returned to coach baseball and football.
Powers was both born and raised in Akron, where he led the Buchtel High School football team to back-to-back OHSAA championships, as well as being named a high school All-American. Powers graduated from Buchtel in 1990 after leading them to the 1987 and 1988 Ohio Division II state high school championships. As a sophomore in 1987, Powers rushed for 1,600 yards including 600 in four playoff games and helped his coach earn Summit County Coach of the Year honors. Powers rushed for 1,741 yards and 28 touchdowns as a junior, including 289 yards against Nordonia High School in a playoff game, and 2,014 yards and 19 touchdowns as a senior. During that junior season, he became the third junior (following Chris Spielman and Jeff Logan, by one account and Spielman and Charles Gladman by another) to earn Akron Beacon Journal Player of the Year honors. During the season, he topped his sophomore Championship game 161 yard effort with a Championship game record 206 rushing yard effort. He earned All-Ohio Division II honors. Ohio rival, Robert Smith, earned USA Today Player of the Year honors and Powers earned an honorable mention during their junior years. Powers entered his senior season on numerous lists including the Chicago Sun-Times national top 100 and 24-man All-Midwest lists,The Times-Picayune Top 25 national prospects, and USA Today top 13 Ohio players. His senior season ended with a "Turkey Day" City Championship game. He and Smith, who chose to go to rival Ohio State, were the two top football prospects in Ohio and the nation in 1989. Smith was named Mr. Football (Ohio), but Powers was named the top player in the nation by the Dallas Morning News. In a poll of 14 experts produced by the Detroit Free Press, Powers was the all-Midwest (Big Ten States of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin because Penn State had not yet joined the conference) Offensive player of the year in a first-team backfield with Jerome Bettis and Chris Weinke. Powers became the first two-time Akron Beacon Journal Player of the Year. He was a Parade All-American and earned first-team All-USA honors from USA Today. Many publications across the country listed Powers among the best five or ten players in the nation. Powers was recruited by both the Michigan Wolverines and the Ohio State Buckeyes.
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