 Hickson with the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 2024 | |||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born: | March 17, 1997 Lynchburg, Virginia, U.S. | ||||||||||||
| Height: | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) | ||||||||||||
| Weight: | 200 lb (91 kg) | ||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||
| High school: | Heritage (VA) | ||||||||||||
| College: | Liberty (2015–2019) | ||||||||||||
| Position: | Running back | ||||||||||||
| Undrafted: | 2020 | ||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||
| Career CFL statistics as of 2022 | |||||||||||||
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Frankie Hickson (born March 17, 1997) is an American professional football running back who is currently a free agent. He played college football at Liberty.
Hickson was born on March 17, 1997, in Lynchburg, Virginia. [1] His father was a football coach for the Liberty Flames from 2004 to 2008. [2] He attended Heritage High School in Lynchburg and posted 4,233 rushing yards with 65 touchdowns, recording 2,169 yards and 37 scores alone as a senior. [3] He was named a first-team selection on the class 3A all-state squad. [4] Hickson committed to play college football for the Liberty Flames over offers from Dartmouth, VMI, Air Force and Navy. [3] [5]
As a true freshman at Liberty in 2015, Hickson redshirted and saw no playing time. [3] [6] In 2016, he played primarily as a return specialist, returning kickoffs for a total of 707 yards, the second-best single-season total in school history. [7] He was named second-team All-Big South Conference for his performance and earned the honor again in 2017 for his special teams contributions. [7]
Hickson moved up Liberty's depth chart at running back in 2018, totaling 1,032 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns on the season. [2] [8] As a senior, he was named honorable mention independent all-conference as he compiled 1,041 rushing yards and 12 rushing touchdowns. [7] [9] Hickson finished his stint at the school with 610 carries for 2,898 yards and 30 scores while playing 47 games, additionally breaking the all-time program record for all-purpose yards with 4,494. [2]
Hickson went unselected in the 2020 NFL draft and remained unsigned through the 2021 season. [10] His father was able to get the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League (CFL) to have him tryout in 2022. [2] Hickson was signed, made the final roster, and became the Roughriders' second-string running back behind Jamal Morrow. [2] [7] In Saskatchewan's week five victory over the Ottawa Redblacks, he ran five times for 92 yards and scored a 63-yard touchdown. [11] After being a backup for most of the season, Hickson was thrust into a starting role after an injury to Morrow in August and tallied 129 rushing yards in his first start, against the BC Lions. [12] He finished the season with 13 games played, four as a starter, and 85 carries for 533 yards with one score, additionally posting 17 receptions for 109 yards. [6]
On February 11, 2025, he became a free agent.
