Ray Mickens

Last updated

Ray Mickens
No. 24, 23, 38
Position Cornerback
Personal information
Born (1973-01-04) January 4, 1973 (age 52)
Frankfurt, Germany
Height5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Weight180 lb (82 kg)
Career information
High school El Paso (TX) Andress
College Texas A&M
NFL draft 1996: 3rd round, 62nd overall pick
Career history
* Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Awards and highlights
Career NFL statistics
Total tackles 382
Sacks 6.0
Forced fumbles 5
Fumble recoveries4
Interceptions 11
Touchdowns 1
Stats at Pro Football Reference

William Ray Mickens (born January 4, 1973) is a former professional American football cornerback. Mickens entered the National Football League (NFL) after receiving All-American honors at Texas A&M University. He last played professionally for the New England Patriots. His brother Fred Williams played for the Houston Oilers. Post-NFL Ray Mickens owns (along with Leonard Mickens) M2 Concepts [1] a privately held, minority owned food, beverage, and retailing company headquartered in Dallas/Ft. Worth area.

Contents

High school and college

Mickens grew up in El Paso, Texas, where he attended Andress High School and was a Division 1-5A All-State running back in the 1990, 1991 football seasons. While in high school, he played against the Midland Lee Rebels football team to capture the Regional Championship.

Mickens played football and was a sprinter on the track and field team at Texas A&M University. He was one of the top coverage cornerbacks in the country and was an All-American and All-Southwest Conference player in both his junior and senior years. He had four interceptions and broke up three other passes during his senior year. In spite of his relatively diminutive size, Mickens also handled run support well with 59 total tackles. He was also among the top punt returners in the nation that year with an 11.7 yard average. In the last game of his career, an Alamo Bowl victory against Michigan, he shut down the Wolverine receivers, switching positions when necessary to stop the "hot" receiver. For his career, he had 162 tackles and nine interceptions for Texas A&M. He started the final 34 games of his college career and finished his career 4th on A&M's all-time passes defended list.

Professional career

Pre-draft measurables
HeightWeightArm lengthHand span 40-yard dash 10-yard split20-yard split Vertical jump Bench press
5 ft 7+58 in
(1.72 m)
176 lb
(80 kg)
29+14 in
(0.74 m)
9+14 in
(0.23 m)
4.47 s1.53 s2.54 s37.5 in
(0.95 m)
12 reps

Mickens was drafted in the third-round by the New York Jets in the 1996 NFL draft. [2] He played for the Jets from 1996 to 2004. Mickens only sat out two games in his first eight NFL seasons before missing the 2004 season because of a torn ACL. He built a reputation as one of the top nickel backs in the NFL and also a very capable starter. He played in 126 games with 36 starts over the course of his first eight seasons while registering 365 tackles, 79 passes defended, 11 INT, four forced fumbles and six sacks. Mickens was released by the Jets. He signed a one-year contract with the Browns as a free agent prior to the 2005 season and played in all 16 games, starting three, and recording 33 tackles and 16 passes defended. [3]

Mickens signed with the Jets once again on May 31, 2006, but was eventually waived when rosters were reduced to the 53 men following the last pre-season game. He was signed by the New England Patriots in December 2006 [4] and was a prominent player in their run to the division championship game. He filed for free agency on March 3, 2007.

NFL career statistics

Legend
BoldCareer high

Regular season

YearTeamGamesTacklesInterceptionsFumbles
GPGSCombSoloAstSckIntYdsTDLngFFFRYdsTD
1996 NYJ 1510443770.000000000
1997 NYJ 160262511.042022000
1998 NYJ 164343040.03100100100
1999 NYJ 155443682.022022000
2000 NYJ 160282530.000000000
2001 NYJ 1646656101.000001100
2002 NYJ 161413472.000000100
2003 NYJ 16146454100.02160160000
2005 CLE 160332670.0000001130
2006 NWE 402020.000000000
14638382323596.0113001654130

Playoffs

YearTeamGamesTacklesInterceptionsFumbles
GPGSCombSoloAstSckIntYdsTDLngFFFRYdsTD
1998 NYJ 223300.000000000
2001 NYJ 101100.000000000
2002 NYJ 2010910.000001100
2006 NWE 303300.000000000
82171610.000001100

Personal

His brother Fred Williams played for the 1993 Houston Oilers. [5]

Mickens won the 1999 Madden Bowl. [6]

His son, R. J. Mickens was a college football safety for the Clemson Tigers and was drafted by the Los Angeles Chargers as the 214th pick in the 2025 NFL draft. [7]

References

  1. "About Us". m2concepts.org. Retrieved July 11, 2020.
  2. "1996 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved March 30, 2023.
  3. "Ex-El Paso, NFL star Mickens to lead parade".
  4. "Patriots Player Bio, Ray Mickens". Archived from the original on September 29, 2007. Retrieved August 11, 2007.
  5. "New England Patriots: Ray Mickens (Archive)". Patriots.com. Retrieved May 6, 2013.
  6. "Madden Bowl a Hit on South Beach". Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine . Vol. 2, no. 7. Ziff Davis. April 1999. p. 30. Retrieved April 22, 2024.
  7. Bloomquist, Bret. "RJ Mickens, son of former Texas A&M star Ray, follows heart to Clemson". El Paso Times. Retrieved September 17, 2023.