Jerrell Quartez Powe (born March 15, 1987) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

nose tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that will typically line up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the offensive guards, however he may also line up opposite one of the tackles. Defensive tackles are typically the la ...

. He was drafted by the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The tea ...

in the sixth round of the

2011 NFL Draft The 2011 NFL Draft was the 76th installment of the annual NFL Draft, where the franchises of the National Football League select newly eligible football players. Like the 2010 draft, the 2011 draft was held at Radio City Music Hall in New York C ...

. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

for Ole Miss.

High school career

Powe attended Wayne County High School in

Waynesboro, Mississippi Waynesboro is a city in Wayne County, Mississippi, Wayne County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 5,043 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Wayne County. Geography Waynesboro is located at (31.674026, -88.643553), just east ...

, where he had 71 tackles and 14 sacks as a junior. As a senior, he was credited with 89 tackles, including nine QB sacks, while forcing five fumbles. Powe subsequently earned All-American honors by ''

Parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, float (parade), floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually ce ...

'' and ''

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''. Considered a five-star recruit by ''

Rivals.com Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heckma ...

'', Powe was listed as the No. 3 defensive tackle prospect in the nation, behind DeMarcus Granger and

Callahan Bright Callahan Bright (born January 16, 1987) is a former high school football star. His career derailed during college. After one season at Division II Shaw University, Bright entered the 2010 NFL Draft but was not selected. He had brief stints wit ...

. He chose Ole Miss over

Auburn Auburn may refer to: Places Australia * Auburn, New South Wales * City of Auburn, the local government area *Electoral district of Auburn *Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region *Auburn, South Australia *Auburn, Tasmania *Aub ...

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

, and

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

College career

Entering Ole Miss with a lot of hype, Powe was deemed a "potential freshman star" by some in the media. However, he had not completed the necessary 14 core courses in high school, and therefore was denied freshman eligibility. He spent a year at

Hargrave Military Academy Hargrave Military Academy (HMA) is a private, all-male, military boarding school located in the town of Chatham, Virginia. Hargrave is affiliated with the Baptist General Association of Virginia emphasizing Christian values that focuses on a col ...

, a prep school in Virginia—where he was classmates with

Vidal Hazelton Vidal Hazelton (born January 29, 1988) is a former Gridiron football wide receiver. He was signed by the San Diego Chargers as an undrafted free agent in 2011. He played college football at Cincinnati Bearcats football, Cincinnati. He formerly pl ...

Keiland Williams Keiland Terrell Williams (born August 14, 1986) is a former American football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL). He was signed by the Redskins as an undrafted free agent in 2010. He played college football at Louisia ...

, and fellow Ole Miss recruit John Jerry—, taking correspondence courses, but was again denied eligibility. The NCAA said at the time that Powe could either return to high school or go to a

junior college A junior college (sometimes referred to colloquially as a juco, JuCo or JC) is a post-secondary educational institution offering vocational training designed to prepare students for either skilled trades and technical occupations and workers in su ...

. Powe returned to Waynesboro to retake courses, attended

Penn Foster Career School Penn Foster Career School is a U.S. for-profit, regionally and nationally-accredited distance education school offering career diploma programs and certificate programs. It was founded in 1890 as International Correspondence Schools, or ICS. Penn ...

, a prep school in

Scranton, Pennsylvania Scranton is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, Lackawanna County. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U ...

, and took correspondence courses in 2006. He returned to Ole Miss for the 2007 season, as the NCAA allowed him to practice for 14 days while it sorted out his status in August 2007, then again denied his quest to play for the Rebels. Powe attended Ole Miss in 2007–08 on financial aid but could not practice or participate. Finally returning to the football field in 2008, Powe saw action in 12 games, missing only Arkansas, and earned his first letter. He totaled eight tackles with 3.5 tackles-for-a-loss and 1.5 quarterback sacks, while also recording an interception. In 2009, Powe became a full-time starter for the Rebels and, according to Tony Pauline of ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

'', had NFL scouts "excited about his upside potential". He registered 34 tackles, including 12 TFLs, and 3

quarterback sack In gridiron football, a sack occurs when the quarterback (or another offensive player acting as a passer) is tackled behind the line of scrimmage before throwing a forward pass, when the quarterback is tackled behind the line of scrimmage in th ...

s. In his senior season, his numbers slightly dropped to 27 tackles (8.5 TFLs) and 2.5 sacks. He was awarded all-Conference Second-team honors after each year.

Professional career

2011 NFL Draft

Coming into his final season Powe was rated as the top nose tackle prospect and drew comparisons to

B. J. Raji Busari Alamu Raji Jr. (born July 11, 1986) is a former American football defensive tackle. He played college football at Boston College. Raji was drafted by the Green Bay Packers with the ninth overall pick in the 2009 NFL Draft. He won Super Bo ...

, but he had a somewhat disappointing season and watched his stock slip. Graded as a second to third round talent, Powe fell in the

due to his relatively high age— on draft day. Powe was selected by the

in the 6th round.

Kansas City Chiefs

In his rookie season, Powe was third on the depth chart at

, behind veteran

Kelly Gregg Kelly Michael Gregg (born November 1, 1976) is a radio personality and a former American football nose tackle. He currently contributes to various radio programs in Oklahoma City on 107.7 "The Franchise". He was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals ...

and journeyman

Amon Gordon Amon Gordon (born October 13, 1981) is a former American football defensive end of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the fourth round of the 2004 NFL Draft. He played college football at Stanford Cardinal foo ...

. He made his NFL debut for the Chiefs in a loss against

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

on November 21, 2011—his only game in 2011. In 2012, Powe competed with

Anthony Toribio Anthony Terrell Toribio (born March 1, 1985) is a former American football defensive tackle. He was signed by the Miami Dolphins as an undrafted free agent in 2008 and also spent time on the practice squad for the Green Bay Packers. Toribio then ...

and rookie

Dontari Poe Dontari Poe (born August 18, 1990) is a former American football nose tackle. He played college football at Memphis and was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs 11th overall in the 2012 NFL Draft. Though primarily a defensive lineman, at 6 ft ...

to succeed the retiring Gregg at nose tackle, eventually losing out to Poe. Powe appeared only in nine games in 2012, seeing limited minutes as third-string back-up. The Chiefs waived him in the last round of final cuts on September 1, 2013. On December 3, 2013, Powe was signed by the Chiefs. On December 13, 2013, the Chiefs released Powe. Powe re-signed with the Chiefs on December 19, 2013.

Houston Texans

On March 18, 2014, Powe signed with the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division, and play their home ga ...

Washington Redskins

On June 1, 2015, Powe signed with the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

. On September 5, Powe was released for final roster cuts before the start of the regular season. Powe signed a

futures contract In finance, a futures contract (sometimes called a futures) is a standardized legal contract to buy or sell something at a predetermined price for delivery at a specified time in the future, between parties not yet known to each other. The asset ...

with the team on January 4, 2016. The team released him on September 3, 2016.

Legal troubles

On January 17, 2023, Powe was arrested and charged for kidnapping.

References

External links

Houston Texans bioKansas City Chiefs bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Powe, Jerrell 1987 births Living people People from Wayne County, Mississippi Players of American football from Mississippi American football defensive tackles Ole Miss Rebels football players Kansas City Chiefs players Houston Texans players Washington Redskins players