Maurice Hicks (born July 22, 1978) 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 ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

. He was originally signed by the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in 2002. 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 ...

North Carolina A&T North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (also known as North Carolina A&T State University, North Carolina A&T, N.C. A&T, or simply A&T) is a public, historically black land-grant research university in Greensboro, North Caro ...

. Hicks has also played for the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

Scottish Claymores The Scottish Claymores were an American football team based in Scotland. The franchise played in the World League of American Football (later renamed NFL Europe) between 1995 and 2004, initially playing all home games at Murrayfield Stadium, E ...

and

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

Early years

While attending

Greensville County High School Greensville County High School is a public high school located in Emporia, Virginia, serving that city and Greenville County. It is part of the Greensville County School Division and opened in 1976. Athletic teams compete in the Virginia High S ...

Emporia, Virginia Emporia is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia, surrounded by Greensville County, United States. Emporia and a predecessor town have been the county seat of Greensville County since 1791. As of the 2020 census, the populatio ...

Hicks was a standout in

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

as a tailback and

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to risk management, the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are ...

College career

While attending North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, Hicks finished his career with a school-record 2,812 rushing yards. As a senior, he was a third-team

Division I-AA The NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly known as Division I-AA, is the second-highest level of college football in the United States, after the Football Bowl Subdivision. Sponsored by the National Collegiate Athletic ...

All-American selection, the Black College Offensive Player of the Year, a first-team All-

MEAC The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) is a collegiate athletic conference whose full members are historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the Southeastern and the Mid-Atlantic United States. It participates in the National C ...

selection, and he led the MEAC in rushing yards with 1,325 rushing yards. During his senior season, in a game against

Morgan State University Morgan State University (Morgan State or MSU) is a public historically black research university in Baltimore, Maryland. It is the largest of Maryland's historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). In 1867, the university, then known ...

, he broke the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

Division I and II single game rushing records by rushing for 437 rushing yards. As a junior, he was a first-team All-MEAC selection, after rushing for 1,487 yards.

Professional career

Chicago Bears

He was signed as an

by the

in the

2002 NFL Draft The 2002 NFL draft was the 67th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft is known officially as the "NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting" and has been conducted annually sinc ...

San Francisco 49ers

Hicks was signed as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

by the

in 2003. While with the 49ers he was the second string running back behind

Kevan Barlow Kevan Courtney Barlow (born January 7, 1980) is a former American football running back. During his career, he played for the San Francisco 49ers, New York Jets and Pittsburgh Steelers. Early life Barlow played his high school football at Pea ...

Minnesota Vikings

On March 4, 2008, he signed a three-year deal with the

. Hicks was released by the Vikings, on February 18, 2009.

External links

Just Sports StatsOfficial WebsiteMinnesota Vikings bio

San Francisco 49ers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hicks, Maurice 1978 births Living people People from Emporia, Virginia American football running backs American football return specialists North Carolina A&T Aggies football players Chicago Bears players San Francisco 49ers players Scottish Claymores players Minnesota Vikings players Florida Tuskers players Virginia Destroyers players