Ronald Fredrick Powell (born May 14, 1991) 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 ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

. He was drafted by the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

in the fifth round of the

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. He played

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University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

High school career

A native of

Moreno Valley, California Moreno Valley is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, and is part of the Riverside–San Bernardino–Ontario metropolitan area. It is the second-largest city in Riverside County by population and one of the Inland Empire's p ...

, Powell attended

Rancho Verde High School Rancho Verde High School is one of three comprehensive high schools in the Val Verde Unified School District. The school is situated on 38 acres in the southern section of Moreno Valley, California. Rancho Verde represents a community of diverse ...

, where he played defensive end,

and

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like ...

. In his senior season, he totaled over 80 tackles, 13 sacks, 28 tackles for losses on defense, while averaging over 15 yards per catch on offense. He was named a High School All-American by ''

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'', ''

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'', and

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. He was selected to play in the 2010

U.S. Army All-American Bowl The All-American Bowl is a high school football all-star game, held annually at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. Typically played in January, the All-American Bowl is played between all-star teams representing the eastern and western United S ...

, where he was voted MVP. Regarded as a five-star college recruit by

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, Powell was listed as the No. 1 prospect (regardless of position) in the class of 2010.

College career

Powell accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the

in Gainesville, Florida, where he was a member of coach

Urban Meyer Urban Frank Meyer III (born July 10, 1964) is a college football TV commentator and former American football coach. He spent most of his coaching career at the collegiate level, having served as the head coach of the Bowling Green Falcons fro ...

and coach

Will Muschamp William Lawrence Muschamp (born August 3, 1971) is an American football coach and former player. He is the co- defensive coordinator and safeties coach at the University of Georgia. He served as head football coach at the University of Florida fr ...

Florida Gators football The Florida Gators football program represents the University of Florida (UF) in American college football. Florida competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Eastern Division of ...

teams from

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. As a freshman in 2010, he played in 13 games and made one start. In his sophomore year, he became a regular starter for the Gators, playing and starting in 12 games. In an injury-plagued junior year, he tore his left ACL two different times, first in the spring Orange and Blue game, and again during rehab. For the 2012 season, he earned a medical redshirt. In 2013, Powell played in 11 games and started in eight.

Professional career

New Orleans Saints

Powell was listed as the 15th ranked OLB and projected to be a 5th round pick in the

. The

drafted Powell with the 169th pick. He played in 14 games during the 2014 season. The Saints released him on September 1, 2015; after he cleared waivers, he was placed on the Saints' injured reserve list.

Chicago Bears

On September 21, 2016, Powell was signed to the Bears' practice squad.

Seattle Seahawks

On December 13, 2016, Powell was signed by the Seahawks off the Bears' practice squad. On August 10, 2017, Powell was waived/injured by the Seahawks and placed on injured reserve. He was released on August 16, 2017.

Orlando Apollos

In 2018, Powell signed with the

Orlando Apollos The Orlando Apollos were a professional American football franchise based in Orlando, Florida, and one of the eight members of the Alliance of American Football (AAF), which began play in February 2019. The team played its home games at Spectrum ...

of the Alliance of American Football for the 2019 season. He was placed on the waived/injured list on January 9, 2019. The league ceased operations in April 2019.

References

External links

Florida Gators bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Powell, Ronald 1991 births Living people People from Moreno Valley, California Players of American football from California Sportspeople from Riverside County, California American football defensive ends Florida Gators football players New Orleans Saints players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players Chicago Bears players Seattle Seahawks players Orlando Apollos players