R. J. Mickens (born July 10, 2001) is an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

safety Safety is the state of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings The word 'safety' entered the English language in the 1 ...

for the

Los Angeles Chargers The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC W ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Clemson Tigers The Clemson Tigers are the sport, athletic teams that represent Clemson University, located in Clemson, South Carolina. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I level (NCAA Divis ...

and was selected by the Chargers in the sixth round of the

2025 NFL draft The 2025 NFL draft was the 90th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players. The draft was held at Lambeau Field and its adjacent Titletown District in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on April 24–26, 2025 ...

Early life

Mickens attended

Carroll High School Carroll High School can refer to: In the United States *Carroll High School (Alabama), Ozark, Alabama *Carroll High School (Flora, Indiana), Flora, Indiana *Carroll High School (Fort Wayne, Indiana), Fort Wayne, Indiana *Carroll High School (Iowa) ...

Southlake, Texas Southlake is a city located predominantly in Tarrant County with minor areas extending into Denton County in the U.S. state of Texas. Southlake is a suburb of Dallas/Fort Worth. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 31,265. History ...

, where he played both sides of the ball on the football team. On offense he rushed for 39 yards and two touchdowns, while also bringing in 61 receptions for 1,092 yards and 14 touchdowns. On defense Mickens notched 211 tackles with six going for a loss, two sacks, 32 pass deflections, eight interceptions, two fumble recoveries, and eight forced fumbles. He committed to play

for the

over others schools such as

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

Ohio State The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one of the largest universities by enrollme ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

, and

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

College career

As a

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or colloquially frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational in ...

in 2020, Mickens had one tackle. In week 2 of the 2021 season, he had his first career interceptions, as helped Clemson beat South Carolina State. Mickens finished the 2021 season with 29 tackles with 0.5 tackle being for a loss, and two interceptions. In the 2022 regular season finale, he had a big goal line tackle and an interception, but he was ejected due to targeting in the third quarter, as the Tigers fell to their rival

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

. Mickens finished the 2022 season with 48 tackles with three going for a loss, two pass deflections, and three interceptions. He was named Preseason Third-Team All-American by Pro Football Focus for the 2023 season.

College statistics

Professional career

Mickens was selected by the

with the 214th overall pick in the sixth round of the

Personal life

He is the son of former

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover Wide receiver, receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such Play from scrimmage, offensive running plays as sweep ...

Ray Mickens 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 t ...

References

External links

Los Angeles Chargers bioClemson Tigers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mickens, R. J. Living people 2001 births Players of American football from Southlake, Texas American football safeties Carroll Senior High School alumni Clemson Tigers football players Los Angeles Chargers players