Richard Medlin (born March 4, 1987) is an American former 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 ...

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)#Offense ...

. He played

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for the Fayetteville State Broncos and was a member of the

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, Miami Dolphins and

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...

in the

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(NFL).

Early life and college

Medlin was born on March 4, 1987, in Raleigh,

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

. He attended Garner High School and walked-on to play for the NCAA Division II Fayetteville State Broncos in 2007. He

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his first season before working his way up to being a starter as a

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. He went on to lead the Broncos in rushing in his last three seasons (2008–2010) while also being their top return specialist. He was named the conference's special teams player of the year in 2008 after returning three kickoffs for

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

s in a span of two games while averaging 41.7 yards-per-return on the year. As a junior, Medlin helped Fayetteville State win the conference championship while rushing for 667 yards with a team-high 10 touchdowns. In 2010, he ran for 772 yards and averaged 5.4 yards-per-carry while also placing second on the team with 26 receptions. He was named Fayetteville State's male athlete of the year after his senior season and finished his college career with 2,721 yards rushing and 28 touchdowns.

Professional career

After going unselected in the 2011 NFL draft, Medlin was signed by the

as an undrafted free agent on August 3, 2011. He saw extensive action in their first preseason game eight days later, scoring a touchdown on his first carry while finishing the match with 14 rushes for 54 yards and two scores. He finished the preseason with 66 yards on 20 carries as well as 39 receiving yards on six receptions. He was released at the final roster cuts on September 3. Medlin was signed to the practice squad of the Miami Dolphins on September 21. He was signed to the active roster for the team's final game of the season, against the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...

, and made his NFL debut in the 19–17 win, posting no statistics. He was waived by the Dolphins on May 7, 2012. Medlin later signed with the

on August 5, 2012. He was released on August 25.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Medlin, Richard Living people 1987 births Players of American football from Raleigh, North Carolina American football running backs Fayetteville State Broncos football players Miami Dolphins players Garner Magnet High School alumni New England Patriots players Atlanta Falcons players