Richard Ervins (born December 7, 1968) 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 ...

player who was a

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 ...

in 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) for 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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

and

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the 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 ...

. 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

USC Trojans The USC Trojans (also Southern California Trojans) are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles. While the men's teams are nicknamed the ...

. He was selected by Washington in the third round of the

1991 NFL draft The 1991 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 21–22, 1991, at the Marriott Ma ...

Early life

Ervins attended

John Muir High School John Muir High School is a four-year comprehensive secondary school in Pasadena, California, United States and is a part of the Pasadena Unified School District. The school is named after preservationist John Muir. History In 1926, the Pasade ...

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commerci ...

, where he participated in football, baseball and competed in track and field.

College career

In college, Ervins'

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 ...

run won the 1990 Rose Bowl for the

and he was the game's

most valuable player In team sports, a most valuable player (MVP) award is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particular competition, or ...

. He was teammates on a powerful 1989 USC team with Todd Marinovich and

Junior Seau Tiaina Baul "Junior" Seau Jr. (; ; January 19, 1969 – May 2, 2012) was an American professional football linebacker who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons, mostly with the San Diego Chargers. Known for his passionate ...

. His eight consecutive 100-yard performances at USC were behind only Heisman winners Charles White (10) and Marcus Allen (11) and has since been broken by former Trojans running back

Reggie Bush Reginald Alfred Bush II (born March 2, 1985) is an American former professional football running back. He played college football for the USC Trojans, earning consensus All-American honors twice and winning the 2005 Heisman Trophy. Bush is wide ...

Professional career

Ervins was drafted in the third round of the

by Washington. Ervins later played for the Washington Redskins as a rookie

, he was a second on the team in rushing yards with 680 on the season (behind Earnest Byner) and helped the team win

Super Bowl XXVI Super Bowl XXVI was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Washington Redskins and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Buffalo Bills to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion f ...

. In the Super Bowl, he was the game's leading rusher, with 72 yards on 13 carries as the Redskins beat the Buffalo Bills 37–24. Ervins received several honors during his rookie year with Washington, including the PFWA all-Rookie, Football Digest All-Rookie, Pro Football Weekly All-Rookie, Football News All-Rookie, college & Pro Football Newsweekly All-Rookie, Quarterback Club's Rookie of the year, and Washington Redskin Rookie of the year. He stayed with the Redskins until 1994 when he moved to the San Francisco 49ers. He retired in 1995.

Personal

Ricky was adopted by Tony and Sharon Crutchfield when he was 14 years old. He now runs a business, Xtreme Xplosion, that trains high school athletes in

Northern Virginia Northern Virginia, locally referred to as NOVA or NoVA, comprises several County (United States), counties and independent city (United States), independent cities in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. ...

. On August 22, 2016, The Tournament of Roses announced

Bobby Bell Bobby Lee Bell Sr. (born June 17, 1940) is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker and defensive end for the Kansas City Chiefs of the American Football League (AFL) and the National Football League (NFL). He is a ...

, Ricky Ervins,

Tommy Prothro James Thompson Prothro Jr. (July 20, 1920 – May 14, 1995) was an American football coach and player. He was the head coach at Oregon State University from 1955 to 1964 and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) from 1965 to 1970, com ...

, and Art Spander would be inducted into the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame in the Class of 2016. The Rose Bowl Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony then took place on January 1, 2017, outside the Rose Bowl Stadium, one day before the kickoff of the 103rd Rose Bowl Game on Monday January 2, 2017.

References

External links

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Ricky Ervins Xtreme xplosion
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ervins, Ricky 1968 births Living people American football running backs San Francisco 49ers players USC Trojans football players Washington Redskins players Players of American football from Pasadena, California