Lane College graduate credits football for future dreams
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JACKSON, Tenn. — For one college football player, graduation Sunday meant the touchdown of a lifetime. Randy Powell said if it weren’t for the game, his life could have taken a different route. Powell said his graduation walk at Oman Arena started on the 50-yard-line. “It’s been the longest five years of my life,” he said. The biology major and now graduate of Lane College said his college football career has taken him from Memphis to the deserts of Arizona, and to the heart of the hub city. “Football is life,” Powell said in his favorite spot on campus, the gym. “It’s just really shielded me from a lot of negativity in my life.” Powell said he started playing football when he was ten years old, two years after his father died from a heart attack. Powell said he spent much of his youth shuffling between family members and foster homes. “I didn’t have the help a lot of people who come from a two parent household do,” he said. Powell said neither of his parent would ever see him make a tackle on the turf. He said the desire for his mother to watch him play on the college level fostered much of his decision to choose the University of Memphis his freshman year. He said some of the negative influences from home were a distraction he didn’t need, while juggling school and the game. Powell said ultimately staying so close to home wasn’t the best decision “I could have had an end result where I was either in jail or dead or both,” he said. During Powell’s sophomore year his mother was the victim of an apparent murder in North Memphis. The cornerback said football made him more than just a lock-down defender. “It was the best thing for me because it could keep me out of trouble and make a future for myself. It brought me closer to my academics,” he said. Powell said he has ambitions of playing pro football before pursuing a doctorate degree. “My mom wanted to see me play football so she’s going to see me play one way or another–I’m going to ball. I’m going to shine for her,” he said. The Lane Alumni said he may play for the Canadian Football League, but it’s really the stars and bars he’d like to see behind him from the field. After graduation, Powell said he plans to head to Bradenton Florida, his home since 2011 to train.
