{{Short description|German gridiron football player (born 1973)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}} {{Infobox NFL biography | name = Ray Mickens | number = 24, 23, 38 | position = Cornerback | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1973|1|4}} | birth_place = Frankfurt, Germany | height_ft = 5 | height_in = 8 | weight_lb = 180 | high_school = Andress (El Paso, Texas, U.S.) | college = Texas A&M | draftyear = 1996 | draftround = 3 | draftpick = 62 | pastteams = * New York Jets ({{NFL Year|1996|2004}}) * Cleveland Browns ({{NFL Year|2005}}) * New York Jets ({{NFL Year|2006}})* * New England Patriots ({{NFL Year|2006}}) | highlights = * First-team All-American (1995) * 3× First-team All-SWC (1993, 1994, 1995) | statlabel1 = Total tackles | statvalue1 = 382 | statlabel2 = Sacks | statvalue2 = 6.0 | statlabel3 = Forced fumbles | statvalue3 = 5 | statlabel4 = Fumble recoveries | statvalue4 = 4 | statlabel5 = Interceptions | statvalue5 = 11 | statlabel6 = Touchdowns | statvalue6 = 1 | pfr = MickRa20 }}
'''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 the New England Patriots. His brother Fred Williams played for the Houston Oilers. Post-NFL Ray Mickens owns (along with Leonard Mickens) M2 Concepts<ref>{{Cite web|title=About Us|url=http://m2concepts.org/milan/index.php/about-us|access-date=2020-07-11|website=m2concepts.org}}</ref> a privately held, minority owned food, beverage, and retailing company headquartered in Dallas/Ft. Worth area.
==Early life and college== Mickens grew up in El Paso, Texas, where he attended Andress High School and was a Division 1-5A All-State running back in the 1990, 1991 football seasons. While in high school, he played against the Midland Lee Rebels football team to capture the Regional Championship.
Mickens played football and was a sprinter on the track and field team at Texas A&M University. He was one of the top coverage cornerbacks in the country and was an All-American and All-Southwest Conference player in both his junior and senior years. He had four interceptions and broke up three other passes during his senior year. In spite of his relatively diminutive size, Mickens also handled run support well with 59 total tackles. He was also among the top punt returners in the nation that year with an 11.7 yard average. In the last game of his career, an Alamo Bowl victory against Michigan, he shut down the Wolverine receivers, switching positions when necessary to stop the "hot" receiver. For his career, he had 162 tackles and nine interceptions for Texas A&M. He started the final 34 games of his college career and finished his career 4th on A&M's all-time passes defended list.
==Professional career== {{NFL predraft | height ft = 5 | height in = 7 5/8 | weight = 176 | dash = 4.47 | ten split = 1.53 | twenty split = 2.54 | vertical = 37.5 | bench = 12 | arm span = 29 1/4 | hand span = 9 1/4 }}
Mickens was drafted in the third-round by the New York Jets in the 1996 NFL draft.<ref>{{Cite web |title=1996 NFL Draft Listing |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/1996/draft.htm |access-date=2023-03-30 |website=Pro-Football-Reference.com |language=en}}</ref> He played for the Jets from 1996 to 2004. Mickens only sat out two games in his first eight NFL seasons before missing the 2004 season because of a torn ACL. He built a reputation as one of the top nickel backs in the NFL and also a very capable starter. He played in 126 games with 36 starts over the course of his first eight seasons while registering 365 tackles, 79 passes defended, 11 INT, four forced fumbles and six sacks. Mickens was released by the Jets. He signed a one-year contract with the Browns as a free agent prior to the 2005 season and played in all 16 games, starting three, and recording 33 tackles and 16 passes defended.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.elpasotimes.com/sports/ci_10533953|title=Ex-El Paso, NFL star Mickens to lead parade}}</ref>
Mickens signed with the Jets once again on May 31, 2006, but was eventually waived when rosters were reduced to the 53 men following the last pre-season game. He was signed by the New England Patriots in December 2006<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.patriots.com/team/index.cfm?ac=playerbio&bio=32392|title=Patriots Player Bio, Ray Mickens|archive-date=September 29, 2007|access-date=August 11, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929100226/http://www.patriots.com/team/index.cfm?ac=playerbio&bio=32392|url-status=dead}}</ref> and was a prominent player in their run to the division championship game. He filed for free agency on March 3, 2007.
==NFL career statistics== {| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" ! colspan="2"| Legend |- | '''Bold''' | Career high |}
===Regular season=== {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |- !rowspan="2"| Year !rowspan="2"| Team !colspan="2"| Games !colspan="4"| Tackles !colspan="4"| Interceptions !colspan="4"| Fumbles |- ! GP !! GS !! Comb !! Solo !! Ast !! Sck !! Int !! Yds !! TD !! Lng !! FF !! FR !! Yds !! TD |- ! 1996 !! NYJ | 15 || 10 || 44 || 37 || 7 || 0.0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 |- ! 1997 !! NYJ | 16 || 0 || 26 || 25 || 1 || 1.0 || '''4''' || 2 || 0 || 2 || '''2''' || 0 || 0 || 0 |- ! 1998 !! NYJ | 16 || 4 || 34 || 30 || 4 || 0.0 || 3 || 10 || 0 || 10 || 0 || '''1''' || 0 || 0 |- ! 1999 !! NYJ | 15 || 5 || 44 || 36 || 8 || '''2.0''' || 2 || 2 || 0 || 2 || '''2''' || 0 || 0 || 0 |- ! 2000 !! NYJ | 16 || 0 || 28 || 25 || 3 || 0.0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 |- ! 2001 !! NYJ | 16 || 4 || '''66''' || '''56''' || '''10''' || 1.0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 1 || '''1''' || 0 || 0 |- ! 2002 !! NYJ | 16 || 1 || 41 || 34 || 7 || '''2.0''' || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || '''1''' || 0 || 0 |- ! 2003 !! NYJ | 16 || 14 || 64 || 54 || '''10''' || 0.0 || 2 || '''16''' || 0 || '''16''' || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 |- ! 2005 !! CLE | 16 || 0 || 33 || 26 || 7 || 0.0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || '''1''' || '''13''' || 0 |- ! 2006 !! NE | 4 || 0 || 2 || 0 || 2 || 0.0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 |- ! colspan="2"| !! 146 !! 38 !! 382 !! 323 !! 59 !! 6.0 !! 11 !! 30 !! 0 !! 16 !! 5 !! 4 !! 13 !! 0 |}
===Playoffs=== {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |- !rowspan="2"| Year !rowspan="2"| Team !colspan="2"| Games !colspan="4"| Tackles !colspan="4"| Interceptions !colspan="4"| Fumbles |- ! GP !! GS !! Comb !! Solo !! Ast !! Sck !! Int !! Yds !! TD !! Lng !! FF !! FR !! Yds !! TD |- ! 1998 !! NYJ | 2 || 2 || 3 || 3 || 0 || 0.0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 |- ! 2001 !! NYJ | 1 || 0 || 1 || 1 || 0 || 0.0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 |- ! 2002 !! NYJ | 2 || 0 || '''10''' || '''9''' || '''1''' || 0.0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || '''1''' || '''1''' || 0 || 0 |- ! 2006 !! NE | 3 || 0 || 3 || 3 || 0 || 0.0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 |- ! colspan="2"| !! 8 !! 2 !! 17 !! 16 !! 1 !! 0.0 !! 0 !! 0 !! 0 !! 0 !! 1 !! 1 !! 0 !! 0 |}
==Personal life== His brother Fred Williams played for the 1993 Houston Oilers.<ref name=Patriots>{{cite web|title=New England Patriots: Ray Mickens (Archive)|url=http://archive.patriots.com/team/index.cfm?ac=playerbio&bio=32392|publisher=Patriots.com|accessdate=May 6, 2013}}</ref> His daughter, Kamray Mickens, played point guard for Southern Methodist University and his niece Asia Mickens-Perez is a midfielder for Howard University Women's Soccer team.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Kamray Mickens - Women's Basketball |url=https://smumustangs.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/kamray-mickens/695 |access-date=2026-03-17 |website=SMU Athletics |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Asia Mickens-Perez - Women's Soccer |url=https://hubison.com/sports/womens-soccer/roster/asia-mickens-perez/8896 |access-date=2026-03-17 |website=Howard University Athletics |language=en}}</ref>
Mickens won the 1999 Madden Bowl.<ref>{{cite magazine |last= |first= |date=April 1999 |volume=2 |issue=7 |title=Madden Bowl a Hit on South Beach |page=30 |url=https://archive.org/details/Official_US_PlayStation_Magazine_Volume_2_Issue_7_1999-04_Ziff_Davis_US/page/n29/mode/2up |url-status= |magazine=Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine |location= |publisher=Ziff Davis |access-date=April 22, 2024}}</ref>
His son, R. J. Mickens was a college football safety for the Clemson Tigers and was drafted by the Los Angeles Chargers as the 214th pick in the 2025 NFL draft.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Bloomquist |first1=Bret |title=RJ Mickens, son of former Texas A&M star Ray, follows heart to Clemson |url=https://www.elpasotimes.com/story/sports/college/utep/2019/12/17/rj-mickens-son-former-texas-a-m-star-ray-follows-heart-clemson/4402622002/ |website=El Paso Times |access-date=17 September 2023}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *http://www.raymickens.com *http://www.nfl.com/players/playerpage/3953 *http://www.patriots.com/team/index.cfm?ac=playerbio&bio=32392 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929100226/http://www.patriots.com/team/index.cfm?ac=playerbio&bio=32392 |date=September 29, 2007 }}
{{Jets1996DraftPicks}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mickens, Ray}} Category:1973 births Category:Living people Category:American football cornerbacks Category:New England Patriots players Category:Cleveland Browns players Category:New York Jets players Category:Texas A&M Aggies football players Category:21st-century African-American sportsmen Category:20th-century African-American sportsmen Category:Players of American football from El Paso, Texas Category:21st-century American sportsmen Category:20th-century American sportsmen