Frankie Hickson (born March 17, 1997) is an American gridiron football running back for the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He played college football at Liberty.
| No. 20 – Saskatchewan Roughriders | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position: | Running back | ||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||
| Born: | March 17, 1997 Lynchburg, Virginia, U.S. | ||||||||||
| Height: | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) | ||||||||||
| Weight: | 200 lb (91 kg) | ||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||
| High school: | Heritage (VA) | ||||||||||
| College: | Liberty (2015–2019) | ||||||||||
| Undrafted: | 2020 | ||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||
| |||||||||||
| Roster status: | Active | ||||||||||
| Career CFL statistics as of 2022 | |||||||||||
| |||||||||||
| Player stats at CFL.ca | |||||||||||
Early life edit
Hickson was born on March 17, 1997, in Lynchburg, Virginia.[1] His father was a football coach for the Liberty Flames from 2004 to 2008.[2] He attended Heritage High School in Lynchburg and posted 4,233 rushing yards with 65 touchdowns, recording 2,169 yards and 37 scores alone as a senior.[3] He was named a first-team selection on the class 3A all-state squad.[4] Hickson committed to play college football for the Liberty Flames over offers from Dartmouth, VMI, Air Force and Navy.[3][5]
College career edit
As a true freshman at Liberty in 2015, Hickson redshirted and saw no playing time.[3][6] In 2016, he played primarily as a return specialist, returning kickoffs for a total of 707 yards, the second-best single-season total in school history.[7] He was named second-team All-Big South Conference for his performance and earned the honor again in 2017 for his special teams contributions.[7]
Hickson moved up Liberty's depth chart at running back in 2018, totaling 1,032 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns on the season.[2][8] As a senior, he was named honorable mention independent all-conference as he compiled 1,041 rushing yards and 12 rushing touchdowns.[7][9] Hickson finished his stint at the school with 610 carries for 2,898 yards and 30 scores while playing 47 games, additionally breaking the all-time program record for all-purpose yards with 4,494.[2]
Professional career edit
Hickson went unselected in the 2020 NFL Draft and remained unsigned through the 2021 season.[10] His father was able to get the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League (CFL) to have him tryout in 2022.[2] Hickson was signed, made the final roster, and became the Roughriders' second-string running back behind Jamal Morrow.[2][7] In Saskatchewan's week five victory over the Ottawa Redblacks, he ran five times for 92 yards and scored a 63-yard touchdown.[11] After being a backup for most of the season, Hickson was thrust into a starting role after an injury to Morrow in August and tallied 129 rushing yards in his first start, against the BC Lions.[12] He finished the season with 13 games played, four as a starter, and 85 carries for 533 yards with one score, additionally posting 17 receptions for 109 yards.[6]
References edit
- ^ "Frankie Hickson". Canadian Football League. Retrieved September 3, 2023.
- ^ a b c d e Gray, Britton (September 10, 2022). "Patience pays off for Riders' Frankie Hickson". CKOM.
- ^ a b c Manson, Jon (December 3, 2019). "Frankie Hickson saves his best for last". A Sea of Red.
- ^ Hodges, Ty (December 30, 2014). "Lafayette Football Places Six Players on State's 3A First Team". Willamsburg Yorktown Daily.
- ^ Manson, Jon (January 20, 2015). "2015 football prospect: RB Frankie Hickson". A Sea of Red.
- ^ a b "Frankie Hickson Stats". Pro Football Archives.
- ^ a b c d "Riders sign former Liberty standout running back Frankie Hickson, one other". 3DownNation.com. April 27, 2022. Retrieved September 3, 2023.
- ^ "Frankie Hickson College Stats, School, Draft, Gamelog, Splits". Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved September 3, 2023.
- ^ Pauline, Tony (April 3, 2020). "2020 NFL Draft: FBS Independent Schools Scouting Reports". Pro Football Network.
- ^ Vanstone, Rob (May 31, 2022). "Big Break With Riders Ends Long Delay For Hickson". The Leader-Post. p. N8 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Vanstone, Rob (July 12, 2022). "Riders' Two-Headed Monster Continues Devouring Defences". The Leader-Post. p. N7 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Weyland, Blaine (April 17, 2023). "From Unknown to One of Our Own. Roughriders RB Frankie Hickson recalls his winter in Saskatchewan". CKRM.
