Ed Powell From the Inside

By Jeremy Seeley, Athletic Media Relations Student Assistant

At six foot two inches and more than 300 pounds, Ed Powell seems much more a mammoth than mouse, but in his own mind, he is that mouse.

"If I were a cartoon I would be that mouse Jerry, Powell said. "We are both kind of smooth and we are about the same size."

The size comparison is doubtful, but Powell is big enough that no one wants to argue the issue except maybe his opponents. No one gets thrown around by a mouse.

His coaches and teammates recognize his power. "He's a physical player," Offensive Line Coach Jeff Hoover said. "He's a great athlete and he moves well. When he locks on to you, you feel it. There are times when a guy comes flying out of the pile when we are pass blocking. It is usually because of Ed. He loves the contact and he is good at it."

Although the size issue is debatable, Powell is much like little Jerry in that he likes inflicting discomfort on his foes. "I like the contact," he said. "That is why I started playing. I didn't get it from basketball.

"My favorite thing about football is probably scoring a touchdown, which is something that I have never done," joked Powell another Jerry-like characteristic. "Really, my favorite thing is the contact."

He has had a lot of opportunities to show his pleasure this year since taking over the starting center spot. Last year he came to USU as a transfer student from Chaffey Junior College in Ontario, Calif. At Chaffey, he was a two-time all-conference center.

When he came to Utah State, he was given a second-string position on the offensive line. As a backup, he saw enough playing time to earn a letter and a starting position during the 2001 season.

"He is a lot more confident this year with his assignments and around other players," said Hoover. "When you come in as a JC transfer, everything is new and everybody is new. It is hard to be yourself. He is more comfortable and it has allowed him to bring out his talents."

The Aggies have had some tough losses this season, but Powell remains intense and optimistic. "I would love to win the rest of these games," he said. "Leaving here with a winning record would be nice. This season we could have easily broken down two or three games ago, but we keep trying. We will get the victories. All we can do is keep fighting."

Like his size, football is nothing new to Powell. He has been playing since he was nine years old. "When I was younger I played baseball," said Powell. "I wanted to try something new. As you can guess, in baseball I was kind of bigger than everybody, so I asked my mom if I could play football. She was kind of leery. But I just kept begging and begging and she took me out there one day.

"The first year I wanted to play tackle, but I was a little overweight and they wanted me to play with the big boys, but my mom wasn't having it, so the first year I played flag football. After that, I tried to lose some weight and I ended up playing tackle. That's how it all started."

In high school, Powell was a two-time all-league and all-CIF choice. He was Bloomington High School's defensive player of the year as a prep senior. Along with football, he letter twice in basketball. As a basketball player, he says he "set all the picks." He also showed dominance in the classroom as he made the honor role three times.

He is now studying social work at USU and plans on graduating after the summer term. After he graduates he wants to work with teenagers as an advisor or youth advocate.

When he isn't busy with school and football he likes playing basketball and working on cars, but he admits that most of his free time is spent playing video games. His favorite video games, as one would probably guess, are football games. "I am an Oakland Raider's fan, but I don't like their

playbook, so I usually play with the New York Giants," Powell said about his video-game time.

Plays are important to Powell, and not just for video games. He said the key to playing center is not strength, but remembering plays. "I have to know my calls," he said. "That's all." Jerry always used his wit to outsmart Tom, too.

He is not the only one who sees himself as a smart player, but once again, no one else thinks he is a mouse. "He's a smart player," said Hoover. "He doesn't make many mistakes, but when he puts his hands on you, he can almost stop your heart with how hard he hits you. He definitely loves that part of the game."

As much as he likes football, there is one part that he is not fond of. "My least favorite thing has got to be conditioning," said Powell. "It really isn't that bad. You need to do it to stay in shape, but there has to be some end to it. You have to stop sometimes."

He may not like conditioning, but he does it. It's a work ethic that he didn't learn from football, but from his mother, Sharon Powell.

"My mom has been the greatest influence in my life," said Powell. "She has been there for me the whole time. She is a single parent and she raised me by herself. Everything I learned about life, I learned by watching her. Unfortunately she really didn't know anything about football, so I learned a lot about it from watching TV. I couldn't just say, 'Hey Mom, lets go outside and throw the football.' But she did teach me to work hard at whatever I did. She's like the backbone in my life."

It's not that his own backbone isn't good enough. In fact, he has led an injury free career. As a token of his hard play he has had his fair share of the typical bruises and scraped hands that come from playing in the gridiron trenches. Even Jerry got knocked senseless once in a while.

He is good humored like his cartoon counterpart, too. His teammates call him Dr. Dre. He doesn't respond to it, and he doesn't like it very much, but he said he has never body slammed anyone for saying it. "He has a great attitude and a great sense of humor," said Hoover. "He is a fun guy to have around."

Jerry had a TV show because of what he did, but it is unlikely that you will ever see Powell on a primetime sitcom. Like most offensive lineman, he rarely gets credit for what he does.

"I never wanted credit," he said. "When you play offensive line, you know you won't be getting credit. That is for wide receivers, running backs and quarterbacks. I knew what I was getting into when I first started. I just like playing."

His team attitude is clearly shown when he describes his favorite college football experience. It came during the 2000 season against New Mexico State while he watched from the sidelines. "I didn't play much, but Emmett White had a lot of all-purpose yards that game," Powell said. "It was a close game. With 50 seconds left, we took the field and scored the winning touchdown with just a few seconds left."

He may go unnoticed by fans and by the press, but his coaches will never forget him.

"He is not one of those guys who you say, 'we have got another one just like him,' " said Hoover. "He is pretty special. He is the best center I have ever coached by far. Somebody is going to be playing center next year, but they are going to be hard pressed to be doing it at the same level he is."

Powell will leave big shoes to fill when he graduates this summer. And you can bet your television they won't be mouse sized.