| No. 56 | |
|---|---|
| Position: | Linebacker |
| Personal information | |
| Born: | April 14, 1947 Matador, Texas |
| Died: | June 14, 2012 (aged 65) Lubbock, Texas |
| Height: | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) |
| Weight: | 220 lb (100 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school: | Spur (TX) |
| College: | West Texas A&M |
| NFL draft: | 1969 / Round: 9 / Pick: 219 |
| Career history | |
| |
| Career NFL statistics | |
| Player stats at NFL.com | |
Jesse Loy Powell (April 14, 1947 – June 14, 2012) was a professional American football linebacker in the National Football League. He attended West Texas A&M. He played linebacker and special teams with the Miami Dolphins from 1969 to 1973.
Powell was a member of the Dolphins during their perfect season of 1972 when the team had a 17-0 combined record in the regular season and playoffs and won Super Bowl VII.[1] Early in the 1973 season he was bothered by a chronic knee injury he suffered the prior season, which required season-ending surgery after 3 games to remove bone chips.[2][3][4] He announced his retirement from pro football just before the start of the 1974 preseason.[5] Overall, Powell played for three Super Bowl teams.[1]
Following retirement from the NFL, Powell briefly worked in the food industry before working with State Farm Insurance for 35 years. He retired from that company on March 31, 2012.[1]
Powell died in a Texas hospital on June 14, 2012. His brother told a local news agency that the mechanism of death was cardiac arrest, but a formal cause of death had not been established.[1]