Stanford is not only known for its academic prestige but also for its stellar football program. There are currently 28 Stanford football players in the NFL, with some being superstars.

Fifth-year player Ricky Miezan may have been on a similar path, being the team’s defensive captain and superstar linebacker. A player decorated with football accolades, some assumed he may make his way to the NFL draft.

However, the tackling machine decided to make a surprising announcement that he would spend his final season of eligibility as a transfer to play Lacrosse. With many of the football world being unaware of Miezan and his Lacrosse background, he has been incredibly vocal about the sport. His switch has fascinated both Lacrosse and Football fans alike, making this the perfect time to introduce him to both worlds.

Ricky Miezan Before College

Ricky Miezan was a demon on both the Football and Lacrosse programs at Episcopal High School in Alexandria, VA. By his Junior year on the Lacrosse field, he was ranked as the No. 1 player in his grade. A shifty, physical top-of-field dodger, he was a sniper.

By his Senior year, he was dominating on both ends. He was a 3-star football player and initially committed to UNC to play both sports in 2014. Then, two years later, he received a football offer from Stanford and didn’t look back.

His Senior year of Lacrosse saw 71 points with 60 being goals, averaging 3.2 a game with 72 ground balls to match. He was dominant but left the game behind for Stanford.

Stanford Stud

Football seemed like his calling, finding himself in games both his redshirt freshman and sophomore years. However, in his redshirt junior year, things changed drastically. Playing in all 11 games, he racked up 68 tackles with 6.5 TFLs and 2 sacks. He also dropped into coverage a bit, with 2 passes defended and 1 fumble recovery.

Although his next season had fewer tackles, he was rushing the passer a bit more frequently. Already well-versed in the defense and a team captain, he managed 46 tackles with 7 TFLs and 4 sacks, doubling his sack mark from last year.

This year earned him an All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention, putting him at the upper echelon of college football. In his 4 years playing, he was on the Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll for three years while also competing at the highest level.

He attributed much of his success on the field to Lacrosse, and when being interviewed on the football team in 2019, the thought of Lacrosse put a smile to his face. He was asked how Lacrosse impact his game by Stanford Athletics, and he stated:

“It’s a lot of side-to-side movement, a lot of running… blitzing, being able to make side-to-side quick movements to get around the lineman… hand-eye coordination, a ton of the movements correlate over to football”.

Miezan clearly loves the game and shows incredible passion. Hopefully, that fire remains when he switches back to Lacrosse, and we can see the old Miezan all over again.

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