Former University of Louisville running back Bilal Powell will represent Louisville in the 2022 ACC Football Honors Class, the league announced Wednesday.
One of the most explosive backs in school history, Powell played four seasons for the Cards, rushing for 2,238 yards and 19 touchdowns. As a senior in 2010, Powell rushed for a then-school single season record 1,405 yards in 11 games . He averaged 6.14 yards per carry en route to earning first-team All-BIG EAST Conference accolades. He became the first player in school history to rush for back-to-back 200-yard games as a senior, rushing for 204 yards and two scores versus Memphis and followed up with 209 yards and a pair of touchdowns against Cincinnati.
Following his senior season, Powell earned an invitation to the 2011 Senior Bowl. Following his positive workouts at the Senior Bowl, Powell was selected in the fourth round of the 2011 NFL Draft by the New York Jets, for whom he played nine seasons before retiring in 2019.
During his NFL career, Powell rushed for 3,675 yards and 15 touchdowns as an NFL player, including career highs of 772 yards and five touchdowns in 2017. His 75-yard run for a touchdown versus Jacksonville in Week 4 of the 2017 season was the second-longest in franchise history.
This year’s ACC Football Honors Class will be celebrated during the ACC Football Honors Program presented by the Charlotte Sports Foundation at the Charlotte Convention Center’s Richardson Ballroom on the evening of Friday, Dec. 2, and during the on-field pregame festivities at the 18th annual Subway ACC Football Championship Game, set for 8 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 3, at Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium. ACC Network will air the ACC Football Honors production on tape delay Friday, Dec. 9, at 7 p.m.
