According to Josh Alper of NBC Sports, former New York Jets Pro Bowl tackle Marvin Powell of Fort Bragg, North Carolina died on Friday at the age of 67. Powell spent nine seasons with the Jets at right tackle from 1977 to 1985. He then played two seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1986 and 1987. According to Rich Cimini of ESPN, the cause of death was heart failure.
Powell played 133 games in the NFL, of which 130 were starts. He had two fumble recoveries in his career. The first came in 1978, and the second came in 1980.
Powell was a First-Team Associated Press All-Pro in 1979, 1981, and 1982. He was also selected to the Second-Team Associated Press All-Pro in 1980, and represented the Jets in five straight Pro Bowls from 1979 to 1983.
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A product of the University of Southern California, Powell was the Jets’s first round pick, fourth overall in the 1977 National Football League Draft. He was selected behind running backs Ricky Bell (first overall by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers), and Pro Football Hall of Famer Tony Dorsett (second overall by the Dallas Cowboys), and defensive end Eddie Edwards (third overall by the Cincinnati Bengals). Bell died after six NFL seasons at the age of 29 in 1984 of heart failure caused by dermatomyositis.
During his playing career with the Buccaneers and for a period of time after his retirement, Powell was the president of the National Football League Players’ Association from April 24, 1986 to March 4, 1988. Then in 1994, Powell was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame for his time with the Trojans.
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