Former NFL Player Jerrell Powe Arrested for Alleged Kidnapping

By Brian Jones

Former NFL defensive lineman Jerrell Powe was arrested last week for an alleged kidnapping, according to PEOPLE. Powe was booked into Madison County Detention Center in Mississippi on Thursday. Police said Powe was arrested at a Chase Bank on Highland Colony Parkway in Ridgeland which is 12 miles north of Jackson, Mississippi. 35-year-old Gavin Bates was also arrested and charged in the alleged kidnapping. 

The incident began in Laurel, Mississippi and ended in Ridgeland when the victim contacted Ridgeland police and said he was kidnapped "against his will" and was "forced to withdraw money" at the bank, according to WLBT. Ridgeland Police Chief Brian Meyers said the victim is safe. Powe and Bates are being held without bond and are pending a hearing on Tuesday. 

Powe was selected in the sixth round of the 2011 NFL Draft by the Kansas City Chiefs. He was with the team for three years before signing with the Houston Texans in 2014. Powe played with the Texans for one season and then signed with Washington in 2015. He didn't play for Washington, though, as he was cut before the start of the 2015 season. In 28 games, Powe recorded 18 tackles, three tackles for loss, one sack and two passes defended. 

Powe played college football at Ole Miss from 2008-2010 and was named to the All-SEC Second Team twice. In his three seasons with the Rebels, Powe tallied 69 tackles, 24 tackles for loss and seven sacks. In 2018, Powe graduated from Ole Miss and earned his degree in general studies. 

"I'm ecstatic. Every day I wake up, it's crazy, 'cause this is really about to happen. I'm really about to graduate. There were a lot of people who said I wouldn't or I couldn't. I'm just excited to be able to get it done and be able to move on to the next chapter in my life and find out what it is I want to do for the next 15 or 20 years of my life," Powe told 247Sports one month before graduating. "It's bigger than football. It's on a whole 'nother playing field of its own. I'll be the first one to graduate college in my family. Especially with all the hoops I had to jump through, it means a lot. It means a lot to me, it means a lot to my mom and my family and it means a lot to me for my child that I can be able to instill education in him and to be able to put football second and also be able to show him that I was able to get a degree as well."

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