Ricky Jean-Francois

From NCAA College Football Information & Resource

Ricky Jean-Francois

Profile
College	Louisiana State University
Position	DE
Jersey No.	90
Class	Junior
Career	2006 – present
Height	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Weight	281 lbs (127 kg)
Nationality	American
B-date	November 23, 1986
B-place	Miami, Florida
High School	Carol City High School
Career Highlights
Awards
2008 BCS Championship Game Defensive MVP 2007 CFN Honorable Mention All-Bowl Team
Championships
2007 National Champion 2007 SEC Champion 2007 SEC - West Division Champion
Bowl Games
2008 BCS Championship Game 2007 Sugar Bowl

Ricky Jean-Francois (born Ricky Barkley Jean-Francois on November 23, 1986 in Miami, Fla.) is a defensive lineman for the Louisiana State University Tigers in the NCAA college football tournament. Jean-Francois is a talented defender who has the ability to stop the opposing team's pass and rush attempts. Among The Freak's upside is his pure raw power which can nullify offensive linemen as well as that explosive first step natural to every defensive tackle's arsenal. Apart from these traits, Jean-Francois may also be known as someone who can rise from adversity as he was able to work out his off-field issues and, although was out of competitive football for a whole year, showed no rust in helping the Tigers claim the national championship.

1 Personal Life
2 High School
3 College
- 3.1 2005
- 3.2 2006
- 3.3 2007
- 3.4 2008
4 Career Stats
5 Highlights
6 Achievements
7 References

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Personal Life

Ricky is the son of Celhomme Jean-Francois and Zora Jones. Also known as "The Freak," (the same nickname as his "idol" Jevon Kearse) Ricky majored in general studies with emphasis in communication studies and sports studies at the Louisiana State University. When he is not on the football field, Ricky likes to write stories or just listen to jazz music. One of his pre-game ritual is listening to slow music. He wears jersey number 90 because it was his number back in high school. When his football career is over, Ricky would like to open his own business.

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High School

Jean-Francois went to Carol City High School in Miami, Florida where he was a standout in both football and track teams. On the track, Jean-Francois was the state champion in the shot put and discus during his junior and senior years. He also tallied the nation’s third-best toss in the shot put with a throw of 65-5 3/4 in 2005. On the gridiron, Jean-Francois played under head football coach Walt Frazier and teamed with safety Kenny Phillips to help the Chiefs win the 2003 Florida 6A state championship. During that year, Jean-Francois had a breakout year after producing 87 tackles, including 27 for losses, 10 sacks and eight forced fumbles. The back-to-back Dade (Fla.) County Male Athlete of the Year (2004-05, only two-time winner of the award in its 49-year history) also turned out a remarkable senior season after recording 93 tackles, 15 sacks and three interceptions while forcing six fumbles and recovering three to earn a spot at Riddell's and Tom Lemming's prep All-America teams. In addition, Jean-Francois received first-team all-state accolades that year, and was also chosen to the Orlando Sentinel's Top 100 for Florida and the FSN South’s Countdown To Signing Day” All-South” first team. He left Carol City establishing the Florida high school record with 6.5 sacks in one game during his prep career. He capped his high school career playing for the Florida team in the sixth edition of the CaliFlorida All-Star Game.

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College

Named as the No. 1 defensive line prospect in the state of Florida and ranked as the No. 3 defensive prospect in the nation by Collegefootballnews.com, Jean-Francois received scholarship offers from LSU, South Florida, and Tennessee. Despite his parents' objections (his father was quoted as saying: "Me and his mom don't want him to go to LSU. Ricky was happy with South Florida. Those people at LSU washed his brain.") [1], the four-star recruit still chose to play for the Tigers after sending his National-Letter-of-Intent papers to LSU's football office via fax. [2]

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2005

Redshirted. While sitting out his true freshman year, Jean-Francois competed for the LSU track team, making his inaugural appearance at the Modrall Sperling Lobo Invitational in January of 2006. One of his first career wins was at the LSU Twilight Invitational where he equaled his season best throw of 57-11 1/4 enroute to receiving SEC Field Athlete of the Week honors. He went on to pick-up all-conference honors in his inaugural SEC competition after placing second in the shot put with a collegiate personal best of 60-1 ¼ (8th best in LSU history). He also won the shot put crown with a throw of 59-9 1/2 at the pending NCAA Indoor Championships at the LSU Invitational. Among his other accomplishments and stints was a second place finish with a regional qualifying mark of 58-8 in the men's shot-put at the 79th Annual Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays, recording personal records of 59-3 and 154-10 in the shot put and discus competitions, respectively at the Miami Elite Invitational, a fifth place finish in the shot put at the Penn Relays, then putting up a season best of 59-3 also in the shot put.

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2006

During his redshirt freshman year, Jean-Francois had to compete for playing time on the defensive line with the likes of junior tackle Glen Dorsey, sophomore tackle Charles Alexander, senior end Ryan Willis, sophomore end Tyson Jackson, and sophomore tackle Marlon Favorite. He was named as one of the recipients for the Most Improved Award during the spring.

Jean-Francois made his collegiate debut against Louisiana-Lafayette where he recorded a solo stop and a QB hurry in the lopsided six-touchdown win. He also tallied his first unassisted tackle the following week as the Tigers stopped Arizona by the same score as the previous game, 45-3. In the third game of his career, he made his first career start and had three tackles with a TFL and half-a-sack as 3rd ranked Auburn defeated LSU in a low-scoring affair, 3-7. Against Tulane, he had a season high four tackles and blocked a 44-yard field goal attempt as the Tigers dumped the Green Wave, 49-7. He also had identical three tackle outputs in the win over Mississippi State and in the 13-point loss at Florida, then had an assist and half-a-sack in the shut-out of Kentucky before adding three more stops in the 32-point blowout of Fresno State. After chipping in only a solo stop at Tennessee, Jean-Francois matched his season high of four stops with a pass break up, a season best 1.5 TFL, and a four-yard sack in the fourth quarter of the 28-14 win over Alabama. He finished the regular season with a pair of stops in the 23-20 win over Mississippi then contributed a 15-yard sack in the season finale win against the Razorbacks.

The Arkansas game turned out to be his last game for a long while after he was suspended by LSU’s Dean of Students office for academic dishonesty for a full calendar year. His abbreviated freshman year finished with 27 tackles, 5.5 TFL, three sacks, a blocked kick, a quarterback hurry, a fumble recovery and a pass breakup in 12 outings, earning first-team Freshman All-American honors from The Sporting News.

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2007

After his suspension, Jean-Francois contemplated on leaving school but was later on convinced by his teammates and coaches to stay. Despite the suspension, he was allowed to practice with the team in the spring then spent most of the fall working out with the scout team against the first team offense. He also spent some time studying game film and working toward a degree. By the time his 12-month penalty had elapsed, LSU was slated to compete at the SEC Championship Game against Tennessee on the 1st of December. He started at the defensive tackle position in that game next to Dorsey and finished the game with three tackles in the 21-14 victory over the Vols. In the BCS National Championship against Ohio State, he was fielded as a starter in place of Favorite and responded with six tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, a half sack, a QB hurry, and blocked a field goal which was recovered by linebacker Darry Beckwith which resulted in a 10-yard touchdown for the Tigers after a 10-play, 66-yard scoring drive. He was named as the game's most outstanding defensive player.

After a season of hiatus in track, Jean-Francois returned to compete in the shot put and won the title with a throw of 56-7 ¼ at the LSU Twilight. He also placed third in the SEC Indoor Track and Field Championships and won the event title at the LSU Tiger Relays with a throw of 59-1 ¼. At the Alumni Gold Meet, he had a throw of 58-4 ½ to win the event then had a runner-up finish in the championship section of the shot put with a throw of 58 feet, 8 inches at the Penn Relays. He finished the season named into the All-Louisiana Track and Field Team.

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2008

During the spring game, Jean-Francois had five tackles and one tackle for a loss and was named as the co-recipient of the Mike Miley Leadership Award with Beckwith for his outstanding leadership in spring drills. He also received preseason honors as a second team selection by the media and the coaches and was listed into the Chuck Bednarik Award Watch List.

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Career Stats

	Tackles				Tackles for Loss			Sacks			Misc
Year	Solo	Asst	Total	Ttl/G	TFL	TFLYds	TFL/G	Sacks	SckYds	Sck/G	PBU	QBH	FF	Blk
2006	10	17	27	2.25	5.5	28	0.46	3.0	23	0.25	1	1	0	1
2007	5	4	9	3.0	1.5	4	0.50	0.5	1	0.17	1	1	0	1