Athlete Bio
Football
9, 10, 11, 12
Lacrosse
9, 10, 11, 12
Ricky Mullins
Class of 1987
A two-sport captain who was one of the finest defensemen in the illustrious history of CCHS lacrosse and a key member of the great football teams of the era, Ricky Mullins went on to become a two-time All-American in lacrosse at UMass.
Mullins grew up in the Silver Hill neighborhood and attended Ripley and Sanborn Middle School before entering CCHS in the fall of 1983. Mullins was part of a golden era for Patriot sports with Hall of Fame coaches and multi-sport, future Division I athletes dotting the rosters of most teams.
Fall found Mullins on the football field for long-time Hall of Fame coach Al Robichaud. With talented classmate and future Boston College QB Willie Hicks alongside, Mullins was part of some deep and talented teams that fell just short of Super Bowl appearances on two occasions. Mullins cracked the lineup as a sophomore Defensive Lineman and Punter, and was part of one of the greatest upsets of the era when CCHS knocked off perennial powers Malden Catholic and Xaverian. A two-time winner of the Haskell award as MVP of the Thanksgiving game, Mullins served as team captain and was named a Dual County League All-Star squad in his senior year, guiding the Patriots to a win over rival Bedford in his final contest in maroon and gold.
In the spring, Mullins was part of a dominating run on the lacrosse field under the tutelage of Hall of Famer Jim McClellan and Dick Kerr. A three-year starter on defense and two-time league All-Star, Mullins and his teammates made deep tournament runs in his sophomore and junior years before breaking through and capturing the second state title in four years with a win over archrival Longmeadow in 1987. Mullins captained that squad, and earned Boston Globe, Herald and Middlesex News All-Scholastic honors for his shut-down work on defense. Mullins was also selected to play in the prestigious North/South All-Star game in Baltimore.
“My years at CCHS were filled with great memories of playing alongside lifelong friends and teammates for coaches we respected and played hard for,” said Mullins. “Winning the state title in lacrosse as a senior was such a great way to cap high school athletics, and represented many years of hard work. In football, we had some huge games, none bigger than the game at Lincoln-Sudbury my junior year that ultimately enabled them to go to the Super Bowl instead of us.”
Following CCHS, Mullins attended Bridgton Academy in Maine for a post-graduate year, earning All-New England honors in lacrosse for the Wolverines and again playing in the North/South All-Star game. Mullins then took his talents to UMass-Amherst, where he was a dominant force under legendary head coach Dick Garber, and later his son, Ted. A two-time captain for the Minutemen, Mullins was a three-time All-New England selection, and the only unanimous selection to that team as a junior. An All-American as a sophomore and junior, Mullins badly injured his knee in an NCAA Tournament game at Loyola as a junior and ultimately missed his senior year, but was hailed by coach Ted Garber as “The best shut-down defenseman in all of college lacrosse.”
Mullins now resides in Portland, ME with wife Purdy Ticknor, a Concord native. A fireman with the Portland FD, Rick is the proud father of son Maxwell and daughter, Ivy.