Trent Richardson
Trenton Jamond Richardson (born July 10, 1990 in Pensacola, Florida) is a running back for the Oakland Raiders of the National Football League (NFL) and a former All-American for the Alabama Crimson Tide football team.
Richardson played football and competed in track and field for Escambia High School in Pensacola. His best sprint time in high school was 10.5 seconds in the 100-meter dash and his record on the long jump was 6.55 meters. As a running back, Richardson racked up 2,100 yards and 25 touchdowns on 228 carries as a senior. He was named "National Football Player of the Week" by ESPN RISE after rushing for 419 yards and six scores in a single game in September 2008. He was selected for the Florida Sportswriters Association's All-State Team, was the state's 5A player of the year, and a finalist for the "Mr Football" award. He was also named to several high school All-American teams and to the Orlando Sentinel's "All-Southern Team".
Richardson was highly recruited by college football teams, and ranked as the overall second-best running back by Rivals.com. He accepted a scholarship offer from the University of Alabama over offers from Florida, Florida State and LSU.
Head coach Nick Saban referred to Richardson as "the real key to the class". During his freshman season Richardson shared time with Roy Upchurch and Mark Ingram. He was named Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Week twice in his first four games and joined teammates Barrett Jones and Nico Johnson on the SEC's All-Freshman Team. His 109 rushing yards and two touchdowns helped the Crimson Tide defeat the Texas Longhorns in the 2010 BCS National Championship game.
With Ingram recovering from an injury, Richardson started the first two games of the 2010 season. He amassed a career-high 144 yards on 22 carries against the Penn State Nittany Lions in week 2 and was named Co-SEC Player of the Week. He finished the season with 700 rushing yards and six rushing touchdowns along with 266 receiving yards and four more touchdown catches. He also returned kicks, amassing another 634 return yards with one score.
Richardson was the featured tailback for the 2011 Crimson Tide team. He bettered his career high with 183 rushing yards and four touchdowns against the University of Mississippi, then ran for 203 yards in the 2011 Iron Bowl.
2011
He won the Doak Walker Award becoming the first player from Alabama to win. He finished third in the Heisman Trophy voting behind eventual winner Robert Griffin III and Andrew Luck. In the 2012 BCS National Championship Game, Richardson rushed for 96 yards and a touchdown to secure his second national championship with the Crimson Tide.
For the season Richardson had 1,679 rushing yards, breaking Mark Ingram's record for most rushing yards in a season, and 21 rushing touchdowns. His 21 rushing touchdowns was also an SEC running back record. He also had 338 receiving yards with three touchdowns, making his season total touchdowns 24 which tied Shaun Alexander's SEC record. On January 12, 2012, Richardson declared for the 2012 NFL Draft, thus forgoing his final year of collegiate eligibility. At the time of his announcement, he was projected as a first round pick and the top running back prospect in the draft.
Professional career
2012 NFL Draft
Entering his junior season, Richardson was widely regarded as the best running back available in the 2012 NFL Draft, and he cemented his reputation with strong play over the course of the year. <ref name="Prisco2012early">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Pauline2012early">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Reuter2012early">Template:Cite news</ref> After undergoing a minor knee surgery in February 2012, Richardson did not participate in drills at the 2012 NFL Combine.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He later also decided to skip workouts at the Alabama Pro Day on March 7.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Richardson held his own Pro Day on March 27.<ref>Richardson is main attraction at star-studded Alabama pro day</ref>
By March 2012, Richardson was widely projected to be a top six draft choice,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> with the Cleveland Browns, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and St. Louis Rams rumored to be most interested in selecting him.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Former Colts vice chairman Bill Polian called him one of the "three sure-thing players" in the 2012 draft.<ref>Trent Richardson a 'sure thing' along with top two QBs, says Bill Polian</ref>
Richardson was eventually selected third overall by the Cleveland Browns, after they had traded picks with the Minnesota Vikings to select him ahead of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Richardson was the highest selected running back since Reggie Bush went second overall in 2006. The Browns had not selected a running back in the first round since William Green in 2002. On July 23, Richardson and the Cleveland Browns agreed to a four-year, $20.4 million contract (fully guaranteed) with a $13.6 million signing bonus.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Cleveland Browns
2012
On August 9, 2012, Richardson underwent arthroscopic surgery to remove some cartilage fragments in his left knee.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Richardson missed the entire preseason, but returned for the season opener. In his debut against the Philadelphia Eagles, he rushed for 39 yards on 19 carries, being limited in his touches after having just come off the disabled list. The following week, in a 24-34 loss against the Cincinnati Bengals, he rushed for 109 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries. He also had 4 receptions for 36 yards and a receiving touchdown. He was the first Browns rookie to rush for over 100 yards and score rushing and receiving touchdowns all in the same game. During Week 13 against the Kansas City Chiefs, Richardson rushed for 42 yards and 2 touchdowns, tying Jim Brown's franchise rookie record of 9 touchdowns.
Richardson would only play 2 games for the Browns in 2013. He rushed for 105 yards on 31 carries.
Indianapolis Colts
2013
On September 18, 2013, Richardson was traded to the Indianapolis Colts for a 2014 first-round draft pick.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He wore the uniform number 34 for the Indianapolis Colts after wearing number 33 for the Browns. The Colts were looking for a running back after a season-ending injury to Vick Ballard.
In his first carry as a Colt, Richardson scored a touchdown against the San Francisco 49ers. He struggled through most of the season and was demoted in favor of Donald Brown on December 1, 2013.<ref>Template:Citeweb</ref> Richardson returned to his starting role in the Colts week 15 game against the Houston Texans when Brown left due to injury, and recorded his first touchdown since week 4 against Jacksonville.
Richardson fumbled on his first career playoff carry against the Kansas City Chiefs in the Colts' Wild Card game. Kansas City converted the turnover into a touchdown.
2014
Richardson began the season splitting carries with running back Ahmad Bradshaw, limiting his carries and yardage totals. Bradshaw was injured in a Week 11 game against the New England Patriots, making Richardson the lead back.<ref>Template:Citeweb</ref> However, after Week 13, Dan Herron replaced Richardson as the Colts' primary running back after totaling 88 yards on just eight carries, including a 49-yard touchdown run.<ref>http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000437298/article/dan-herron-latest-colt-to-outplay-trent-richardson</ref>
In the 2014–15 NFL playoffs, Richardson was not active for Indianapolis' final two playoff games. He was suspended by the team for the AFC Championship Game after he missed walkthrough for what he called a "family emergency" and did not alert the team.<ref>http://fantasynews.cbssports.com/fantasyfootball/update/24980886/report-colts-suspended-rb-trent-richardson-for-afc-title-game</ref>
On March 12, 2015, the Colts waived Richardson.<ref>Template:Citeweb</ref>
Oakland Raiders
On March 17, 2015, Richardson signed a 2-year, $3.9 million contract with the Oakland Raiders.<ref>https://twitter.com/rapsheet/status/577883258769129472</ref>
Career statistics
Regular season
| Season | Team | Games | Rushing | Receiving | Fumbles | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Att | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | FUM | Lost | ||
| 2012 | Cleveland Browns | 15 | 15 | 267 | 950 | 3.6 | 32T | 11 | 51 | 367 | 7.2 | 27 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| 2013 | Cleveland Browns | 2 | 2 | 31 | 105 | 3.4 | 10 | 0 | 7 | 51 | 7.3 | 18 | 0 | – | – |
| 2013 | Indianapolis Colts | 14 | 8 | 157 | 458 | 2.9 | 22 | 3 | 28 | 265 | 9.5 | 24 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 2014 | Indianapolis Colts | 15 | 12 | 159 | 519 | 3.3 | 27 | 3 | 27 | 229 | 8.5 | 24 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| Total | 46 | 37 | 614 | 2,032 | 3.3 | 32 | 17 | 113 | 912 | 8.1 | 27 | 2 | 7 | 2 | |
Postseason
| Season | Team | Games | Rushing | Receiving | Fumbles | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Att | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | FUM | Lost | ||
| 2013 | Indianapolis Colts | 2 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0.2 | 2 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | 1 |
| 2014 | Indianapolis Colts | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 3 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0.2 | 2 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | 1 | |
Personal life
Richardson has two daughters: Taliyah, 6, and Elevera, 4.<ref>Template:Citation</ref> Richardson's first son was born October 5, 2012.<ref>Template:Citation</ref>
On April 13, 2012, he took leukemia survivor Courtney Alvis to her senior prom at Hueytown High School.<ref>Trent Richardson makes Hueytown cancer survivor's prom dream come true</ref>
Recognition
He was voted No. 71 out of the top 100 in the NFL by fellow players in 2012.<ref>http://www.nfl.com/photos/0ap1000000166758/0ap2000000168189</ref>